WORD

BIBLICAL

COMMENTARY

VOLUME 30

Daniel

JOHN E. GOLDINGAY

General Editors

Bruce M. Metzger

David A. Hubbard†

Glenn W. Barker†

Old Testament Editor

John D. W. Watts

New Testament Editor

Ralph P. Martin

WORD BOOKS, PUBLISHER • DALLAS, TEXAS

Word Biblical Commentary

Daniel

Copyright © 1989 by Word, Incorporated

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Main entry under title:

Word biblical commentary.

Includes bibliographies.

1. Bible—Commentaries—Collected works.

BS491.2.W67 220.7’7 81-71768

ISBN 0-8499-0229-0 (vol. 30) AACR2

The author’s own translation of the text appears in italic type under the heading “Translation,” as well as in brief Scripture quotations in the body of the commentary, except where otherwise indicated.

To

Steven and Mark:

may they stand with

Daniel, Hananiah,

Mishael, and Azariah.

Table of Contents

Editorial Preface

Author’s Preface

Abbreviations

Introduction

The Interpretation of Daniel

Main Bibliography

Commentaries and Other Works on Daniel

Works Cited by Shortened References

Translation and Commentary

Four Young Exiles Gain Wisdom and Prestige without Losing Holiness (1:1–21)

The God of Heaven Reveals the King’s Dream to Daniel and the Empire’s Destiny to Nebuchadnezzar (2:1–49)

God Vindicates His Power When Three Jews Choose Burning rather than Apostasy (3:1–30)

Nebuchadnezzar Testifies to Kingship and Sanity Threatened, Lost, and Restored (3:31–4:34 [4:1–37])

Belshazzar Fails to Learn From His Father’s Experience and Is Put Down (5:1–6:1 [5:1–31])

God Vindicates His Power When Daniel Chooses the Lion Pit rather than Apostasy (6:2–29 [1–28])

God Most High Reveals the World’s Destiny to Daniel (7:1–28)

Gabriel Explains Daniel’s Vision of the Breaking of the Greek Empire (8:1–27)

Daniel Prays for the End of His People’s Exile and His Prayer Is Heard (9:1–27)

A Celestial Figure Reveals to Daniel What Will Happen to His People at the End of the Era (10:1–12:13)

Conclusion

The Book’s Form

Streams of Tradition behind Daniel

The Book’s Structure

The Book’s Origin

The Book’s Authors

The Book’s Theological Significance

Indexes

Author’s Preface

Faced with the general possibility of contributing to a commentary series, I can’t imagine I would have thought first of Daniel as the book to volunteer for; but when the editors of the Word Biblical Commentary made that specific proposal I was intrigued, and I am exceedingly grateful to them for suggesting this project, which has occupied most of my time for research over the past five years. J. A. T. Robinson once said that he never wanted to write a commentary because the genre requires you to have to say something on everything, whether you have anything to say or not (Wrestling with Romans [London: SCM, 1979] vii): I have found every aspect of the study of this book absorbing, from matters of text and philology through questions of form, background, and ...