THE MATTER OF LANGUAGE

THE writing of the book of Daniel was complete in about 536 B.C.E.   It was written in the Hebrew  and Aramaic languages, with a few Greek and Persian words.  Such a mixture of language is unusual but not unique in Scripture.  The Bible book of Ezra too was written in Hebrew and Aramaic. Yet, some critics insist that the writer of Daniel used these languages in a way that proves he was writing at a date later than 536 B.C.E. One critic is widely quoted as saying  that the use of Greek words in Daniel demands a late date of composition.  He asserts that the Hebrew supports and the Aramaic  at least permits such a late date-even one as recent as in the second century B.C.E.

However, not all language scholars agree.  Some authorities have said that Daniel's Hebrew is similar to that of Ezekiel and Ezra and unlike that found in such later apocryphal works in Ecclesiastes. As to Daniel's use of Aramaic, consider  two documents found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.  They too are in Aramaic and date from the first and second centuries B.C.E.-not long after the supposed forgery of Daniel.  But scholars  have noted a profound difference between the Aramaic in these documents and that found in Daniel.  Thus, some suggest that the book of Daniel must be centuries older than its critics assert. 

What about the "problematic" Greek words in Daniel? Some of these have been discovered to be Persian, not Greek at all!  The only words still thought to be Greek are the names of three musical instruments.  Does the presence of these three words really demand that Daniel be assigned a late date?  No. Archaeologists have found that Greek culture was influential centuries before Greece became a world power.  Furthermore, if the book of Daniel  had been composed  during the second century B.C.E., when Greek culture and language were all-pervasive,  would it contain only three Greek words?  Hardly.  It would likely contain far more. So the linguistic evidence really supports the authenticity of Daniel.  

Next time: THE GREATEST WITNESS 

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