PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Expositor's Bible: The Book of Daniel
Farrar, F. W. (Frederic William) · 101,005 words · 152 reading sections
Fifth Series, 1891-2.
_Crown 8vo, cloth, price 7s. 6d. each vol._ Colossians. By A. MACLAREN, D.D. St. Mark. By Very Rev. the Dean of Armagh. Genesis. By Prof. MARCUS DODS, D.D. 1 Samuel. By Prof. W. G. BLAIKIE, D.D. 2 Samuel. By the same Author. Hebrews. By Principal T. C. EDWARDS, D.D. Galatians. By Prof. G. G. FINDLAY, B.A.…
291 wordsSECTION 2Approximate Chronological Tables 333
1 Kings. By Ven. Archdeacon FARRAR. Philippians. By Principal RAINY, D.D. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther. By Prof. W. F. ADENEY, M.A. Joshua. By Prof. W. G. BLAIKIE, D.D. The Psalms. By A. MACLAREN, D.D. Vol. II. The Epistles of St. Peter. By Prof. RAWSON LUMBY, D.D. 2 Kings. By Ven. Archdeacon FARRAR. Romans. B…
250 wordsSECTION 3There Are Articles On Daniel In
The chief Rabbinic Commentaries were those of Rashi († 1105); Abn Ezra († 1167); Kimchi († 1240); Abrabanel († 1507).[1] The chief Patristic Commentary is that by St. Jerome. Fragments are preserved of other Commentaries by Origen, Hippolytus, Ephræm Syrus, Julius Africanus, Theodoret, Athanasius, Basil, Eusebius, Pol…
292 wordsSECTION 4Histories And Other Books
Russel Martineau, _Theological Review_. 1865. Prof. Margoliouth, _The Expositor_. April 1890. Prof. J. M. Fuller, _The Expositor_, Third Series, vols. i., ii. T. K. Cheyne, _Encyclopædia Britannica_, vi. 803. Prof. Sayce, _The Higher Criticism and the Monuments_. 1894. Prof. S. R. Driver, _Introduction to the Lite…
343 wordsSECTION 5_The Historic Existence Of The Prophet Daniel_
Delitzsch, _Messianische Weissagangen_. Leipzig, 1890. Riehm, _Die Messianische Weissagung_. Gotha, 1875. Knabenbauer, _Comment in Daniel. prophet., Lament., et Baruch_. 1891. Kuenen, _Religion of Israel_, E. Tr. 1874. Bludau, _De Alex. interpe. Danielis indole_. 1891. Nöldeke, _D. Alttest. Literatur_. 1868. Frai…
772 wordsSECTION 6_The Historic Existence Of The Prophet Daniel_
II. It is natural, then, that we should turn to the monuments and inscriptions of the Babylonian, Persian, and Median Empires to see if any mention can be found of so prominent a ruler. But hitherto neither has his name been discovered, nor the faintest trace of his existence. III. If we next search other non-Biblical…
719 wordsSECTION 7_The Historic Existence Of The Prophet Daniel_
These references would not, however, suffice to prove Daniel's _historical_ existence. They might merely result from the literal acceptance of the story narrated in the Book. From the name "Daniel," which is by no means a common one, and means "Judge of God," nothing can be learnt. It is only found in three other insta…
703 wordsSECTION 8_The Historic Existence Of The Prophet Daniel_
iv. Admitting that this pinnacle of eminence may have been due to the peculiar splendour of Daniel's career, it becomes the less easy to account for the total silence respecting him in the other books of the Old Testament--in the Prophets who were contemporaneous with the Exile and its close, like Haggai, Zechariah, an…
533 wordsSECTION 9Footnotes:
[2] Dan. ii. 48. [3] Dan. v. 29, vi. 2. [4] Dan. vi. 28. There is a Daniel of the sons of Ithamar in Ezra viii. 2, and among those who sealed the covenant in Neh. x. 6. [5] For a full account of the _Agada_ (also called _Agadtha_ and _Haggada_), I must refer the reader to Hamburger's _Real-Encyklopädie für Bibel und…
623 wordsSECTION 101. The Language
Unable to learn anything further respecting the professed author of the Book of Daniel, we now turn to the Book itself. In this section I shall merely give a general sketch of its main external phenomena, and shall chiefly pass in review those characteristics which, though they have been used as arguments respecting th…
717 wordsSECTION 111. The Language
The Talmud throws no light on the question. It only says that-- i. "The men of the Great Synagogue wrote"[43]--by which is perhaps meant that they "edited"--"the Book of Ezekiel, the Twelve Minor Prophets, the Book of Daniel, and the Book of Ezra";[44] and that-- ii. "The Chaldee passages in the Book of Ezra and the …
667 wordsSECTION 121. The Language
He proceeds to give a list of linguistic peculiarities in support of this view, and other specimens of sentences constructed, not in the style of classical Hebrew, but in "the later uncouth style" of the Book of Chronicles. He points out in a note that it is no explanation of these peculiarities to argue that, during h…
699 wordsSECTION 131. The Language
6. Two further philological considerations bear on the age of the Book. i. One of these is the existence of no less than fifteen _Persian_ words (according to Nöldeke and others), especially in the Aramaic part. These words, which would not be surprising after the complete establishment of the Persian Empire, are surp…
599 wordsSECTION 142. The Unity Of The Book
The _Unity_ of the Book of Daniel is now generally admitted. No one thought of questioning it in days before the dawn of criticism, but in 1772 Eichhorn and Corrodi doubted the genuineness of the Book. J. D. Michaelis endeavoured to prove that it was "a collection of fugitive pieces," consisting of six historic picture…
663 wordsSECTION 153. The General Tone Of The Book
The general tone of the Book marks a new era in the education and progress of the Jews. The lessons of the Exile uplifted them from a too narrow and absorbing particularism to a wider interest in the destinies of humanity. They were led to recognise that God "has made of one every nation of men for to dwell on all the …
310 wordsSECTION 164. The Style Of The Book
The style of the Book of Daniel is new, and has very marked characteristics, indicating its late position in the Canon. It is rhetorical rather than poetic. "Totum Danielis librum," says Lowth, "e poetarum censu excludo."[76] How widely does the style differ from the rapt passion and glowing picturesqueness of Isaiah, …
545 wordsSECTION 175. The Standpoint Of The Author
"In Daniel öffnet sich eine ganz neue Welt."--EICHHORN, _Einleit._, iv. 472. The author of the Book of Daniel seems naturally to place himself on a level lower than that of the prophets who had gone before him. He does not count himself among the prophets; on the contrary, he puts them far higher than himself, and re…
905 wordsSECTION 186. The Moral Element
Lastly, among these salient phenomena of the Book of Daniel we are compelled to notice the absence of the predominantly moral element from its prophetic portion. The author does not write in the tone of a preacher of repentance, or of one whose immediate object it is to ameliorate the moral and spiritual condition of h…
837 wordsSECTION 19Footnotes:
The Book is in all respects unique, a writing _sui generis_; for the many imitations to which it led are but imitations. But, as the Jewish writer Dr. Joël truly says, the unveiling of the secret as to the real lateness of its date and origin, so far from causing any loss in its beauty and interest, enhance both in a r…
653 wordsSECTION 20Footnotes:
[51] _Das Buch Dan._, iii. [52] See Glassius, _Philol. Sacr._, p. 931; Ewald, _Die Proph. d. A. Bundes_, i. 48; De Wette, _Einleit._, § 347. [53] Ezekiel always uses the correct form (xxvi. 7, xxix. 18, xxx. 10). Jeremiah uses the correct form except in passages which properly belong to the Book of Kings. [54] Nölde…
682 wordsSECTION 21Footnotes:
[68] By De Wette, Schrader, Hitzig, Ewald, Gesenius, Bleek, Delitzsch, Von Lengerke, Stähelin, Kamphausen, Wellhausen, etc. Reuss, however, says (_Heil. Schrift._, p. 575), "Man könnte auf die Vorstellung kommen das Buch habe mehr als einen Verfasser"; and König thinks that the original form of the book may have ended …
576 wordsSECTION 22_Peculiarities Of The Historic Section_
No one can have studied the Book of Daniel without seeing that, alike in the character of its miracles and the minuteness of its supposed predictions, it makes a more stupendous and a less substantiated claim upon our credence than any other book of the Bible, and a claim wholly different in character. It has over and …
858 wordsSECTION 23_Peculiarities Of The Historic Section_
My own conviction has long been that in these _Haggadoth_, in which Jewish literature delighted in the præ-Christian era, and which continued to be written even till the Middle Ages, there was not the least pretence or desire to deceive at all. I believe them to have been put forth as moral legends--as avowed fiction n…
662 wordsSECTION 24_Peculiarities Of The Historic Section_
I. We are, for instance, met by what seems to be a remarkable error in the very first verse of the Book, which tells us that "_In the third year of Jehoiakim, King of Judah_, came Nebuchad_n_ezzar"--as in later days he was incorrectly called--"King of Babylon, unto Jerusalem, and besieged it." It is easy to trace when…
800 wordsSECTION 25_Peculiarities Of The Historic Section_
IV. In ii. 2 the king summons four classes of hierophants to disclose his dream and its interpretation. They are the magicians (_Chartummîm_), the enchanters (_Ashshaphîm_), the sorcerers (_Mechashsh'phîm_), and the Chaldeans (_Kasdîm_).[101] The _Chartummîm_ occur in Gen. xli. 8 (which seems to be in the writer's mind…
788 wordsSECTION 26_Peculiarities Of The Historic Section_
IX. The third chapter contains another story, told in a style of wonderful stateliness and splendour, and full of glorious lessons; but here again we encounter linguistic and other difficulties. Thus in iii. 2, though "all the rulers of the provinces" and officers of all ranks are summoned to the dedication of Nebuchad…
653 wordsSECTION 27_Peculiarities Of The Historic Section_
XI. When we reach the fifth chapter, we are faced by a new king, Belshazzar, who is somewhat emphatically called the son of Nebuchadrezzar.[120] History knows of no such king.[121] The prince of whom it _does_ know was never king, and was a son, not of Nebuchadrezzar, but of the usurper Nabunaid; and between Nebuchadr…
699 wordsSECTION 28_Peculiarities Of The Historic Section_
XIII. In the sixth chapter we are again met by difficulty after difficulty. Who, for instance, was Darius the Mede? We are told (v. 30, 31) that, on the night of his impious banquet, "Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans" was slain, "and Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old." We…
658 wordsSECTION 29_Peculiarities Of The Historic Section_
"Darius the Mede," says Professor Sayce, "is in fact a _reflection_ into the past of _Darius the son of Hystaspes_,[135] just as the siege and capture of Babylon by Cyrus are a reflection into the past of its siege and capture by the same prince. The name of Darius and the story of the slaughter of the Chaldean king go…
659 wordsSECTION 30Footnotes:
[90] Thus Dr. Pusey says: "The Book of Daniel is especially fitted to be a battle-field _between faith and unbelief_. It admits of no half-measures. It is either Divine or an imposture. To write any book under the name of another, and to give it out to be his, is, in any case, a forgery dishonest in itself, and destruc…
667 wordsSECTION 31Footnotes:
[103] _Keilinschr._, p. 429; Meinhold, p. 28. [104] Isa. xxiii. 13; Jer. xxv. 12; Ezek. xii. 13; Hab. i. 6. [105] Jos., _Antt._, XI. viii. 5. [106] Isa. xlix. 23. [107] Isa. lx. 14. [108] Acts xii. 22, 23. [109] Acts xiv. 11, 12, xxviii. 6. [110] See Jer. xxxix. 3. And if he held this position, how could he be a…
699 wordsSECTION 32Footnotes:
[132] T. W. Pinches, in Smith's _Bibl. Dict._, i. 716, 2nd edn. Into this theory are pressed the general expressions that Darius "received the kingdom" and was "made king," which have not the least bearing on it. They may simply mean that he became king by conquest, and not in the ordinary course--so Rosenmüller, Hitzi…
320 wordsSECTION 33_General Structure Of The Book_
In endeavouring to see the idea and construction of a book there is always much room for the play of subjective considerations. Meinhold has especially studied this subject, but we cannot be certain that his views are more than imaginative. He thinks that chap. ii., in which we are strongly reminded of the story of Jos…
721 wordsSECTION 34_General Structure Of The Book_
It is another indication of this main purpose of these histories that the plural form of the Name of God--_Elohîm_--does not once occur in chaps. ii.-vi. It is used in i. 2, 9, 17; but not again till the ninth chapter, where it occurs twelve times; once in the tenth (x. 12); and twice of God in the eleventh chapter (xi…
333 wordsSECTION 35_The Theology Of The Book Of Daniel_
[139] Literally, as in margin, "_most high things_" or "_places_." [140] In iv. 5, 6; and _elohîn_ means "gods" in the mouth of a heathen ("spirit of the holy gods"). [141] _Elohîn_ occurs repeatedly in chap. ix., and in x. 12, xi. 32, 37. [142] It only occurs in Dan. ix. As regards the religious views of the Book …
703 wordsSECTION 36Footnotes:
We shall see in later pages that the supreme value and importance of the Book of Daniel, rightly understood, consists in this--that "it is the first attempt at a Philosophy, or rather at a Theology of History."[151] Its main object was to teach the crushed and afflicted to place unshaken confidence in God. [143] The d…
286 wordsSECTION 37Chapter Vi
_PECULIARITIES OF THE APOCALYPTIC AND PROPHETIC SECTION OF THE BOOK_ If we have found much to lead us to serious doubts as to the authenticity and genuineness--_i.e._, as to the literal historicity and the real author--of the Book of Daniel in its historic section, we shall find still more in the prophetic section. I…
653 wordsSECTION 38Chapter Vi
In the ninth chapter we are told that Daniel has been meditating on the prophecy of Jeremiah that Jerusalem should be rebuilt after seventy years, and as the seventy years seem to be drawing to a close he humbles himself with prayer and fasting. But Gabriel comes flying to him at the time of the evening sacrifice, and …
722 wordsSECTION 39Chapter Vi
II. In the next place an apocalypse is literary, not oral. Schürer, who classes Daniel among the oldest and most original of _pseudepigraphic prophecies_, etc., rightly says that "the old prophets in their teachings and exhortations addressed themselves directly to the people first and foremost through their oral utter…
482 wordsSECTION 40_Internal Evidence_
[152] Among these critics are Delitzsch, Riehm, Ewald, Bunsen, Hilgenfeld, Cornill, Lücke, Strack, Schürer, Kuenen, Meinhold, Orelli, Joël, Reuss, König, Kamphausen, Cheyne, Driver, Briggs, Bevan, Behrmann, etc. [153] Renan, _History of Israel_, iv. 354. He adds, "L'essence du genre c'est le pseudonyme, ou si l'on veu…
665 wordsSECTION 41_Internal Evidence_
But, as Hengstenberg, the chief supporter of the authenticity of the Book of Daniel, well observes,[159] "Prophecy can never entirely separate itself from the ground of the present, _to influence which is always its more immediate object_, and to which therefore it must constantly construct a bridge.[160] On this also …
789 wordsSECTION 42_Internal Evidence_
IV. Another unique and abnormal feature is found in the close and accurate _chronological calculations_ in which the Book of Daniel abounds. We shall see later on that the dates of the Maccabean reconsecration of the Temple and the ruin of Antiochus Epiphanes are indicated _almost to the day_. The numbers of prophecy a…
711 wordsSECTION 43_Internal Evidence_
The conclusion is obvious; and it is equally obvious that, when we suppose the name of Daniel to have been assumed, and the assumption to have been supported by an antique colouring, we do not for a moment charge the unknown author--who may very well have been Onias IV.--with any dishonesty. Indeed, it appears to us th…
552 wordsSECTION 44Footnotes:
[158] Any apparently requisite modification of these words will be considered hereafter. [159] _On Revelations_, vol. i., p. 408 (E. Tr.). [160] "Dient bei ihnen die Zukunft der Gegenwart, und ist selbst fortgesetzte _Gegenwart_" (Behrmann, _Dan._, p. xi). [161] See M. de Pressensé, _Hist. des Trois Prem. Siècles_, …
321 wordsSECTION 45Chapter Viii
_EVIDENCE IN FAVOUR OF THE GENUINENESS UNCERTAIN AND INADEQUATE_ We have seen that there are many circumstances which force upon us the gravest doubts as to the authenticity of the Book of Daniel. We now proceed to examine the evidence urged in its favour, and deemed adequate to refute the conclusion that in its pres…
975 wordsSECTION 46Chapter Viii
Again, the author of the forged letter at the beginning of the Second Book of Maccabees--"the work" says Hengstenberg, "of an arrant impostor"[182]--attributes the collection of certain books first to Nehemiah, and then, when they had been lost, to Judas Maccabæus (2 Macc. ii. 13, 14). The canonicity of the Old Testame…
807 wordsSECTION 47Chapter Viii
We must postpone a closer examination of the questions as to the "four kingdoms" intended by the writer, and of his curious and enigmatic chronological calculations; but we must reject at once the monstrous assertion--excusable in the days of Sir Isaac Newton, but which has now become unwise and even portentous--that "…
718 wordsSECTION 48Footnotes:
[176] Hävernick is another able and sincere supporter; but Droysen truly says (_Gesch. d. Hellenismus_, ii. 211), "Die Hävernickschen Auffassung kann kein vernunftiger Mensch bestimmen." [177] See Grimm, _Comment., zum I. Buch der Makk., Einleit._, xvii.; Mövers in _Bonner Zeitschr._, Heft 13, pp. 31 ff.; Stähelin, _E…
420 wordsSECTION 49Chapter Ix
_EXTERNAL EVIDENCE AND RECEPTION INTO THE CANON_ The reception of the Book of Daniel anywhere into the Canon might be regarded as an argument in favour of its authenticity, if the case of the Books of Jonah and Ecclesiastes did not sufficiently prove that canonicity, while it does constitute a proof of the value and …
762 wordsSECTION 50Chapter Ix
It is a serious abuse of argument to pretend, as is done by Hengstenberg, by Dr. Pusey, and by many of their feebler followers, that "there are few books whose Divine authority is so fully established by the testimony of the New Testament, and in particular by our Lord Himself, as the Book of Daniel."[200] It is to the…
670 wordsSECTION 51Chapter Ix
The story, which is a beautiful and an interesting one, runs as follows:-- On his way from Tyre, after capturing Gaza, Alexander decided to advance to Jerusalem. The news threw Jaddua the high priest into an agony of alarm. He feared that the king was displeased with the Jews, and would inflict severe vengeance upon t…
755 wordsSECTION 52Chapter Ix
I pass over as meaningless Hengstenberg's arguments in favour of the genuineness of the Book from the predominance of symbolism; from the moderation of tone towards Nebuchadrezzar; from the political gifts shown by the writer; and from his prediction that the Messianic Kingdom would at once appear after the death of An…
702 wordsSECTION 53Chapter Ix
But if it be thought extraordinary that a pseudepigraphic prophecy should have been admitted into the Canon at all, even when placed low among the _Kethubîm_, and if it be argued that the Jews would never have conferred such an honour on such a composition, the answer is that even when compared with such fine books as …
786 wordsSECTION 54Footnotes:
From Dan. viii. 14 it seems that the author had lived till the cleansing of the Temple after its pollution by the Seleucid King (1 Macc. iv. 42-58). For though the Maccabean uprising is only called "a little help" (xi. 34), this is in comparison with the splendid future triumph and epiphany to which he looked forward. …
658 wordsSECTION 55_Summary And Conclusion_
The contents of the previous sections may be briefly summarised. I. The objections to the authenticity and genuineness of Daniel do not arise, as is falsely asserted, from any _a-priori_ objection to admit to the full the reality either of miracles or of genuine prediction. Hundreds of critics who have long abandoned …
756 wordsSECTION 56_Summary And Conclusion_
VII. Its author seems to accept for himself the view of his age that the spirit of genuine prophecy had departed for evermore.[217] He speaks of himself as a student of the older prophecies, and alludes to the Scriptures as an authoritative Canon--_Hassepharîm_, "_the_ books." His views and practices as regards three d…
987 wordsSECTION 57_The Prelude_
[214] It is alluded to about B.C. 140 in the Sibylline Oracles (iii. 391-416), and in 1 Macc. ii. 59, 60. [215] Jos., _Antt._, X. xi. 7. [216] Ewald (_Hist. of Israel_, v. 208) thinks that the author had read Baruch in Hebrew, because Dan. ix. 4-19 is an abbreviation of Baruch i. 15-ii. 17. [217] Psalm lxxiv. 9; 1 M…
655 wordsSECTION 58_The Prelude_
There seems then to be, on the very threshold, every indication of an historic inaccuracy such as could not have been committed if the historic Daniel had been the true author of this Book; and we are able, with perfect clearness, to point to the passages by which the Maccabean writer was misled into a mistaken inferen…
682 wordsSECTION 59_The Prelude_
But among these captives were four young Jews named Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Their very names were a witness not only to their nationality, but to their religion. Daniel means "God is my judge"; Hananiah, "Jehovah is gracious"; Mishael (perhaps), "who is equal to God?"[235] Azariah, "God is a helper." …
771 wordsSECTION 60_The Prelude_
It may be doubtful whether such views as to ceremonial defilement were already developed at the beginning of the Babylonian Captivity.[244] The Maccabean persecution left them ingrained in the habits of the people, and Josephus tells us a contemporary story which reminds us of that of Daniel and his companions. He says…
769 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.