OUTSIDE TESTIMONY IN FAVOR OF DANIEL

Let us move again to the positive. It has been suggested that no other book of the Hebrew Scriptures is as well attested to as Daniel.  To illustrate:  The famous Jewish historian Josephus attests to its authenticity.  He says that Alexander the Great, during his war against Persia in the fourth century B.C.E., came to Jerusalem, where the priests showed him  a copy of the book of Daniel.  Alexander himself concluded that the words of Daniel's prophecy that were pointed out to him referred to  his own military campaign involving Persia.  This would have been about a century and a half before the "forgery" as proposed by critics.  Of course, critics have assailed Josephus concerning this passage.  They also assail him for noting that some prophecies in the book of Daniel were fulfilled. Yet, as historian Joseph D. Wilson remarked, "[Josephus] probably knew more of the matter than all the critics in the world." 

The authenticity of the book of Daniel received further support when the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in the caves of Qumran, Israel.  Surprisingly numerous among the fins discovered in 1952 are scrolls and fragments from the book of Daniel.  The oldest has been dated to the late second century B.C.E. At that early date, therefore the book of Daniel was already well-known and widely respected.  Notes The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible:  "A Maccabean dating for Daniel has now  to be abandoned, if only because there could  not possibly be a sufficient interval between the composition of Daniel and its appearance in the form of copies in the library of a Maccabean religious  sect. 

However, there is far older and more reliable attestation to the book of Daniel.  One of Daniel's contemporaries was the prophet Ezkiel. He too served as a prophet during the Babylonian exile. Several times, the book Ezekiel mentions Daniel by name.  (Ezekiel 14;14, 20; 28:3)  These references show that even during his own lifetime, in the sixth century B.C.E., Daniel was already well-known  as a righteous and wise man, worthy of being mentioned alongside God-fearing Noah and Job.

Next time: THE MATTER OF LANGUAGE

From the book: PAY ATTENTION TO DANIEL'S PROPHECY! 1999