Editing Book of Daniel (section)

== Composition ==
=== Development ===
[[File:Songe Nabuchodonosor arbre.jpg|thumb|upright|Nebuchadnezzar's dream: the felled tree (France, 15th century)]]
It is generally accepted that Daniel originated as a collection of Aramaic court tales, later expanded by Hebrew revelations.{{sfn|Collins|1993|p=29}} The court tales may have originally circulated independently, but the edited collection was probably composed in the third or early second-century BC.{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=34}} Chapter 1 was composed in Aramaic at this time as a brief introduction to provide historical context, introduce the characters of the tales, and explain how Daniel and his friends came to Babylon.{{sfn|Redditt|2008|pp=176–177}} The visions of chapters 7–12 were added, and chapter 1 was translated into Hebrew at the third stage when the final book was being drawn together.{{sfn|Redditt|2008|pp=176–177}} This final stage, marking the composition of the book of Daniel, took place between the desecration of the Temple by [[Antiochus IV Epiphanes]] in 167 and his death in 164 BC.{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=36}}

=== Authorship ===
Daniel is a product of "Wisdom" circles, but the type of wisdom is [[Wiktionary:mantic|mantic]] (i.e., the discovery of heavenly secrets from earthly signs) rather than the wisdom of learning—the main source of wisdom in Daniel is God's revelation.{{sfn|Grabbe|2001|pp=229–230, 243}}{{sfn|Davies|2006|p=340}} It is one of a large number of Jewish apocalypses, all of them [[pseudonym]]ous.{{sfn|Hammer|1976|p=2}} The stories of the first half are legendary in origin, and the visions of the second the product of anonymous authors in the [[Maccabees|Maccabean]] period (2nd century BC).{{sfn|Collins|2002|p=2}} Chapters 1–6 are in the voice of an anonymous narrator, except for chapter 4 which is in the form of a letter from king Nebuchadnezzar; the second half (chapters 7–12) is presented by Daniel himself, introduced by the anonymous narrator in chapters 7 and 10.{{sfn|Wesselius|2002|p=295}} 

The author/editor was probably an educated Jew, knowledgeable in Greek learning, and of high standing in his own community. It is possible that the name of Daniel was chosen as the hero of the book because of his reputation as a wise seer in Hebrew tradition.{{sfn|Redditt|2008|p=180}} [[Ezekiel]], who lived during the Babylonian exile, mentioned him in association with [[Noah]] and [[Job (biblical figure)|Job]] ([[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] 14:14) as a figure of legendary wisdom (28:3), and a hero named [[Danel|Daniel]] (more accurately Dan'el, but the spelling is close enough for the two to be regarded as identical) features in a late 2nd millennium myth from [[Ugarit]].{{sfn|Collins|2003|p=69}} "The legendary Daniel, known from long ago but still remembered as an exemplary character&nbsp;... serves as the principal human 'hero' in the biblical book that now bears his name"; Daniel is the wise and righteous intermediary who can interpret dreams and thus convey the will of God to humans, the recipient of visions from on high that are interpreted to him by heavenly intermediaries.{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=4}}

=== Dating ===

The prophecies of Daniel are accurate down to the career of [[Antiochus IV Epiphanes]], king of Syria and oppressor of the Jews, but not in its prediction of his death: the author seems to know about Antiochus' two campaigns in Egypt (169 and 167 BC), the desecration of the Temple (the "abomination of desolation"), and the fortification of the Akra (a fortress built inside Jerusalem), but he seems to know nothing about the reconstruction of the Temple or about the actual circumstances of Antiochus' death in late 164 BC. Chapters 10–12 must have been written between 167 and 164 BC. There is no evidence of a significant time lapse between those chapters and chapters 8 and 9, and chapter 7 may have been written just a few months earlier again.{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=101}}

Some evidence of the book's date can be found in the fact that Daniel is not present in the Hebrew Bible's [[Nevi'im]] (wherein it might arguably be expected to fit), which was closed {{circa|200&nbsp;BC}}.{{sfn|Kent|1906|p=214}} Rather, Daniel forms a part of the [[Ketuvim]] ('Writings') also formed {{circa|200&nbsp;BC}}. Additionally, the [[Wisdom of Sirach]], a work dating from {{circa|180&nbsp;BC}}, draws on almost every book of the Hebrew Bible except Daniel, leading scholars to suppose that its author was unaware of it, Daniel is, however, quoted in a section of the [[Sibylline Oracles]] commonly dated to the middle of the 2nd century BC, and was popular at Qumran at much the same time, suggesting that it was known from the middle of that century.{{sfn|Hammer|1976|pp=1–2}}