Tremper Longman III - How to Read Daniel

InterVarsity Press
P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426
ivpress.com

2020 by Tremper Longman III

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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Cover design and image composite: David Fassett
Interior design: Jeanna Wiggins
Images: Daniel in the Lions Den illustration CatLane / DigitalVision Vectors / Getty Images

ISBN 978-0-8308-5321-2 (digital)

ISBN 978-0-8308-5320-5 (print)

This digital document has been produced by Nord Compo.

To my wife, Alice

Acknowledgments

I am pleased to present the sixth volume in the How to Read series. The first volume on the Psalms came out near the beginning of my writing career in 1987, and now over thirty years later comes How to Read Daniel.

What a privilege it is to be able to write these books that present the fruits of my scholarly explorations in what I intend (and hope) is an accessible form. I write these books for people who are not biblical scholars but for very intelligent lay people, pastors, and seminarians.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my editors at InterVarsity Press over the years for encouraging me and guiding me in the writing of these books. Jim Hoover asked me to write How to Read Psalms, and Dan Reid provided excellent editorial guidance for this book and the next four (Proverbs, Genesis, Exodus, Job [with John Walton]). Before he retired, Dan asked me to write How to Read Daniel and then passed it off to his successor, Anna Gissing, who provided excellent editorial feedback.

I dedicate this book, as I have many of my books, to my lovely and intelligent wife, Alice. I love Alice, and she loves me, but even more importantly she loves God and his Word. She brings the best out of me and keeps me grounded in my relationship with God.

Tremper Longman III
November 2019

Introduction

Invitation to the Book of Daniel

T he fiery furnace, the writing on the wall, the lions denthese are among the most memorable moments in the first six chapters of the book of Daniel. Four monstrous beasts rising from a chaotic sea, one like a son of man, seventy sevens, kings of the North and kings from the South, the righteous rising like the stars for ever and everthese are among the most striking descriptions of the second six chapters of the book of Daniel.

In the first six chapters, we read stirring stories of Daniel and the four friends faith in the midst of a hostile and dangerous culture. In the second six chapters, we read about Daniels disturbing, yet ultimately encouraging, visions of the future.

What are we to make of it all? What does it all mean, and does the book speak to us today? These are the questions that motivate the writing of this book, and as we answer them, we will see that the author of the book of Daniel not only spoke loud and clear to his generation but also to ours: in spite of present circumstances, God is in control, and he will have the final victory!

We will explore this fascinating but ancient book in three parts in order to come to grips with how to read it in the twenty-first century. In the first part, we will focus on overarching issues that influence our understanding of the message of the book to its original audience and set up how we should then appropriate it today. ).

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This book, like its predecessors in the How to Read series, is not a commentary. While it includes commentary (see especially ), the purpose is to orient the reader to a proper reading of the book of Daniel. Thus, we are interested in questions of interpretive method and its application.

Accordingly, part one presents an overview of the book from a literary, historical, and theological perspective. In the three chapters that follow, we examine the genre, structure, style, and language of Daniel ().

T he book of Daniel has a most curious structure. The first six chapters tell six different, though related, stories. They present four noble Judean young men, Daniel and his three friends (Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah), as political hostages in a foreign court. The six separate stories, one in each chapter, are each set in either the Babylonian (Dan 15) or Persian (Dan 6) courts. The four men are exiles, but they are also trained and take their place in the center of power. These stories, as we will see, conform to ancient Near Eastern protocol but also serve as models for the behavior of Gods people when they find themselves in situations of oppression. We will unpack these matters in later chapters, but for now, notice how these six chapters contrast in style and format with the last six chapters (Dan 712).

The opening six stories in many ways are straightforward. We will see that these narratives have relatively simple plots and clearly delineated characters. While interesting and profound, they are not complicated when studied closely in their ancient context. On the contrary, the second half of the book contains symbolic visions that, particularly to a modern audience, are mind-boggling and extremely difficult to understand. Hybrid beasts arise out of a chaotic sea. One like a son of man rides a cloud into the presence of the Ancient of Days. A ram and a goat butt each other. An angel speaks about seventy weeks of years. The final vision presents the future in terms of alternating kings of the North and kings of the South.