Joyce Baldwin - Daniel (TOTC)

Volume 23

General Editor: Donald J. Wiseman

An Introduction and Commentary

Joyce G. Baldwin

Additional notes

The aim of this series of Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, as it was in the companion volumes on the New Testament, is to provide the student of the Bible with a handy, up-to-date commentary on each book, with the primary emphasis on exegesis. Major critical questions are discussed in the introductions and additional notes, while undue technicalities have been avoided.

In this series individual authors are, of course, free to make their own distinct contributions and express their own point of view on all controversial issues. Within the necessary limits of space they frequently draw attention to interpretations which they themselves do not hold but which represent the stated conclusions of sincere fellow Christians. The book of Daniel more than most is the subject of diverse debates and interpretations, some of which seriously obscure the meaning and message for the church today or tend to lessen the impact of the book in a welter of critical detail. The author here aims to set out her own sincerely held and closely argued views on many aspects of the prophecy which, although it may remain a mystery until that Final Day, demands further study now to show its relevance for our own troubled times.

In the Old Testament in particular no single English translation is adequate to reflect the original text. The authors of these commentaries freely quote various versions, therefore, or give their own translation, in the endeavour to make the more difficult passages or words meaningful today. Where necessary, words from the Hebrew (and Aramaic) Text underlying their studies are transliterated. This will help the reader who may be unfamiliar with the Semitic languages to identify the word under discussion and thus to follow the argument. It is assumed throughout that the reader will have ready access to one, or more, reliable renderings of the Bible in English.

Interest in the meaning and message of the Old Testament continues undiminished and it is hoped that this series will thus further the systematic study of the revelation of God and his will and ways as seen in these records. It is the prayer of the editor and publisher, as of the authors, that these books will help many to understand, and to respond to, the Word of God today.

D. J. Wiseman

Writing a commentary on the book of Daniel at the present time is like being deep in the crest of a swelling wave. There is surging movement; learned articles appear in spate, and radical thinking is calling in question the long-established maps by which scholars of the past have charted their course. There is bewilderment, a feeling of being at sea, not knowing for sure the direction in which one is being carried, and of having too little specialist knowledge to be able adequately to assess ones bearings. Nevertheless it is an exciting situation to be in, if only one can keep afloat. Too often, I fear, I have been submerged under a mass of ideas and have had to surface again and start afresh.

My dependence on many scholarly books and commentaries will be apparent to all. I have tried to acknowledge in footnotes the source of ideas and information whenever I have been conscious of them, but there could be unconscious debts which I have not acknowledged. My thanks are particularly due to Mr A. R. Millard, Rankin Senior Lecturer in Hebrew and Ancient Semitic Languages in the University of Liverpool, and to Dr L. C. Allen, Lecturer in Old Testament Language and Exegesis at London Bible College, who read the manuscript and brought their learning to bear on it. I am extremely grateful for their suggestions, most of which have been incorporated into the text. I also want to thank Professor D. J. Wiseman, Editor of the Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, for inviting me to contribute another volume, and for putting at my disposal his wisdom and specialist learning.

I am conscious that this book is going out before it is ready, but at some point a halt has to be called, or, to revert to the sea metaphor, one has to burn ones boats and face what comes. If Christians are encouraged to work at the book of Daniel afresh, so that together we come nearer to feeling its heartbeat, then any effort of mine will have been worth while.

Joyce Baldwin

September 1977