The quality of the work displayed in the Book of Daniel poses a significant challenge to current theories about the book's composition and reception. The beauty, complexity, and consistency of its chiastic arrangement suggest that it's the work of a single author and a single lifetime. Would this brilliant masterpiece…
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Daniel’s Second Chiasm: Part One
We’ve already considered the significant change we encounter as we begin Daniel seven. The genre, the tone, and the characters are so unlike the previous chapters, it makes a person wonder if they are reading the same book. But these are only the most obvious of several signals that indicate…
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Daniel’s First Chiasm: Part Two
Chiastic Parallelism is an ancient poetic form that balances similar thoughts in order to impress those concepts on the reader. Much like the two lines forming the Greek letter chi (Χ), chiastic form puts synonymous thoughts in an equal yet opposing arrangement, creating an intriguing outline for us to follow.…
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Daniel’s First Chiasm: Part One
Daniel has long been famous for its depth and complexity, but who would have guessed that we would be uncovering new insights even in the 21st century? It has become increasingly clear that the Book of Daniel is structured thematically, as well as chronologically, according to a chiastic pattern—a poetic…
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Getting the Point: Reading Chiastic Structures
Textual analysis of the Book of Daniel has revealed that this book was artfully arranged according to a poetic form known as chiastic parallelism, a practice of balancing parallel thoughts or themes within a verse or passage. In 1972 A. Lenglet traced a chiastic order in the Aramaic portion of…
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Unjamming The Genres: Part One
What if the Book of Daniel is not a product of sociopolitical movements but a divinely designed document? In other words, what if this book was carefully and significantly arranged to convey a clear, inspired message to its readers? The adoption of this perspective provides clear answers to Daniel’s structure…
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The Second Riddle: More Troublesome Toys
Biblical scholars have contributed to our understanding of Daniel by helping us to understand the genres and literary structures that make up this book. Unfortunately, however, an unwillingness to acknowledge the book’s divine origin consigns them to forcing square pegs into round holes.
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The Second Riddle: Troublesome Toys
Liberal scholarship continues to grapple over fundamental questions surrounding the Book of Daniel. The trouble stems primarily from the nature of the book’s two halves: the stories of chapters 2–6 and the apocalyptic visions detailed in chapters 7–12. These two sections are remarkably different in format, style, and emphasis yet…
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When Your Whole World Collapses, Part 1
The clash of weapons and the shout of warriors fill the opening scenes of the book of Daniel. Some of God’s people were led from the city of Jerusalem in chains, many of them young men of the royal family. Certainly this was not their expected destiny.
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The Second Riddle: Introduction
Do you remember the first time you read through the Book of Daniel? Quick show of hands—how many of you crashed when you got to chapter seven? I know I did! The first six chapters were straightforward stories of heroism and miracles, but then everything changed. Suddenly, Daniel was alone,…
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Answering an Aramaic Enigma: Part Four
In my last post, I argued that Jeremiah’s Aramaic declaration is directly linked to the Aramaic section of Daniel. In fact, this verse and its corresponding chapters in Daniel are exactly what one would expect in light of Israel’s history with Aramaic as well as its role within the writings…
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Answering an Aramaic Enigma: Part Three
Daniel’s Aramaic chapters stand out as a distinct literary segment written in an “unauthorized” language. Why would the author of this book suddenly shift languages midsentence to compose only part of Daniel in a language that had never been used to compose Hebrew Scripture? To answer this question, we will…
