Editing Book of Daniel (section)

=== 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}}