Daniel
Introduction
The Book of Daniel engages the reader’s imagination. We wonder how our ancestors could have been so naive as to believe that an old sage, called Daniel, had described centuries ahead of time all the ups and downs of history at the time of the Maccabees (Dn 11). But it is only an illusion. If we take the book to be historical, everything is unlikely and there are no links among the various chapters, nor any consistency in the person of Daniel, as a child (Dn 13), an adolescent (Dn 1), an adult (Dn 7) or when he is almost a hundred years old (Dn 5). Therefore, we have to find out what the author wanted to say.
The Hasidean Period
The Book of Daniel must have been written around the year 165 B.C. In all likelihood, its author belonged to the Hasidean (or Hasidim) movement that began twenty or thirty years before. It was going to renew the Jewish faith and the author was its witness.
To begin with, it seems that religion and faith in Israel had become rigid around the year 200 B.C. For two centuries, there had been a theocracy (a social system led by priests) and people lived in the past: the patriarchs, especially Moses, the laws and a religion planned in every detail with the temple and its liturgies at the center. Priests were at the top of the social pyramid. Their only concern was to maintain the established order. What about God’s promises and the expectation of a just world? The answer was that these promises had been fulfilled with the return from the Exile: the temple had been rebuilt, the people observed the law and there was nothing else to wait for.
However, the people were crushed by the large landowners who had undertaken to pass on the wealth of the country to the kings of Egypt. Yet, the people did not know how to react. Young people, especially priests, were looking for something new and they were only offered what came from Greek culture: sports, art and culture, international relations and money. Their Israelite heritage seemed passé and uninteresting to them. They became caught up in materialism and when the time of persecution came, they were ready to give up their now useless religious heritage.
It was then that the Hasideans (the pious ones) emigrated spiritually and went to the desert where they devoted themselves to praying and inner searching. They went straight to the prophetic books to discover the secrets of God’s work in the present and his plans for the future, because the priests had forgotten the prophets and, in their eyes, the Scripture that consecrated their preeminence was totally found in the law, the Canon of the time.
And people were relearning the art of hope. They yearned for revealed wisdom, rather than the wisdom taught in Proverbs and by sages. They cultivated the science of the periods of history. Wasn’t the time when God would reclaim the world at hand? They were no longer satisfied, like the prophets, with an era of justice but instead, they wanted another world, the only definitive world. They no longer accepted to disappear and they began to be interested in the fate of human beings, rather than just in the prosperity of Israel whose days have no end. Moreover, since they recalled the debates of the Greeks about the existence of the soul, they began to believe in the resurrection of the dead.
The Book of Daniel bears witness to this experience and it inaugurated the age of apocalyptic literature. Therefore, it contains secrets although they are not where readers are tempted to look for them. The title “Son of Man” the Gospels use for Jesus has its origin from the Book of Daniel.
1.8 At times, believers find it hard to observe the law, especially when they are living among those who do not share their faith. Are they no less free than their companions? This text declares that the divine commands are a source of life and strength for those who follow them.
Because of his faithfulness, Daniel will obtain a knowledge of divine things which is beyond human culture, as he will demonstrate; this gift from God is obtained only through faithfulness and sacrifice.
2.1 The Chaldean sages mixed science with magic to become prestigious in the eyes of their compatriots, quite given to superstition. To say someone was Chaldean meant he was a sage, a magician or a wizard. Such practices were forbidden to the Jews according to the law of Moses (Dt 18:9).
Here the Chaldean magicians are ridiculed. They claim to discover the future, but they are unable to say what the king’s dream was before he relates it.
27. Several writers of the time thought that history would bring a succession of four empires. Because they were pessimists, they thought that from the beginning of creation things had taken a turn for the worse, and would continue to worsen. They would express this by placing the golden age at the start, and the iron age—the age of weapons—at the end.
In this book, the four consecutive kingdoms are those of Nebuchadnezzar, the Medes, the Persians and that of Alexander of Macedonia, the conqueror (kingdom of iron). From the latter would come the Persian-Syrian rule which would be destroyed by an extraordinary intervention of God.
This is the lesson from the dream: People alone cannot straighten out history; the situation continues to worsen. However, God will intervene and will establish his own universal kingdom.
3.8 Being in the service of a pagan king involves some risks for a believing Jew. At times kings act in an overpowering and whimsical way and want to impose practices which are condemned by the law of God. In such a case, a believer—even if he occupies a high position—will have to sacrifice his career and even his life, in order to remain faithful to his God.
In verses 8-18 Daniel indicates what should be the believer’s attitude: rely on the help of God who can do all things; however, be aware that God is not obligated to work miracles.
The faults of those who do not know the true God are emphasized: they worship dead things. Gold takes the place of a god (a 30-meter statue would have cost a fortune, but is absolutely lifeless). These gods are speechless and lifeless, and yet, intelligent people kneel before them. Unlike the living God who hears his faithful people and saves them, idols do not know those who worship them and cannot help them (the flames of the fire kill the Chaldean soldiers).
28. Daniel’s prayer teaches the persecuted Jews what they must say to God: “Lord, remember your promises and forget our sins. Have compassion on your humiliated people and come to save us.”
Even though God works a miracle in this story, history records that many martyrs did not escape death. According to the Letter to the Hebrews 11:39, those martyrs were not granted the gift of seeing the fulfillment of God’s promises: God brought them to a better destiny after their death. So, Daniel is a model for believers when, in certain circumstances, they find themselves alone before a hostile crowd or tyrannical power. Daniel refuses to do what God condemns.
5.1 This story could be called: punishment for sacrilege. These words indicate the destiny of those who make fun of God:
– there comes an end which they cannot postpone;
– the fact that they did not do anything worthwhile during their lives is made clear;
– they disappear and so do their works with them.
Scripture knows that God reveals himself not only in events that show his goodness, but also in other events that are obvious signs that there is a God doing justice. Many times, those who mock God are struck with misfortunes which come as an answer to their insolence.
The author of these chapters is not too concerned about historical facts at the time during which these people were living. Cyrus is the one who conquered Babylon where Belshazzar died. He was followed by Darius.
7.9 The following detailed vision has the same content and the same meaning as the vision of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue (Chap. 2).
The four empires which dominated the Jewish nation until the time of the great persecution are symbolized by beasts. Verses 23-25 specify that the fourth beast is the Syrian empire and the horn that insults God, is King Antiochus Epiphanes. Just as in 2:34 and 2:44, an intervention by God is foretold: it will put an end to the power of the persecutor and establish God’s kingdom. Here in verses 11 and 26, the judgment on the persecutor is announced. In 2:34 the stone suggests God’s power. Here, in verse 13, the son of man (the Human One) represents the people of Israel, he is the servant of God, present in God’s plans from the beginning of the world and receives power over all the nations: verse 27, in due time.
It would be a mistake to look for the events of Jesus’ time in this paragraph, as some people do. It is even less applicable to our time as if we were the center of everything. The author, who writes during the worst moment of the persecution of the Maccabees’ time, announces the end of the persecution of Antiochus (1 Mac 6:55-59) as well as the coming of the kingdom of God. This way of combining in the same description a recent event or great liberation, and the ultimate liberation, which will take place at the end of our history, is often typical of the prophetic books. Jesus does likewise in speaking about the end of Jerusalem (Mk 13).
On the clouds of heaven (v. 13): the cloud is the sign of the divine presence.
The One of Great Age: this refers to God, and the white hair is a sign of his majesty. Let us not forget that, in fact, God is ageless and is in a unique moment, an ever-present now.
A son of man, namely, a human (v. 13): at first, this mysterious person referred to the whole people of God (v. 27). If God wanted to give his kingdom to people, he would, in fact, give it in a personal way to the one who is the model, the savior and the head of everyone and of all humankind. Jesus is the Man (Jn 19:5), or, to follow the Jewish way of speaking, the son of man.
The son of man comes from the divine clouds, and so Jesus applied the prophecy to himself to point to his divine origin when his accusers were seeing him in the weakness of the human condition (Mt 26:64).
23. The Jews of the years 170–160 B.C. could not be mistaken about this hidden reference to King Antiochus, the king who will destroy three kings, insult the Most High and persecute the holy ones.
A time, two times and half a time (v. 25) means three and a half. In those days, this was a figurative way to indicate times of evil (three and a half is half of seven, which is the perfect number).
The holy ones (v. 25) are those chosen by God to be his people. Ever since Moses, the Jewish people were conscious of being a holy people because they were consecrated to the holy God.
From the time of Daniel on, “the holy ones” comes to designate the new people of God starting with the Messiah. The first Christians were conscious of being this new people of God, and called themselves “the holy ones” (see Acts 9:32).
8.1 The same message is repeated in the following chapters. God’s salvation will come at the most critical moment of the persecution. More details are added to assure the Jews that all the events they are witnessing are already known to God ahead of time: while the events are taking place, God has already appointed the time when he will come to save.
9.1 Daniel is reflecting on Jeremiah’s prophecy (25:1) about the seventy years of exile of the Jews in Babylon. The angel Gabriel gives him another message referring to seventy weeks. This message is one of the most famous prophecies in the Book of Daniel.
20. Gabriel begins by saying enigmatic things (v. 24) and then, he explains.
To put an end to transgression, to put sin under lock, to wipe out the offense, and to bring everlasting justice (v. 24). So, the coming of the kingdom of God is clearly announced. A most Holy One will be anointed: this refers to the most holy place, namely, the temple. After being profaned by the pagan conquerors, it will be renewed to become the definitive dwelling place of God in the midst of his people.
Now, Gabriel himself explains: all this will happen soon. The seventy weeks are a symbolic number of weeks of years, and cannot be taken literally except for the first seven weeks: these refer perhaps to the time between the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 587 B.C. and the decree of liberation by Cyrus (called the Anointed of God in Is 45) in the year 538 B.C.
Then comes an indefinite period represented by sixty-two weeks (of years) bringing us to the beginning of Antiochus’ persecution in the year 171 B.C. That year the high priest, Onias, was murdered: an anointed one will be cut off (v. 26; see 2 Mac 4:34). After that, the persecutor put an end to worship in the Jerusalem temple and even built an altar dedicated to Baal Shamem on the altar of holocausts: this is the abominable idol (v. 27) of the devastator. This happened during the week of persecution when the prophecy was written; a victorious intervention of God is announced for the end of the week.
The divine intervention revealed itself in the unexpected peace which the Jews obtained at that time (1 Mac 6:55). However, this was not the coming of God’s kingdom, but only a sign of it. What was announced about everlasting justice will only be fulfilled fully in Christ.
In any case, the numbers presented by the author refer to the era of the Maccabees. If the end of history did not take place then, it is useless to manipulate the numbers to figure out when it will take place: God did not wish to reveal it (Mk 13:32).
At the end of the nineteenth century, the founder of the Jehovah’s Witnesses built up his whole interpretation of the Scripture on this prophecy of Daniel. His extravagant figuring was meant to prove that the kingdom of God in Israel, with David and Solomon, concluded in Daniel’s days and, after this, the new kingdom of God began that would end in 1914 with the end of the world. When that did not happen, they had to correct their figures.
This is not the place to argue about these theories. It is enough to note that for them the two key dates of salvation were the destruction of Jerusalem in the sixth century before Christ and the year 1914. For them, the coming of Jesus, his death and resurrection, were not important for the coming of the kingdom of God. This shows the error of those who rely on difficult biblical texts to question the surest truths, instead of starting with the most solid foundations of faith to attempt to clarify confusing texts.
10.1 All the events mentioned in Chapters 10–11 were past events for the author: the same events which are related in the second Book of Maccabees. Here, however, they are related as if a certain Daniel had announced them four centuries earlier. This is nothing more than a stylistic device. In fact, all that matters for the author is the conclusion of the story which we explain in 12:3. The author wants to teach his persecuted contemporaries, who have just gone through these events, that their hardships were leading to the coming of the kingdom of God soon and to the day of the resurrection.
12.1 This is a very important text: the first mention of the resurrection.
In centuries before, the Israelites believed that, after death, they would have diminished life under the earth. They held no hope of a resurrection or a reward for the individual, but only for their nation. If they were righteous, God would bless or uplift their nation (See Ezk 37).
The persecutions during the days of the Maccabees and their reflection on the destiny of the martyrs led them to the conviction that those who had died would have their share of happiness in the kingdom of God: they had to be raised up. We find the same hope in the second Book of Maccabees (7:9 and 12:43). We read about it also in Chapters 2-5 of the Book of Wisdom. These texts, fruits of the faith and the trials the Jewish people had undergone in the last two centuries before Jesus, prepared for what he was going to teach about the resurrection (Mk 12:18).
Michael, your angel (of the Jewish people) 10:13 and 10:21. The Book of Daniel is filled with many visions, some of them quite complex: this is typical of the apocalyptic books which were written by the Jews between the years 200 B.C. and 100 A.D. (See the Introduction of this book.)
In 9:1 the angel Gabriel explains the vision. Here we have another angel, Michael. History is described as if the events were predetermined and written in God’s book. In heaven, there are occasional struggles between angels representing one nation or another. So, Michael fights for the Jewish people. In 10:13 we have another angel called “prince of the Persian kingdom.”
At the end of Chapter 12, we have another series of symbolic numbers. They do not express anything more than the previous ones: the persecution, which has continued from the time worship was interrupted, must stop, and soon after, the end will come.
WHY DID THEY ANNOUNCE THE RULE OF GOD AS IMMINENT WHEN IT CAME MUCH LATER?
Various oracles in the Book of Daniel predict both the end of the persecution by Antiochus and the definitive coming of God with his universal rule. Christ came more than a hundred years later. We can apply here what was said concerning the prophets’ announcements (see Is 9).
When a man starts on a long walk with his son and the son begins to get tired, the father does not tell him how much longer he still has to walk. He simply points to the next goal: let us go as far as that tree we see in the distance. Then he tells him: let us go to this house, to the top of this hill… and so, he nourishes the son’s hope through a series of stages. Thus, in sacred history, every time God invites his people to take a step, he presents the happy future which he has in store for humanity with bright colors, as if it were within their grasp. There is always something gained, but the best is still ahead, and people will live by hope until their last days.
God does not speak to satisfy our curiosity, but to call us to action. When, in the year 165 B.C., a teacher of the law was writing this book to encourage his persecuted compatriots and to announce the liberation which he thought would be the final one, God did not reveal the date of the end of the world to him. For the Jews of his time, the unexpected end of the persecution by Antiochus and the peace achieved must have been quite a clear sign of God’s rule over history.
5. THE ANGELS
In the previous pages, we explained that all these visions and these angels are no more than literary images: it is a way of writing apocalyptic books. See also the note on Genesis 16. However, we should not swiftly conclude that there is no room for angels in the biblical message and that there is no word of God about them. What can we believe regarding this point?
During the past centuries, angels were presented to believers as invisible companions. The wings they had in the images made people understand that they mastered distance and weightlessness. Each of us, they said, had been entrusted by God to a guardian angel who was to protect us from danger and temptations. Some were more important in this heavenly host; these were the archangels. Others were consigned as the managers of the universe: we should call them cosmic powers. Still others, according to spiritual authors, would be closer to God and did not look at anything except God: these were the seraphim.
Many people consider this as pious imagination, outdated but touching. Many others, when experiencing very special heavenly protection, prefer to think that it comes directly from God: why would we look for intermediaries?
In the Scriptures, we find various texts written in different times which show that people had faith in intermediaries. This belief was actually consonant with a higher and better grasp of God’s mystery. It was not difficult for them to believe in angels because they were not paralyzed by a materialistic vision of the universe. So they affirmed that God shares power with good and evil spirits. Some texts, like the Book of Tobit, present the guardian angel as an instrument of God’s careful presence. Others, as does the Book of Daniel, tell us of the nation’s protective angels who taught them at the beginning about the principles of their own culture and religion. They are the managers of human history and they do their task quite freely, though they must abide at the end with God’s sovereign decisions. We must confess that the concept of human history is alien to many of us today, although it is duly rooted in biblical texts (Dt 32:8; Jdg 11:24; Is 63:9; Dn 10:21).
New Testament authors welcome these different shades of angels’ missions without giving preference to any of them. Stephen and Paul know the angels of nations: see Acts 7:38; Galatians 3:19; Ephesians 1:21. And the commentaries and John’s Revelation designate the angels in heavenly liturgies, the very part which was proper for priests in the temple of Jerusalem (8:3). They are likewise considered as instruments of God’s judgment, and they carry the disasters through by which sinful humanity becomes aware of its sins (15:5). The Gospels speak the same language and it adds as its own that the angels of the little ones are the very angels already sharing the full brightness of God (Mt 18:10).
So it is that Scripture speaks of angels. However, it is not easy to answer immediately the questions many may ask: Are the angels but a way of speaking of God’s actuation in the world? Are they only sides of God’s kind and worldwide care for the good of those loved, or are they rather real beings and spiritual powers distinct from God?
There is no clear and definitive answer to such questions. Actually, the tradition has always held the faith in God “the Creator of seen and unseen creatures.” A “materialist” God would have forged the universe as craftsmen are used to making a clock. Instead, a God who is spirit and in whom Spirit is nothing less than God should be the Creator of a universe in which all and any of the created beings are like reflections and irradiations of God’s own richness whose light does not exhaust in a first reflection: spirit splashes back and is transmitted to other inferior levels. If the Word of God chose to come among us and to share our flesh, it is probably because we are living in the lower department of creation and the Creator wanted to reach the poorest. This does not allow us to take ourselves as the masters of the estate.
As the Church extended through the world, it met people who lived their relation to cosmic powers differently. Thus has its language evolved, as already happened with the authors of sacred books. The door was always open to new experiences. It was enough for it to remind us that all those intermediaries were submitted to Christ when he was raised and glorified. He alone holds the keys of history and of our individual destinies.
13.1 The stories we read in Chapters 13–14 were added to the Book of Daniel in the Greek Bible. They are a part of the Deuterocanonical books (see the text on p. 1233).
The first story, about Susanna, intends to show how God defends the helpless innocent, and severely denounces the corruption of the judges. Remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:28: The one who looks at a woman too lustfully has already committed adultery in his heart.
The second, to ridicule the priests with their idols.
The third, to show how God helps his witnesses (just as we saw in Chapters 3 and 6).
We should not look down on these stories thinking they are for children. Just like the parables of Jesus, they contain lessons and invite us to reflect on our behavior.