View source for Daniel 2

{{short description|Second chapter of the Book of Daniel}}
{{Bible chapter|letname= Daniel 2 |previouslink= Daniel 1 |previousletter= chapter 1 |nextlink= Daniel 3 |nextletter= chapter 3 |book=[[Book of Daniel]] |biblepart=[[Old Testament]] | booknum= 27 |category= [[Ketuvim]] | filename= Songe Nabuchodonosor statue.jpg |size=250px | name= France, 15th century, Daniel 2 |caption=<div style="width: 250px; text-align: center; line-height: 1em">Nebuchadnezzar's dream: the composite statue (France, 15th century)</div>}}

'''Daniel 2''' (the second chapter of the [[Book of Daniel]]) tells how [[Daniel (biblical figure)|Daniel]] related and interpreted a dream of [[Nebuchadnezzar II]], [[List of kings of Babylon|king of Babylon]]. In his night dream, the king saw a gigantic statue made of four metals, from its head of gold to its feet of mingled iron and clay; as he watched, a stone "not cut by human hands" destroyed the statue and became a mountain filling the whole world. Daniel explained to the king that the statue represented four successive kingdoms beginning with [[Neo-Babylonian Empire|Babylon]], while the stone and mountain signified a kingdom established by God which would never be destroyed nor given to another people. Nebuchadnezzar then acknowledges the supremacy of Daniel's God and raises him to high office in Babylon.{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=31-33}}

Chapter 2 in its present form dates from no earlier than the first decades of the [[Seleucid Empire]] (312–63 BCE), but its roots may reach back to the [[Fall of Babylon]] (539 BCE) and the rise of the Persian [[Achaemenid Empire]] (c. 550–330 BCE).{{sfn|Newsom|Breed|2014|p=63-64}} The overall theme of the Book of Daniel is God's sovereignty over history.{{sfn|Levine|2010|p=1234}} On the human level Daniel is set against the Babylonian magicians who fail to interpret the king's dream, but the cosmic conflict is between the God of Israel and the false [[Babylonian religion|Babylonian gods]].{{sfn|Hill|2009|pp=57–58}} What counts is not Daniel's human gifts, nor his education in the arts of [[divination]], but "[[Chokmah|Divine Wisdom]]" and the power that belongs to God alone, as Daniel indicates when he urges his companions to seek God's mercy for the interpretation of the king's dreams.{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=37}}

==Biblical narrative==
In the second year of his reign, [[Nebuchadnezzar]], King of [[Babylon]], is troubled by a dream. He summons his [[Magic (supernatural)|magician]]s and [[astrologer]]s to interpret it, but demands that they first tell him what the dream was. They protest that no man can do such a thing, and Nebuchadnezzar orders that they all be executed. This decree also falls on Daniel, but he, through the agency of his God, is able to tell the king the dream. It was a dream of a great [[statue]] with a head of [[gold]], arms and chest of [[silver]], belly and thighs of [[bronze]], legs of [[iron]], and feet of mingled iron and [[clay]]. A great [[stone]], not cut by [[human]] hands, fell on the feet of the statue and destroyed it, and the rock became a [[mountain]] that filled the whole world. Having related the dream, Daniel then interprets it: it concerns four successive kingdoms, beginning with Nebuchadnezzar, which will be replaced by the everlasting kingdom of the God of heaven. Hearing this, Nebuchadnezzar affirms that Daniel's god is "the God of gods and Lord of kings and revealer of mysteries". He lavishes gifts on Daniel and makes him chief of all the wise men and ruler over the province of Babylon.{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=31-33}}

==Composition and structure==
{{Daniel chapters}}

===Book of Daniel===
{{main|Book of Daniel#structure}}
It is generally accepted that the [[Book of Daniel]] originated as a collection of [[Folklore|folktale]]s among the Jewish community in Babylon and Mesopotamia in the Persian and early [[Hellenistic]] periods (5th to 3rd centuries BCE), expanded in the [[Maccabeans|Maccabean]] era (mid-2nd century) by the visions in chapters 7–12.{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=29,34–35}} Modern scholars agree that Daniel is a legendary figure;{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=28}} it is possible that this name was chosen for the hero of the book because of his reputation as a wise seer in Hebrew tradition.{{sfn|Redditt|2009|pp=176–177,180}} The tales are in the voice of an anonymous narrator, except for [[daniel 4|chapter 4]] which is in the form of a letter from king Nebuchadnezzar.{{sfn|Wesselius|2002|p=295}} The first three verses of chapter 2 and part of verse 4 are in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]. The remainder of chapter 2 and chapters 3–7 are in [[Aramaic]] and are in the form of a [[chiasmus]], a poetic structure in which the main point or message of a passage is placed in the centre and framed by further repetitions on either side:{{sfn|Redditt|2009|p=177}}
* A. (2:4b-49) – A dream of four kingdoms replaced by a fifth
** B. (3:1–30) – Daniel's three friends in the fiery furnace
*** C. (4:1–37) – Daniel interprets a dream for Nebuchadnezzar
*** C'. (5:1–31) – Daniel interprets the handwriting on the wall for Belshazzar
** B'. (6:1–28) – Daniel in the lions' den
* A'. (7:1–28) – A vision of four world kingdoms replaced by a fifth

===Daniel 2===
Daniel 2 forms a chiasmus within the larger structure of Daniel 2–7:{{sfn|Mangano|2001|p=179}}
* A. Introduction (''v''.1)
** B. The king and his unwise courtiers (''vv''.2–12)
*** C. Daniel and Arioch (''vv''.13–16)
**** D. Daniel and his friends pray to God (''vv''.17–23)
*** C'. Daniel and Arioch (''vv''.24–25)
** B'. The king and Daniel, the wise courtier (''vv''.26–47)
* A'. Result (''vv''.48–49)

[[daniel 1|Chapter 1]] and the first few lines of chapter 2 are in Hebrew, but in verse 4 the text says, in Hebrew, "Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in [[Aramaic]]," and the book then continues in Aramaic until the end of chapter 7, where it switches back to Hebrew. No convincing explanation for this has been put forward.{{sfn|Towner|1993|p=150}}

Chapter 2 in its present form dates from no earlier than the first decades of the [[Seleucid empire]] (late 4th/early 3rd centuries BCE), but its roots may reach back to the fall of [[Neo-Babylonian empire|Babylon]] and the rise of the Persian [[Achaemenid]] empire, and some scholars have speculated that the dream of four kingdoms was originally a dream of four kings, Nebuchadnezzar and his four successors.{{sfn|Newsom|Breed|2014|p=63-64}} The lack of linguistic continuity (the switch from Hebrew to Aramaic at verse 4), and of continuity with other parts of Daniel (e.g., the king needs an introduction to Daniel despite having interviewed him at the completion of his training in Daniel 1:18), as well as various instances of repetitiveness (see verses 28–30), are sometimes cited as evidence that later hands have edited the story, or as signs that the author was working from multiple sources.{{sfn|Hill|2009|p=57}}

==Genre and themes==
[[File:The Hague, KB, 131 A 3, Nebuchadnezzar's statue.jpeg|thumb|Illustration of Nebuchadnezzar's statue from the 13th-century ''[[Chroniques de la Bible]]'' (The Hague, Royal Library of the Netherlands, 131 A 3, fol. 25)]]

===Genre===
The Book of Daniel is an [[apocalypse]], a literary genre in which a heavenly reality is revealed to a human recipient; such works are characterized by visions, symbolism, an other-worldly mediator, an emphasis on cosmic events, angels and demons, and pseudonymity (false authorship).{{sfn|Crawford|2000|p=73}} Apocalypses were common from 300 BCE to 100 CE, not only among Jews and Christians, but Greeks, [[Ancient Rome|Romans]], Persians and [[Egyptians]].{{sfn|Davies|2006|p=397-406}} Daniel, the book's hero, is a representative apocalyptic seer, the recipient of the divine revelation: has learned the wisdom of the Babylonian magicians and surpassed them, because his God is the true source of knowledge; he is one of the ''maskil'', the wise, whose task is to teach righteousness.{{sfn|Davies|2006|p=397-406}} The book is also an [[eschatology]], meaning a divine revelation concerning the end of the present age, a moment in which God will intervene in history to usher in the final kingdom.{{sfn|Carroll|2000|p=420-421}}

Daniel 2 exhibits both these genres, but it is also made up numerous [[literary genre|subgenres]]: a [[court tale]]<!-- introduce redlink because this technical term would benefit from a WP article -->, a dream report, a legend, an [[aretalogy]], a [[doxology]], and a [[midrash]].{{sfn|Hill|2009|p=57}} In folkloric terms it can be typified as a "court legend," a story set in the royal court, concerned with wonderful events and containing an edifying message.{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=49}} The plot of such tales (another example is the story of Joseph and Pharaoh in Genesis 41) is as follows: a person of low status is called before a person of high status to answer a difficult question or to solve a riddle; the high-status person poses the problem but none present can solve; the person of low status solves it and is rewarded.{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=49-50}}

===Themes===
The overall theme of the Book of Daniel is God's sovereignty over history,{{sfn|Levine|2010|p=1234}} and the theme of the tales in chapters 1–6 is that God is sovereign over all earthly kings.{{sfn|Newsom|Breed|2014|p=63}} In Daniel 2 these two merge, and the claim of God's sovereignty extends beyond the immediate story to take in all of history.{{sfn|Newsom|Breed|2014|p=63}} On the human level Daniel is set against the Babylonian magicians who fail to interpret the king's dream, but the cosmic conflict is between the God of Israel and the false [[Babylonian religion|Babylonian gods]].{{sfn|Hill|2009|pp=57–58}} What counts is not Daniel's human gifts, nor his education in the arts of divination, but "Divine Wisdom" and the power that belongs to God alone, as Daniel indicates when he urges his companions to seek God's mercy for the interpretation of the king's dreams.{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=37}}

==Interpretation==
[[File:BLW Stained Glass - Scene from the Story of Daniel.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Daniel intercedes with [[Arioch]].]]

===Overview: dreams in the ancient world===
In the ancient world, dreams, especially those of kings, were regarded as [[portents]].{{sfn|Levine|2010|p=1235-1236, footnote 2.1–13}} An inscription of the historic Babylonian king [[Nabonidus]], for example, tells of a dream he had of his great predecessor Nebuchadnezzar, mentioning a young man who appeared in the dream to reassure him that it was not an evil portent.{{sfn|Newsom|Breed|2014|p=66-67}} Giant figures were frequent in ancient dream records, and parallels can be drawn from Greek ([[Hesiod]]'s ''Works and Days''), Latin ([[Ovid]]'s ''Metamorphosis'') and the Persian ''[[Bahman Yasht]]''.{{sfn|Levine|2010|p=1237-1238, footnote 2.31–35}}

The king's behaviour implies a distrust of his court dream-interpreters, and sets the scene for his later celebration of Daniel's God. {{sfn|Levine|2010|p=1235-1236, footnote 2.1–13}} The secret of Nebuchadnezzar's dream is called a "mystery," a term found in the scrolls from [[Qumran]] indicating a secret that can be learned through divine wisdom; appropriately, Daniel receives the divine wisdom as a "vision of the night", a dream.{{sfn|Levine|2010|p=1236, footnote 2.14–19}} Daniel 2:20–23 emphasizes the Divine as a repository of wisdom and the controller of the destiny of kings; such hymns and prayers are typical of [[postexilic]] biblical narratives.{{sfn|Levine|2010|p=1237, footnote 2.20–23}} Finally Nebuchadnezzar prostrates himself before Daniel and commands that offerings and incense be offered to him, suggesting that he views Daniel as divine; nevertheless, although he acknowledges and respects the god of Daniel, he is not a convert.{{sfn|Levine|2010|p=1238-1239, footnote 2.36–47}}

===The four world kingdoms and the rock===
{{main|Four kingdoms of Daniel}}
Most modern scholars agree that the four world empires symbolised by the statue are Babylon (the head), the Medes (arms and shoulders), Persia (thighs and legs) and Seleucid Syria and Ptolemaic Egypt (the feet).{{sfn|Towner|1984|p=36}} The concept of four successive world empires is drawn from Greek theories of mythological history, while the symbolism of the four metals is drawn from Persian writings.{{sfn|Niskanen|2004|p=27,31}} The consensus among scholars is that the four beasts of chapter 7 symbolise the same four world empires.{{sfn|Matthews|Moyer|2012|p=260,269}} Verses 41b-43 give three different interpretations of the meaning of the mixture of iron and clay in the statue's feet, as a "divided kingdom," then as "strong and brittle," and finally as a dynastic marriage.{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=49}} The marriage might be a reference to either of two between the Seleucids and the Ptolemies, the first in c.250 BCE and the second in 193.{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=51}}

The symbolic significance of the stone which destroys the statue and becomes a mountain evokes biblical imagery of God as the "rock" of Israel, [[Zion]] as a mountain rising above all others, and God's glory filling the whole world. Images from the [[Book of Isaiah]] seem to be especially favoured. Whether the author was conscious of it or not, the image of the shattered statue blown away in the wind like chaff from the threshing floor brings to mind Isaiah 41:14–15 where Israel is a threshing sled that turns mountains into chaff, and the rock itself reflects the address to the Judean exiles in Isaiah 51:1, "look to the rock from which you were hewn."{{sfn|Newsom|Breed|2014|p=77}}

==Christian eschatological readings==
The traditional interpretation of the dream identifies the four empires as the Babylonian (the head), Medo-Persian (arms and shoulders), Greek (thighs and legs), and Roman (the feet) empires.{{sfn|Miller|1994|p=96}}

==See also==
[[Jewish dream interpretation]]

==References==

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|30em}}

=== Bibliography ===
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|title                          = The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception
|volume                         = II
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|chapter-url                            = https://books.google.com/books?id=kvtbNQtMqEUC&q=%22chapters+2+and+7+form+a+pair%22&pg=PA642
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|title                          = The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception
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|chapter-url                            = https://books.google.com/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&q=Eerdmans+Dictionary+of+the+Bible+antichrist&pg=PA67
|isbn                          = 9789053565032 
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* {{Cite book
|last                           = Knibb
|first                          = Michael
|title                          = Essays on the Book of Enoch and Other Early Jewish Texts and Traditions
|year                           = 2009
|publisher                      = BRILL
|url                            = https://books.google.com/books?id=NC6iAkcBe4IC&q=The+Exile+in+the+literature+of+the+intertestamental+period&pg=PA191
|isbn                          = 978-9004167254
}}
* {{Cite book
|last                           = Knibb
|first                          = Michael
|chapter                        = The Book of Daniel in its Context
|editor1-last                   = Collins
|editor1-first                  = John J. 
|editor2-last                   = Flint
|editor2-first                  = Peter W. 
|editor3-last                   = VanEpps
|editor3-first                  = Cameron 
|title                          = The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception
|year                           = 2002
|publisher                      = BRILL
|chapter-url                    = https://books.google.com/books?id=oAVPfTe_wkYC&pg=PA2 
|isbn                          = 9004116753
}}
* {{Cite book
|last                            = Koch
|first                           = Klaus 
|chapter                         = Stages in the Canonization of the Book of Daniel
|editor1-last                    = Collins
|editor1-first                   = John J. 
|editor2-last                    = Flint
|editor2-first                   = Peter W. 
|editor3-last                    = VanEpps
|editor3-first                   = Cameron 
|title                           = The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception
|year                            = 2002
|publisher                       = BRILL
|chapter-url                             = https://books.google.com/books?id=kvtbNQtMqEUC&q=Stages+in+the+canonization+of+the+book+of+daniel&pg=PA421
|isbn                           = 0391041282 
}}

* {{Cite book
|last                           = Kratz
|first                          = Reinhard
|chapter                        = The Visions of Daniel
|editor1-last                   = Collins
|editor1-first                  = John J. 
|editor2-last                   = Flint
|editor2-first                  = Peter W. 
|editor3-last                   = VanEpps
|editor3-first                  = Cameron 
|title                          = The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception
|year                           = 2002
|publisher                      = BRILL
|chapter-url                    = https://books.google.com/books?id=oAVPfTe_wkYC&pg=PA2 
|isbn                          = 9004116753
}}
* {{cite book
|last                           = Levine
|first                          = Amy-Jill
|chapter                        = Daniel
|editor1-last                   = Coogan
|editor1-first                  = Michael D. 
|editor2-last                   = Brettler
|editor2-first                  = Marc Z.
|editor3-last                   = Newsom
|editor3-first                  = Carol A.
|title                          = The new Oxford annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical books : New Revised Standard Version
|year                           = 2010
|publisher                      = [[Oxford University Press]]
|chapter-url                            = https://books.google.com/books?id=jTYdAgAAQBAJ&q=%22Dreams+are+a+major+motif+in+the+Book+of+Daniel%22&pg=PA1235
|isbn                          = 9780199370504
}}
* {{Cite book
|last                           = Lucas
|first                          = Ernest C. 
|chapter                        = Daniel, Book of
|editor1-last                   = Vanhoozer 
|editor1-first                  = Kevin J.  
|editor2-last                   = Bartholomew
|editor2-first                  = Craig G. 
|editor3-last                   = Treier
|editor3-first                  = Daniel J.  
|title                          = Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible
|year                           = 2005
|publisher                      = Baker Academic
|url                            = https://books.google.com/books?id=I8UWJohMGUIC&q=Dictionary+for+Theological+Interpretation+of+the+Bible
|isbn                          = 9780801026942 
}}
* {{Cite book
|last1                          = Mangano
|first1                         = Mark
|title                          = Esther & Daniel
|year                           = 2001
|publisher                      = College Press
|url                            = https://books.google.com/books?id=leWMKZs05uoC&q=Prinsloo+outline+chapter+2&pg=PA179
|isbn                         = 9780899008851
}}
* {{Cite book
|last1                          = Matthews
|first1                         = Victor H.
|last2                          = Moyer
|first2                         = James C.
|title                          = The Old Testament: Text and Context
|year                           = 2012
|publisher                      = Baker Books
|url                            = https://books.google.com/books?id=rU_dAldCk6gC&q=The+Old+Testament%3A+Text+and+Context
|isbn = 9780801048357
}}
* {{Cite book
|last1                          = Miller
|first1                         = Stephen R.
|title                          = Daniel
|year                           = 1994
|publisher                      = B&H Publishing Group
|url                            = https://books.google.com/books?id=M7i4AwAAQBAJ&q=%22the+traditional+interpretation%22%22Babylon%2C+Medo-Persia%2C+Greece%2C+and+Rome%22&pg=PA96
|isbn = 9781433675591
}}
* {{Cite book
|last1                          = Nelson
|first1                         = William
|title                          = Daniel
|year                           = 2013
|publisher                      = Baker Books
|url                            = https://books.google.com/books?id=lJx0x-h1ULsC&q=seventy+weeks
|isbn = 9781441240064
}}
* {{Cite book
|last1                          = Newsom
|first1                         = Carol A.
|last2                          = Breed
|first2                         = Brennan W. 
|title                          = Daniel: A Commentary
|year                           = 2014
|publisher                      = Presbyterian Publishing Corp
|url                            = https://books.google.com/books?id=XZK7BwAAQBAJ&q=%22the+rock%22%22evokes+the+imagery+of+Zion%22&pg=PA77
|isbn = 9780664220808
}}
*{{cite book 
| editor-last                   = Nichol
| editor-first                  = F.
| year                          = 1954
|title                          = SDA Bible Commentary
| chapter                       = chronology chart
| pages                         = 326–327
}} 
* {{Cite book
|last1                          = Niskanen
|first1                         = Paul
|title                          = The Human and the Divine in History: Herodotus and the Book of Daniel
|year                           = 2004
|publisher                      = Continuum
|url                            = https://books.google.com/books?id=G0YFSrClQOkC&q=Herodotus+and+the+Book+of+Daniel
|isbn                         = 9780567082138
}}
* {{Cite book
|last1                          = Pasachoff 
|first1                         = Naomi E. 
|last2                          = Littman
|first2                         = Robert J. 
|title                          = A Concise History of the Jewish People
|year                           = 2005
|publisher                      = Rowman & Littlefield
|url                            = https://books.google.com/books?id=z4eaj09hscAC&q=Babylonian+Exile+lasted+only+about+fifty+years&pg=PA45
|isbn                         = 9780742543669 
}}
* {{Cite book
|last                            = Portier-Young
|first                           = Anathea E. 
|title                           = Apocalypse Against Empire: Theologies of Resistance in Early Judaism
|publisher                       = Eerdmans
|year                            = 2013
|url                             = https://books.google.com/books?id=4DQ0AgAAQBAJ&q=Apocalypse+Against+Empire%3A+Theologies+of+Resistance+in+Early+Judaism
|isbn                            = 9780802837110
}}
* {{Cite book
|last                            = Provan
|first                           = Iain
|chapter                         = Daniel
|editor1-last                    = Dunn
|editor1-first                   = James D. G.
|editor2-last                    = Rogerson
|editor2-first                   = John William
|title                           = Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible
|publisher                       = Eerdmans
|year                            = 2003
|chapter-url                             = https://books.google.com/books?id=2Vo-11umIZQC&q=Eerdmans+Commentary+on+the+Bible+Daniel&pg=PA665
|isbn                            = 9780802837110
}}
* {{Cite book
| last                          = Redditt
| first                         = Paul L.
| title                         = Introduction to the Prophets
| year                          = 2009
| publisher                     = Eerdmans
| url                           = https://books.google.com/books?id=bKM_VJt9e3kC&q=Redditt+Daniel&pg=PA188
| isbn                         = 9780802828965
}}
* {{Cite book
|last                            = Reid
|first                           = Stephen Breck
|chapter                         = Daniel, Book of
|editor1-last                    = Freedman 
|editor1-first                   = David Noel 
|editor2-last                    = Myers
|editor2-first                   = Allen C.
|title                           = Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible
|publisher                       = Eerdmans
|year                            = 2000
|url                             = https://books.google.com/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&q=Eerdmans+Dictionary+of+the+Bible
|isbn                            = 9789053565032
}}
* {{Cite book
|last                           = Rowland
|first                          = Christopher 
|chapter                        = Apocalyptic Literature
|editor1-last                   = Hass
|editor1-first                  = Andrew 
|editor2-last                   = Jasper
|editor2-first                  = David 
|editor3-last                   = Jay
|editor3-first                  = Elisabeth 
|title                          = The Oxford Handbook of English Literature and Theology
|year                           = 2007
|publisher                      = Oxford University Press
|chapter-url                            = https://books.google.com/books?id=bKG12u11z2AC&q=handbook+eschatology+Daniel&pg=PA344
|isbn                          = 9780199271979 
}}
* {{Cite book
| last1                          = Ryken
| first1                         = Leland 
| last2                          = Wilhoit
| first2                         = Jim
| last3                          = Longman
| first3                         = Tremper
| title                          = Dictionary of Biblical Imagery
| year                           = 1998
| publisher                      = InterVarsity Press
| url                            = https://books.google.com/books?id=qjEYEjVVEosC&q=Dictionary+of+Biblical+Imagery+Daniel+book+of
| isbn                         = 9780830867332 
}}
* {{Cite book
| last                          = Sacchi
| first                         = Paolo
| title                         = The History of the Second Temple Period
| year                          = 2004
| publisher                     = Continuum
| url                           = https://books.google.com/books?id=yGNyKdnpMa0C&q=history+second+temple
| isbn                         = 9780567044501
}}
* {{cite book
|last                            = Schwartz
|first                           = Daniel R. 
|title                           = Studies in the Jewish Background of Christianity
|year                            = 1992
|publisher                       = Mohr Siebeck
|url                             = https://books.google.com/books?id=rd5OB4PtlCUC&q=resurrection&pg=PA110
|isbn                           = 9783161457982 
}}
* {{cite book
|last                            = Seow
|first                           = C.L.
|author-link                     = Choon-Leong Seow
|title                           = Daniel
|year                            = 2003
|publisher                       = Westminster John Knox Press
|url                             = https://books.google.com/books?id=nuLapFR3AX4C&q=Seow+Daniel
|isbn                           = 9780664256753
}}
* {{Cite book
|last                           = Schiffman
|first                          = Lawrence H. 
|title                          = From Text to Tradition: A History of Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism
|year                           = 1991
|publisher                      = KTAV Publishing House
|url                            = https://books.google.com/books?id=3kWYHyBb4C8C&q=From+Text+to+Tradition%3A+A+History+of+Second+Temple+and+Rabbinic+Judaism
|isbn                          = 9780881253726 
}}
* {{Cite book
| last                         = Smith
| first                        = U.
| year                         = 1944
| title                        = Daniel and Revelation
| publisher                    = Southern Publishing Association
| location                     = Nashville, TN
}}    
* {{Cite book
|last                           = Spencer
|first                          = Richard A. 
|chapter                        = Additions to Daniel
|editor1-last                   = Mills  
|editor1-first                  = Watson E. 
|editor2-last                   = Wilson
|editor2-first                  = Richard F. 
|title                          = The Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha
|year                           = 2002
|publisher                      = Mercer University Press
|chapter-url                            = https://books.google.com/books?id=doqYxT-1RzEC&pg=PA89
|isbn                          = 9780865545106 
}}
* {{Cite book
|last                            = Towner
|first                           = W. Sibley
|title                           = Daniel
|year                            = 1984
|publisher                       = Westminster John Knox Press
|url                             = https://books.google.com/books?id=F8EEY610xeAC&q=Towner+Daniel
|isbn                           = 9780664237561
}}
*{{Cite book
|last                           = Towner
|first                          = W. Sibley
|chapter                        = Daniel
|editor1-last                   = Coogan
|editor1-first                  = Michael D.
|editor2-last                   = Metzger
|editor2-first                  = Bruce M.
|title                          = The Oxford Companion to the Bible
|publisher                      = Oxford University Press
|year                           = 1993
|chapter-url                            = https://books.google.com/books?id=Y2KGVuym5OUC&q=%22why+the+text+of+Daniel+switches+so+suddenly%22&pg=PA150
|isbn                          = 9780199743919
}}
* {{Cite book
| editor-last                   = Ulrich
| editor-first                  = Eugene
| title                         = The Biblical Qumran Scrolls: Transcriptions and Textual Variants
| year                          = 2010
| publisher                     = Brill
| url                           = https://archive.org/details/TheBiblicalQumranScrolls
}}
* {{Cite book
| last                           = VanderKam
| first                          = James C.
| title                          = The Dead Sea Scrolls Today
| year                           = 2010
| publisher                      = Eerdmans
| url                            = https://books.google.com/books?id=i2i5haDHAygC&q=Daniel
| isbn = 9780802864352
}}
* {{Cite book
|last1                           = VanderKam 
|first1                          = James C.
|last2                           = Flint 
|first2                          = Peter
|title                           = The meaning of the Dead Sea scrolls: their significance for understanding the Bible, Judaism, Jesus, and Christianity
|year                            = 2013
|publisher                       = HarperCollins
|url                             = https://books.google.com/books?id=kT0PAAAAQBAJ&q=The+meaning+of+the+Dead+Sea+scrolls%3A+their+significance+for+understanding+the+Bible%2C+Judaism%2C+Jesus%2C+and+Christianity+Most+scholars+agree+that+the+book+of+Daniel&pg=PT146
|isbn = 9780062243300
}}
* {{Cite book
|last                            = Weber
|first                           = Timothy P. 
|chapter                         = Millennialism
|editor1-last                    = Walls
|editor1-first                   = Jerry L.
|title                           = The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology
|year                            = 2007
|publisher                       = Oxford University Press
|url                             = https://books.google.com/books?id=N1XYXMTe1jYC
|isbn                           = 9780199742486 
}}
* {{Cite book
|last                            = Wesselius
|first                           = Jan-Wim 
|chapter                         = The Writing of Daniel
|editor1-last                    = Collins
|editor1-first                   = John J. 
|editor2-last                    = Flint
|editor2-first                   = Peter W. 
|editor3-last                    = VanEpps
|editor3-first                   = Cameron 
|title                           = The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception
|year                            = 2002
|publisher                       = BRILL
|url                             = https://books.google.com/books?id=kvtbNQtMqEUC&q=The+Book+of+Daniel:+Composition+and+Reception+2
|isbn                           = 0391041282 
}}

*{{cite book|last=Hoehner|first=Harold W.|author-link=Harold Hoehner|title=Chronological aspects of the life of Christ|year=1978|publisher=Zondervan|location=Grand Rapids|isbn=9780310262114|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kWhjBPQOX9MC&q=new+testament+chronology&pg=PA182|edition=[5th print.]|page=115|bibcode=1977calj.book.....H}}
* {{cite book|last=Montgomery|first=James A|title=A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Daniel|year=1927|publisher=[[T & T Clark]]|location=Edinburgh|isbn=9781176278707|pages=372–404|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3fp6cgAACAAJ&q=montgomery+critical+daniel|edition=BiblioBazaar, 2010 Reprint}} 
*{{cite book|last=Walvoord|first=A commentary by John F.|author-link=John Walvoord|title=Daniel: the key to prophetic revelation.|year=1989|publisher=Moody Press|location=Chicago|isbn=9780802417534|edition=Moody Paperback}}

{{refend}}
{{Book of Daniel}}

[[Category:Biblical dreams and visions]]
[[Category:Book of Daniel chapters|02]]
[[Category:Seventh-day Adventist theology]]
[[Category:Nebuchadnezzar II]]