Daniel
Old Testament · translated from the Hebrew
Daniel and his friends stay faithful to God in the court of Babylon: the furnace of fire, the den of lions. The visions of the book show that God rules over the empires and that his kingdom will have no end.
How it is laid out
Key verses
- Daniel 7:13 — One like a son of man
- Daniel 2:44 — A kingdom that forever will not be destroyed
- Daniel 3:17 — Our Elah whom we serve is able to deliver us
- Daniel 6:10 — Three times a day he knelt and prayed
- Daniel 12:3 — The insightful will shine like the brightness of the vault
Who wrote it
In chapters 7–12 Daniel tells his visions in the first person. Jesus speaks of “Daniel the prophet” (Matthew 24:15), and tradition attributes the book to him; the Babylonian Talmud (Baba Batra 15a) attributes its writing to the Great Assembly. The authorship is debated.
When it was written
Debated: between the 6th century BC, the time it narrates (1:1; 10:1), and the 2nd century BC.
For whom, and in what situation
For Jews living under foreign kings, in the exile and after. It tells them how Daniel and his friends were faithful in the court of Babylon and of Persia. From 2:4 to 7:28 it is written in Aramaic.
All the books
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