King James Version
Daniel
Daniel in the King James Version (1769), public domain in the United States.
Background and History
The chapters above are the King James text. This essay is the setting of Daniel: who is said to have written it, when and where, what happens in it, and how the text has been copied.
At a Glance
| Author | Daniel, a Jewish exile in Babylon, in the book’s first person and in Jesus’ words. The Talmud says the men of the Great Assembly wrote it. Most critical scholars date the final book to about 167–164 BC. |
|---|---|
| Date | Traditional about 530 BC. Most critical scholars date the visions to about 167–164 BC, under Antiochus IV. One survey gives beginning 530 BC, with some parts possibly much later. |
| Place written | Babylon, near Hillah, Iraq, in the traditional view. |
| Genre | Court narratives and apocalyptic visions, partly in Aramaic. |
| Chapters | 12 |
| Verses | 357 in the King James Version |
| Key verse | Daniel 7:13–14Daniel 7:13 · King James VersionI saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.Daniel 7:13 · King James VersionOpen the Source |
Who Wrote It
Daniel 1–6 are told about Daniel in the third person. Daniel 7–12 are visions in Daniel’s first person, starting in Daniel 7:1Daniel 7:1 · King James VersionIn the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters.
Daniel 7:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source (1). Jesus speaks of the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, in Matthew 24:15Matthew 24:15 · King James VersionWhen ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
Matthew 24:15 · King James VersionOpen the Source. The Talmud says the men of the Great Assembly wrote Daniel. (2) In the Hebrew Bible Daniel is among the Writings, not the Prophets.
Most critical scholars date the book to the Maccabean crisis, about 167–164 BC. They argue that the visions of Daniel 8 and Daniel 11 describe Antiochus IV in detail and then become vague, which they read as prophecy after the event. They also cite late Hebrew and Greek loanwords. Traditional scholars answer that predictive prophecy is possible, that Daniel was found at Qumran in copies close to the critical date, and that some historical details fit an earlier writer. This is a real dispute, and the answer depends in part on whether prophecy can predict.
Who It Is Not
The Greek Additions to Daniel, such as Susanna and Bel and the Dragon, are not part of the Protestant canon.
When and Where
Bible Gateway gives beginning 530 BC, with some parts possibly much later. (6) Daniel 1:1Daniel 1:1 · King James VersionIn the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.
Daniel 1:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source (1) opens in the third year of Jehoiakim.
Audience and Setting
Jews under foreign empires. The purpose is to show God’s sovereignty over kings and the coming kingdom of God.
Rulers at the Time
Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius the Median, and Cyrus are named. Darius the Median is not known from other sources by that name, and scholars propose identifications. Reign dates were not checked for this essay and are omitted.
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Court stories in Babylon | Daniel 1–6 |
| Visions of empires | Daniel 7–8 |
| Seventy weeks | Daniel 9 |
| Final vision | Daniel 10–12 |
| Composition | Traditional about 530 BC. Critical about 167–164 BC. (6) |
Places in This Book
| Ancient name | Modern-day location | References |
|---|---|---|
| Babylon | Ruins near Hillah, Iraq. | Daniel 1:1Daniel 1:1 · King James VersionIn the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.Daniel 1:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source |
| Shushan | Susa, near Shush, Iran. | Daniel 8:2Daniel 8:2 · King James VersionAnd I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.Daniel 8:2 · King James VersionOpen the Source |
What Is Happening
Daniel 1–6 are stories of Daniel and his friends: the king’s food, the statue dream, the furnace, the madness of Nebuchadnezzar, the writing on the wall, and the lions’ den. Daniel 7–12 are visions of four beasts, the ram and goat, seventy weeks, and the end.
Key Themes
God rules over kingdoms in Daniel 4:17Daniel 4:17 · King James VersionThis matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.
Daniel 4:17 · King James VersionOpen the Source. Faithfulness under pressure in Daniel 3:17–18Daniel 3:17–18 · King James Version3:17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
3:18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
Daniel 3:17–18 · King James VersionOpen the Source. The Son of man in Daniel 7:13–14Daniel 7:13–14 · King James Version7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
7:14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
Daniel 7:13–14 · King James VersionOpen the Source. Resurrection in Daniel 12:2Daniel 12:2 · King James VersionAnd many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Daniel 12:2 · King James VersionOpen the Source.
Apologetics Questions
The date is the main apologetics question, stated above. Belshazzar was once thought unhistorical, and later cuneiform texts showed he was a co-regent. This page did not check a museum page for those texts and names them only as known.
How the Book Points to Christ
Jesus calls himself the Son of man and applies Daniel 7:13Daniel 7:13 · King James VersionI saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
Daniel 7:13 · King James VersionOpen the Source to himself before the high priest in Mark 14:62Mark 14:62 · King James VersionAnd Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
Mark 14:62 · King James VersionOpen the Source. The Son of man receives worship and an everlasting kingdom in Daniel 7:14Daniel 7:14 · King James VersionAnd there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
Daniel 7:14 · King James VersionOpen the Source. Jesus is God.
Text and Manuscripts
Daniel is among the books found at Qumran. (7) Part of the book is in Aramaic, from Daniel 2:4Daniel 2:4 · King James VersionThen spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.
Daniel 2:4 · King James VersionOpen the Source to Daniel 7:28Daniel 7:28 · King James VersionHitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.
Daniel 7:28 · King James VersionOpen the Source.
Canon Reception
Received in Melito’s and Athanasius’s lists. (5) (4) (3)
Further Reading
References
- Book of Daniel, 1:1; 7:1; 9:2; 12:4Daniel 1:1 · King James Version
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.
Daniel 1:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source. King James Version - Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 15a, 15a (The William Davidson English on Sefaria is copyrighted. This page paraphrases it and does not reprint it. The page continues the list of writers and the debate about it.)
- Against Apion, 1.8Josephus, Against Apion 1.8 · William Whiston
For we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from, and contradicting one another: [as the Greeks have:] but only twenty two books: which contain the records of all the past times: which are justly believed to be divine. And of them five belong to Moses: which contain his laws, and the traditions of the origin of mankind, till his death.
Josephus, Against Apion 1.8 · William WhistonOpen the Source (Flavius Josephus, Against Apion 1.8, translated by William Whiston. Josephus counts twenty-two books: five of Moses, thirteen of the prophets from Moses to Artaxerxes, and four of hymns and precepts.) - Festal Letter 39, 39.4–5 (Athanasius of Alexandria, AD 367, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series, vol. 4, on New Advent. The letter lists twenty-two Old Testament books and the twenty-seven books of the New Testament, and places Esther among books to be read rather than in the canon.)
- Church History, Book 4, 4.26.13–14 (Eusebius, Church History 4.26.13–14, quoting Melito of Sardis’s list of Old Testament books. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series, vol. 1, on New Advent. Melito’s list does not name Esther.)
- When Was Each Book of the Bible Written?, Daniel (Jacob Edson, Bible Gateway, 16 September 2024. The survey gives Daniel as beginning 530 BC, with some parts possibly much later. It is one editor’s approximation, not a manuscript date.)
- Dead Sea Scrolls, introduction, Biblical manuscriptsDead Sea Scrolls, biblical manuscripts · Israel Antiquities Authority
Among the Scrolls are partial or complete copies of every book in the Hebrew Bible (except the book of Esther).
Dead Sea Scrolls, biblical manuscripts · Israel Antiquities AuthorityOpen the Source (Israel Antiquities Authority. Biblical manuscripts from the Qumran caves date from the third century BC into the first century AD, and every book of the Hebrew Bible except Esther is represented.)
The King James Version (1769) is in the public domain in the United States.