THE EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE.
_Crown 8vo, cloth, price 7s. 6d. each vol._
FIRST SERIES, 1887-8.
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.
SECOND SERIES, 1888-9.
Galatians.
By Prof. G. G. FINDLAY, B.A.
The Pastoral Epistles.
By Rev. A. PLUMMER, D.D.
Isaiah I.-XXXIX.
By Prof. G. A. SMITH, D.D. Vol. I.
The Book of Revelation.
By Prof. W. MILLIGAN, D.D.
1 Corinthians.
By Prof. MARCUS DODS, D.D.
The Epistles of St. John.
By Rt. Rev. W. ALEXANDER, D.D.
THIRD SERIES, 1889-90.
Judges and Ruth.
By R. A. WATSON, M.A., D.D.
Jeremiah.
By Rev. C. J. BALL, M.A.
Isaiah XL.-LXVI.
By Prof. G. A. SMITH, D.D. Vol. II.
St. Matthew.
By Rev. J. MONRO GIBSON, D.D.
Exodus.
By Very Rev. the Dean of Armagh.
St. Luke.
By Rev. H. BURTON, M.A.
FOURTH SERIES, 1890-1.
Ecclesiastes.
By Rev. SAMUEL COX, D.D.
St. James and St. Jude.
By Rev. A. PLUMMER, D.D.
Proverbs.
By Rev. R. F. HORTON, D.D.
Leviticus.
By Rev. S. H. KELLOGG, D.D.
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By Prof. M. DODS, D.D. Vol. I.
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By Prof. STOKES, D.D. Vol. I.
FIFTH SERIES, 1891-2.
The Psalms.
By A. MACLAREN, D.D. Vol. I.
1 and 2 Thessalonians.
By JAMES DENNEY, D.D.
The Book of Job.
By R. A. WATSON, M.A., D.D.
Ephesians.
By Prof. G. G. FINDLAY, B.A.
The Gospel of St. John,
By Prof. M. DODS, D.D. Vol. II.
The Acts of the Apostles.
By Prof. STOKES, D.D. Vol. II.
SIXTH SERIES, 1892-3.
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.
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By A. MACLAREN, D.D. Vol. II.
The Epistles of St. Peter.
By Prof. RAWSON LUMBY, D.D.
SEVENTH SERIES, 1893-4.
2 Kings.
By Ven. Archdeacon FARRAR.
Romans.
By H. C. G. MOULE, M.A.
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By Prof. W. H. BENNETT, M.A.
2 Corinthians.
By JAMES DENNEY, D.D.
Numbers.
By R. A. WATSON, M.A., D.D.
The Psalms.
By A. MACLAREN, D.D. Vol. III.
EIGHTH SERIES, 1895-6.
Daniel.
By Ven. Archdeacon FARRAR.
The Book of Jeremiah.
By Prof. W. H. BENNETT, M.A.
Deuteronomy.
By Prof. ANDREW HARPER, B.D.
The Song of Solomon and Lamentations.
By Prof. W. F. ADENEY, M.A.
Ezekiel.
By Prof. JOHN SKINNER, M.A.
The Minor Prophets.
By Prof. G. A. SMITH, D.D. Two Vols.
THE BOOK OF DANIEL
BY
F. W. FARRAR, D.D., F.R.S.
LATE FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE; ARCHDEACON OF
WESTMINSTER
=London=
HODDER AND STOUGHTON
27, PATERNOSTER ROW
MDCCCXCV
_Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury._
CONTENTS
PART I
_INTRODUCTION_
CHAPTER I
PAGE
THE HISTORIC EXISTENCE OF THE PROPHET DANIEL 3
CHAPTER II
GENERAL SURVEY OF THE BOOK 13
1. THE LANGUAGE 13
2. UNITY 24
3. GENERAL TONE 27
4. STYLE 29
5. STANDPOINT OF ITS AUTHOR 31
6. MORAL ELEMENT 34
CHAPTER III
PECULIARITIES OF THE HISTORICAL SECTION 39
CHAPTER IV
GENERAL STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK 63
CHAPTER V
THE THEOLOGY OF THE BOOK 67
CHAPTER VI
PECULIARITIES OF THE APOCALYPTIC AND PROPHETIC
SECTION OF THE BOOK 71
CHAPTER VII
INTERNAL EVIDENCE 78
CHAPTER VIII
EVIDENCE IN FAVOUR OF THE GENUINENESS UNCERTAIN
AND INADEQUATE 88
CHAPTER IX
EXTERNAL EVIDENCE AND RECEPTION INTO THE
CANON 98
CHAPTER X
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 113
PART II
_COMMENTARY ON THE HISTORIC SECTION_
CHAPTER I
THE PRELUDE 123
CHAPTER II
THE DREAM-IMAGE OF RUINED EMPIRES 141
CHAPTER III
THE IDOL OF GOLD, AND THE FAITHFUL THREE 167
CHAPTER IV
THE BABYLONIAN CEDAR, AND THE STRICKEN DESPOT 184
CHAPTER V
THE FIERY INSCRIPTION 203
CHAPTER VI
STOPPING THE MOUTHS OF LIONS 218
PART III
_THE PROPHETIC SECTION OF THE BOOK_
CHAPTER I
VISION OF THE FOUR WILD BEASTS 233
CHAPTER II
THE RAM AND THE HE-GOAT 252
CHAPTER III
THE SEVENTY WEEKS 268
CHAPTER IV
INTRODUCTION TO THE CONCLUDING VISION 292
CHAPTER V
AN ENIGMATIC PROPHECY PASSING INTO DETAILS OF
THE REIGN OF ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES 299
CHAPTER VI
THE EPILOGUE 319
APPENDIX
APPROXIMATE CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES 333
GENEALOGICAL TABLE OF THE LAGIDÆ, PTOLEMIES,
AND SELEUCIDÆ 334
AUTHORITIES CONSULTED
COMMENTARIES AND TREATISES
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,
Polychronius, etc. (Mai, _Script. Vet. Nov. Coll._, i.).
The Scholastic Commentary attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas is spurious.
The chief Commentaries of the Reformation period are those by:--
Luther, _Auslegung d. Proph. Dan._, 1530-46 (_Opp. Germ._, vi., ed.
Walch.)
Œcolampadius, _In Dan. libri duo_. Basle, 1530.
Melancthon, _Comm. in Dan._ Wittenburg, 1543.
Calvin, _Prælect. in Dan._ Geneva, 1563.
Modern Commentaries are numerous; among them we may mention those by:--
Newton, _Observations upon the Prophecies_. London, 1733.
Bertholdt, _Daniel_. Erlangen, 1806-8.
Rosenmüller, _Scholia_. 1832.
Hävernick. 1832 and 1838.
Hengstenberg. 1831.
There are Commentaries by Von Lengerke, 1835; Maurer, 1838; Hitzig,
1850; Ewald, 1867; Kliefoth, 1868; Keil, 1869; Kranichfeld,
1868; Kamphausen, 1868; Meinhold (_Kurzgefasster Kommentar_),
1889; Auberlen, 1857; Archdeacon Rose and Prof. J. M. Fuller
(_Speaker's Commentary_), 1876; Rev. H. J. Deane (Bishop Ellicott's
_Commentary_), 1884; Zöckler (Lange's _Bibelwerk_), 1889; A. A. Bevan
(_Cambridge_), 1893; Meinhold, _Beiträge_, 1888.
The latest Commentary which has appeared is that by Hauptpastor
Behrmann, in the _Handkommentar z. Alten Testament._ Göttingen, 1894.
Discussions in the various Introductions (_Einleitungen_, etc.) by
Bleek, De Wette, Keil, Stähelin, Reuss, Cornely, Dr. S. Davidson,
Kleinert, Cornill, König, etc.
LIVES OF DANIEL
Pseudo-Epiphanius, _Opera_, ii. 243.
H. J. Deane, _Daniel_ (Men of the Bible). 1892.
THERE ARE ARTICLES ON DANIEL IN
Winer's _Realwörterbuch_, Second Edition.
Delitzsch, in Herzog's _Real-Encyclopädie_.
Graf, in Schenkel's _Bibel-Lexicon_, i. 564.
Bishop Westcott, in Dr. W. Smith's _Bible Dictionary_, New Edition.
1893.
Hamburger, _Real-Encyclopädie_, ii., _s.v._ "Geheimlehre," p. 265;
_s.vv._ "Daniel," pp. 223-225; and _Heiliges Schriftthum_.
TREATISES
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 Literature of the Old
Testament_, pp. 458-483. 1891.
Prof. S. Leathes, in _Book by Book_, pp. 241-251.
C. von Orelli, _Alttestamentliche Weissagung_, p. 454. Wien, 1882.
Meinhold, _Die Geschichtlichen Hagiographen_ (Strack and Zöckler,
_Kurzgefasster Kommentar_, 1889).
Meinhold, _Erklärung des Buches Daniels_. 1889.
TREATISES OR DISCUSSIONS BY
Dr. Pusey, _Daniel the Prophet_. 1864.
T. R. Birks, _The Later Visions of Daniel_. 1846.
Ellicott, _Horæ Apocalypticæ_. 1844.
Tregelles, _Remarks on the Prophetic Visions of Daniel_. 1852.
Hilgenfeld, _Die Propheten Ezra u. Daniel_. 1863.
Baxmann, _Stud. u. Krit._, iii. 489 ff. 1863.
Desprez, _Daniel_. 1865.
Hofmann, _Weissagung und Erfüllung_, i. 276-316.
Kuenen, _Prophets and Prophecy in Israel_, E. Tr. 1877.
Ewald, _Die Propheten des Alten Bundes_, iii. 298. 1868.
Hilgenfeld, _Die jüdische Apokalyptic_. 1857.
Lenormant, _La Divination chez les Chaldeans_. 1875.
Fabre d'Envieu, _Le livre du Prophète Daniel_. 1888.
Hebbelyuck, _De auctoritate libr. Danielis_. 1887.
Köhler, _Bibl. Geschichte_. 1893.
INSCRIPTIONS AND MONUMENTS
Babylonian, Persian, and Median inscriptions bearing on the Book of
Daniel are given by:--
Schrader, _Keilinschriften und d. A. T._, E. Tr., 1885-88; and in
_Records of the Past_. See too _Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum_.
Sayce, _The Higher Criticism_, pp. 497-537.
These inscriptions have been referred to also by Cornill, Nestle,
Nöldeke, Lagarde, etc.
HISTORIES AND OTHER BOOKS
Sketches and fragments of many ancient historians:--
Josephus, _Antiquitates Judaicæ_, ll. x., xi., xii.
The Books of Maccabees.
Prideaux, _Connection of the Old and New Testaments_, ed. Oxford. 1828.
Ewald, _Gesch. des Volkes Israel_. 1843-50.
Grätz, _Gesch. der Juden_, Second Edition. 1863.
Jost, _Gesch. d. Judenthums und seinen Sekten_, i. 90-116. Leipzig,
1857.
Herzfeld, _Gesch. des Volkes Israel_, ii. 416. 1863.
Van Oort, _Bible for Young People_, E. Tr. 1877.
Kittel, _Gesch. d. Hebräer_, ii. 1892.
Schürer, _Gesch. d. jüdischen Volkes_. Leipzig, 1890.
Jahn, _Hebrew Commonwealth_, E. Tr. 1828.
Droysen, _Gesch. d. Hellenismus_, ii. 211.
E. Meyer, _Gesch. d. Alterthums_, i.
SPECIAL TREATISES
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.
Fraidl, _Exegese d. 70 Wochen Daniels_. 1883.
Menken, _Die Monarchienbild_. 1887.
Kamphausen, _Das Buch Daniel in die neuere Geschichtsforschung_.
Leipzig, 1893.
Lennep, _De Zeventig Jaarweken van Daniel_. Utrecht, 1888.
Dr. M. Joël, _Notizen zum Buche Daniel_. Breslau, 1873.
Derenbourg, _Les Mots grecs dans le Livre biblique de Daniel_.
Mélanges Graux, 1888.
Cornill, _Die Siebzig Jahrwochen Daniels_. 1889.
Wolf, _Die Siebzig Wochen Daniels_. 1859.
Sanday, _Inspiration_ (Bampton Lectures). 1894.
Sayce, _Hibbert Lectures_. 1887.
Roszmann, _Die Makkabeische Erhebung_.
J. F. Hoffmann, _Antiochus IV_. (_Epiphanes_). 1873.
_Speaker's Commentary_ on Tobit, 1, 2 Maccabees, etc. 1888.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] The Commentary which passes as that of Saadia the Gaon is said to
be spurious. His genuine Commentary only exists in manuscript.
PART I
_INTRODUCTION_
Ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν περὶ τούτων ὡς εὗρον καὶ ἀνέγνων, οὕτως ἔγραψα· εἰ
δέ τις ἄλλως δοξάζειν βουλήσεται περὶ αὐτῶν ἀνέγκλητον ἐχέτω τὴν
ἐτερογνωμοσύνην.--JOSEPHUS, _Antt._, X. ii. 7.
CHAPTER I
_THE HISTORIC EXISTENCE OF THE PROPHET DANIEL_
"Trothe is the hiest thinge a man may kepe."--CHAUCER.
We propose in the following pages to examine the Book of the Prophet
Daniel by the same general methods which have been adopted in other
volumes of the Expositor's Bible. It may well happen that the
conclusions adopted as regards its origin and its place in the Sacred
Volume will not command the assent of all our readers. On the other
hand, we may feel a reasonable confidence that, even if some are
unable to accept the views at which we have arrived, and which we have
here endeavoured to present with fairness, they will still read them
with interest, as opinions which have been calmly and conscientiously
formed, and to which the writer has been led by strong conviction.
All Christians will acknowledge the sacred and imperious duty of
sacrificing every other consideration to the unbiassed acceptance of
that which we regard as truth. Further than this our readers will
find much to elucidate the Book of Daniel chapter by chapter, apart
from any questions which affect its authorship or age.
But I should like to say on the threshold that, though I am compelled
to regard the Book of Daniel as a work which, in its present form,
first saw the light in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes, and though I
believe that its six magnificent opening chapters were never meant
to be regarded in any other light than that of moral and religious
_Haggadoth_, yet no words of mine can exaggerate the value which
I attach to this part of our Canonical Scriptures. The Book, as
we shall see, has exercised a powerful influence over Christian
conduct and Christian thought. Its right to a place in the Canon is
undisputed and indisputable, and there is scarcely a single book
of the Old Testament which can be made more richly "profitable
for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, completely
furnished unto every good work." Such religious lessons are eminently
suitable for the aims of the Expositor's Bible. They are not in the
slightest degree impaired by those results of archæological discovery
and "criticism" which are now almost universally accepted by the
scholars of the Continent, and by many of our chief English critics.
Finally unfavourable to the authenticity, they are yet in no way
derogatory to the preciousness of this Old Testament Apocalypse.
* * * * *
The first question which we must consider is, "What is known about
the Prophet Daniel?"
I. If we accept as historical the particulars narrated of him in
this Book, it is clear that few Jews have ever risen to so splendid
an eminence. Under four powerful kings and conquerors, of three
different nationalities and dynasties, he held a position of high
authority among the haughtiest aristocracies of the ancient world. At
a very early age he was not only a satrap, but the Prince and Prime
Minister over _all_ the satraps in Babylonia and Persia; not only a
Magian, but the Head Magian, and Chief Governor over all the wise
men of Babylon. Not even Joseph, as the chief ruler over all the
house of Pharaoh, had anything like the extensive sway exercised by
the Daniel of this Book. He was placed by Nebuchadrezzar "over the
whole province of Babylon";[2] under Darius he was President of the
Board of Three to "whom all the satraps" sent their accounts;[3] and
he was continued in office and prosperity under Cyrus the Persian.[4]
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 sources of information, we
find much respecting him in the Apocrypha--"The Song of the Three
Children," "The Story of Susanna," and "Bel and the Dragon." But
these additions to the Canonical Books are avowedly valueless for any
historic purpose. They are romances, in which the vehicle of fiction is
used, in a manner which at all times was popular in Jewish literature,
to teach lessons of faith and conduct by the example of eminent
sages or saints.[5] The few other fictitious fragments preserved
by Fabricius have not the smallest importance.[6] Josephus, beyond
mentioning that Daniel and his three companions were of the family
of King Zedekiah,[7] adds nothing appreciable to our information. He
narrates the story of the Book, and in doing so adopts a somewhat
apologetic tone, as though he specially declined to vouch for its
historic exactness. For he says: "Let no one blame me for writing down
everything of this nature, as I find it in our ancient books: for as to
that matter, I have plainly assured those that think me defective in
any such point, or complain of my management, and have told them, in
the beginning of this history, that I intended to do no more than to
translate the Hebrew books into the Greek language, and promised them
to explain these facts, without adding anything to them of my own, or
taking anything away from them."[8]
IV. In the Talmud, again, we find nothing historical. Daniel is
always mentioned as a champion against idolatry, and his wisdom is
so highly esteemed, that, "if all the wise men of the heathen," we
are told, "were on one side, and Daniel on the other, Daniel would
still prevail."[9] He is spoken of as an example of God's protection
of the innocent, and his three daily prayers are taken as our rule
of life.[10] To him are applied the verses of Lam. iii. 55-57: "I
called upon Thy name, O Lord, out of the lowest pit.... Thou drewest
near in the day that I called: Thou saidst, Fear not. O Lord, Thou
hast pleaded the causes of my soul; Thou hast redeemed my life."
We are assured that he was of Davidic descent; obtained permission
for the return of the exiles; survived till the rebuilding of the
Temple; lived to a great age, and finally died in Palestine.[11]
Rav even went so far as to say, "If there be any like the Messiah
among the living, it is our Rabbi the Holy: if among the dead,
it is Daniel."[12] In the _Avoth_ of Rabbi Nathan it is stated
that Daniel exercised himself in benevolence by endowing brides,
following funerals, and giving alms. One of the Apocryphal legends
respecting him has been widely spread. It tells us that, when he
was a second time cast into the den of lions under Cyrus, and was
fasting from lack of food, the Prophet Habakkuk was taken by a hair
of his head and carried by the angel of the Lord to Babylon, to give
to Daniel the dinner which he had prepared for his reapers.[13] It
is with reference to this _Haggada_ that in the catacombs Daniel is
represented in the lions' den standing naked between two lions--an
emblem of the soul between sin and death--and that a youth with a pot
of food is by his side.
There is a Persian apocalypse of Daniel translated by Merx (_Archiv_,
i. 387), and there are a few worthless Mohammedan legends about him
which are given in D'Herbelot's _Bibliothèque orientale_. They only
serve to show how widely extended was the reputation which became
the nucleus of strange and miraculous stories. As in the case of
Pythagoras and Empedocles, they indicate the deep reverence which the
ideal of his character inspired. They are as the fantastic clouds
which gather about the loftiest mountain peaks. In later days he
seems to have been comparatively forgotten.[14]
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 instances.[15]
Turning to the Old Testament itself, we have reason for surprise both
in its allusions and its silences. One only of the sacred writers
refers to Daniel, and that is Ezekiel. In one passage (xxviii. 3)
the Prince of Tyrus is apostrophised in the words, "_Behold, thou
art wiser than Daniel_; there is no secret that they can hide from
thee." In the other (xiv. 14, 20) the word of the Lord declares to
the guilty city, that "though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and
Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their
righteousness"; "they shall deliver neither son nor daughter."[16]
The last words may be regarded as a general allusion, and therefore
we may pass over the circumstance that Daniel--who was undoubtedly
a eunuch in the palace of Babylon, and who is often pointed to as a
fulfilment of the stern prophecy of Isaiah to Hezekiah[17]--could
never have had either son or daughter.
But in other respects the allusion is surprising.
i. It was very unusual among the Jews to elevate their contemporaries
to such a height of exaltation, and it is indeed startling that
Ezekiel should thus place his youthful contemporary on such a
pinnacle as to unite his name to those of Noah the antediluvian
patriarch and the mysterious man of Uz.
ii. We might, with Theodoret, Jerome, and Kimchi, account for the
mention of Daniel's name at all in this connection by the peculiar
circumstances of his life;[18] but there is little probability in the
suggestions of bewildered commentators as to the reason why his name
should be placed _between_ those of Noah and Job. It is difficult,
with Hävernick, to recognise any _climax_ in the order;[19] nor can
it be regarded as quite satisfactory to say, with Delitzsch, that
the collocation is due to the fact that "as Noah was a righteous man
of the old world, and Job of the ideal world, Daniel represented
immediately the contemporaneous world."[20] If Job was a purely ideal
instance of exemplary goodness, why may not Daniel have been the same?
To some critics the allusion has appeared so strange that they have
referred it to an imaginary Daniel who had lived at the Court of
Nineveh during the Assyrian exile;[21] or to some mythic hero who
belonged to ancient days--perhaps, like Melchizedek, a contemporary
of the ruin of the cities of the Plain.[22] Ewald tries to urge
something for the former conjecture; yet neither for it nor for the
latter is there any tittle of real evidence.[23] This, however, would
not be decisive against the hypothesis, since in 1 Kings iv. 31 we
have references to men of pre-eminent wisdom respecting whom no
breath of tradition has come down to us.[24]
iii. But if we accept the Book of Daniel as literal history, the
allusion of Ezekiel becomes still more difficult to explain; for
Daniel must have been not only a contemporary of the prophet of the
Exile, but a very youthful one. We are told--a difficulty to which we
shall subsequently allude--that Daniel was taken captive in the third
year of Jehoiakim (Dan. i. 1), about the year B.C. 606. Ignatius
says that he was twelve years old when he foiled the elders; and the
narrative shows that he could not have been much older when taken
captive.[25] If Ezekiel's prophecy was uttered B.C. 584, Daniel at
that time could only have been twenty-two: if it was uttered as late
as B.C. 572,[26] Daniel would still have been only thirty-four, and
therefore little more than a youth in Jewish eyes. It is undoubtedly
surprising that among Orientals, who regard age as the chief passport
to wisdom, a living youth should be thus canonised between the
Patriarch of the Deluge and the Prince of Uz.
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, and Malachi; and
in the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah, which give us the details of the
Return. No post-exilic prophets seem to know anything of the Book of
Daniel.[27] Their expectations of Israel's future are very different
from his.[28] The silence of Ezra is specially astonishing. It has
often been conjectured that it was Daniel who showed to Cyrus the
prophecies of Isaiah.[29] Certainly it is stated that he held the
very highest position in the Court of the Persian King; yet neither
does Ezra mention his existence, nor does Nehemiah--himself a high
functionary in the Court of Artaxerxes--refer to his illustrious
predecessor. Daniel outlived the first return of the exiles under
Zerubbabel, and he did not avail himself of this opportunity to
revisit the land and desolate sanctuary of his fathers which he
loved so well.[30] We might have assumed that patriotism so burning
as his would not have preferred to stay at Babylon, or at Shushan,
when the priests and princes of his people were returning to the
Holy City. Others of great age faced the perils of the Restoration;
and if he stayed behind to be of greater use to his countrymen, we
cannot account for the fact that he is not distantly alluded to in
the record which tells how "the chief of the fathers, _with all
those whose spirit God had raised_, rose up to go to build the House
of the Lord which is in Jerusalem."[31] That the difficulty was felt
is shown by the Mohammedan legend that Daniel _did_ return with
Ezra,[32] and that he received the office of Governor of Syria, from
which country he went back to Susa, where his tomb is still yearly
visited by crowds of adoring pilgrims.
v. If we turn to the New Testament, the name of Daniel only occurs in
the reference to "the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel
the prophet."[33] The Book of Revelation does not name him, but is
profoundly influenced by the Book of Daniel both in its form and in
the symbols which it adopts.[34]
vi. In the Apocrypha Daniel is passed over in complete silence among
the lists of Hebrew heroes enumerated by Jesus the son of Sirach. We
are even told that "neither was there a man born like unto Joseph, a
leader of his brethren, a stay of the people" (Ecclus. xlix. 15). This
is the more singular because not only are the achievements of Daniel
under four heathen potentates greater than those of Joseph under one
Pharaoh, but also several of the stories of Daniel at once remind us of
the story of Joseph, and even appear to have been written with silent
reference to the youthful Hebrew and his fortunes as an Egyptian slave
who was elevated to be governor of the land of his exile.
FOOTNOTES:
[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 Talmud_, ii. 19-27, 921-934. The first two forms of the
words are Aramaic; the third was a Hebrew form in use among the Jews
in Babylonia. The word is derived from נָגַד, "to say" or "explain."
_Halacha_ was the rule of religious praxis, a sort of Directorium
Judaicum: _Haggada_ was the result of free religious reflection. See
further Strack, _Einl. in den Thalmud_, iv. 122.
[6] Fabricius, _Cod. Pseudepigr. Vet. Test._, i. 1124.
[7] Jos., _Antt._, X. xi. 7. But Pseudo-Epiphanius (_De Vit. Dan._,
x.) says: Γέγονε τῶν ἐξόχων τῆς βασιλικῆς ὑπηρεσίας. So too the
_Midrash_ on Ruth, 7.
[8] Jos., _Antt._, X. x. 6.
[9] _Yoma_, f. 77.
[10] _Berachôth_, f. 31.
[11] _Sanhedrin_, f. 93. _Midrash Rabba_ on Ruth, 7, etc., quoted by
Hamburger, _Real-Encyclopädie_, i. 225.
[12] _Kiddushin_, f. 72, 6; Hershon, _Genesis acc. to the Talmud_, p.
471.
[13] Bel and the Dragon, 33-39. It seems to be an old Midrashic
legend. It is quoted by Dorotheus and Pseudo-Epiphanius, and referred
to by some of the Fathers. Eusebius supposes another Habakkuk and
another Daniel; but "anachronisms, literary extravagances, or
legendary character are obvious on the face of such narratives. Such
faults as these, though valid against any pretensions to the rank
of authentic history, do not render the stories less effective as
pieces of Haggadic satire, or less interesting as preserving vestiges
of a cycle of popular legends relating to Daniel" (Rev. C. J. Ball,
_Speaker's Commentary_, on Apocrypha, ii. 350).
[14] Höttinger, _Hist. Orientalis_, p. 92.
[15] Ezra viii. 2; Neh. x. 6. In 1 Chron. iii. 1 Daniel is an
alternative name for David's son Chileab--perhaps a clerical error.
If so, the names Daniel, Mishael, Azariah, and Hananiah are only
found in the two post-exilic books, whence Kamphausen supposes them
to have been borrowed by the writer.
[16] No valid arguments can be adduced in favour of Winckler's
suggestion that Ezek. xxviii. 1-10, xiv. 14-20, are late
interpolations. In these passages the name is spelt דָּנִּאֵל; not,
as in our Book, דָנִיֵאל.
[17] Isa. xxxix. 7.
[18] See Rosenmüller, _Scholia_, _ad loc._
[19] _Ezek._, p. 207.
[20] Herzog, _R. E._, _s.v._
[21] Ewald, _Proph. d. Alt. Bund._, ii. 560; De Wette, _Einleit._, §
253.
[22] So Von Lengerke, _Dan._, xciii. ff.; Hitzig, _Dan._, viii.
[23] He is followed by Bunsen, _Gott in der Gesch._, i. 514.
[24] Reuss, _Heil. Schrift._, p. 570.
[25] Ignat., _Ad Magnes_, 3 (Long Revision: see Lightfoot, ii., §
ii., p. 749). So too in _Ps. Mar. ad Ignat._, 3. Lightfoot thinks
that this is a transference from Solomon (_l.c._, p. 727).
[26] See Ezek. xxix. 17.
[27] See Zech. ii. 6-10; Ezek. xxxvii. 9, etc.
[28] See Hag. ii. 6-9, 20-23; Zech. ii. 5-17, iii. 8-10; Mal. iii. 1.
[29] Ezra (i. 1) does not mention the striking prophecies of the
later Isaiah (xliv. 28, xlv. 1), but refers to Jeremiah only (xxv.
12, xxix. 10).
[30] Dan. x. 1-18, vi. 10.
[31] Ezra i. 5.
[32] D'Herbelot, _l.c._
[33] Matt. xxiv. 15; Mark xiii. 14. There can be of course no
certainty that the "spoken of by Daniel the prophet" is not the
comment of the Evangelist.
[34] See Elliott, _Horæ Apocalypticæ_, _passim_.