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| | The book of '''Daniel''' [Hebrew: '''דניאל'''] Is ranked by the Jews in that division of their Bible called the [[Ketuvim]], or Writings.<ref name="d"/> It consists of two distinct parts.<ref name="d"/> The first part, consisting of the first six chapters, is chiefly historical; and the second part, consisting of the remaining six chapters, is chiefly prophetical.<ref name="d"/> | | The book of '''Daniel''' [Hebrew: '''דניאל'''] Is ranked by the Jews in that division of their Bible called the [[Ketuvim]], or Writings.<ref name="d"/> It consists of two distinct parts.<ref name="d"/> The first part, consisting of the first six chapters, is chiefly historical; and the second part, consisting of the remaining six chapters, is chiefly prophetical.<ref name="d"/> |
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| − | The historical part of the book treats of the period of the Captivity.<ref name="d"/> Daniel is "the historian of the Captivity, the writer who alone furnishes any series of events for that dark and dismal period during which the harp of Israel hung on the trees that grew by the Euphrates.<ref name="d"/> His narrative may be said in general to intervene between Kings and Chronicles on the one hand and Ezra on the other, or (more strictly) to fill out the sketch which the author of the Chronicles gives in a single verse in his last chapter: `And them that had escaped from the sword carried he [i.e., Nebuchadnezzar] away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia'" (2 Chronicles 36:20).<ref name="d"/> | + | The historical part of the book treats of the period of the Captivity, writen around 530 B.C.<ref name="d"/> Daniel is "the historian of the Captivity, the writer who alone furnishes any series of events for that dark and dismal period during which the harp of Israel hung on the trees that grew by the Euphrates.<ref name="d"/> His narrative may be said in general to intervene between Kings and Chronicles on the one hand and Ezra on the other, or (more strictly) to fill out the sketch which the author of the Chronicles gives in a single verse in his last chapter: `And them that had escaped from the sword carried he [i.e., Nebuchadnezzar] away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia'" (2 Chronicles 36:20).<ref name="d"/> |
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| − | The prophetical part consists of three visions and one lengthened prophetical communication.<ref name="d">{{Easton|Daniel}}</ref> | + | The prophetical part consists of three visions and one lengthened prophetical communication.<ref name="d">{{Easton|Daniel}}</ref> Some suggest that the second part was written hundreds of years later, perhaps based on an oral tradition, but it was nevertheless certainly written well before Christ. |
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| | ==Prophecy== | | ==Prophecy== |
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| | These visions are of a Ram, a He-Goat, and a little horn. These are viewed often as Medo-Persia, Greece, and papal Rome. | | These visions are of a Ram, a He-Goat, and a little horn. These are viewed often as Medo-Persia, Greece, and papal Rome. |
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| − | == Greek and Persian word == | + | == Greek and Persian words == |
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| | The Book of Daniel contains words having either Greek or Persian origin. This has caused some continuing dispute among historians and theologians in explaining how such words, particularly the Greek ones, ended up in the predominantly Hebrew Book of Daniel. | | The Book of Daniel contains words having either Greek or Persian origin. This has caused some continuing dispute among historians and theologians in explaining how such words, particularly the Greek ones, ended up in the predominantly Hebrew Book of Daniel. |