Daniel and Apocalyptic

Read Daniel 1-9, 12 and Bandstra Chapter 16 

1.  Daniel divides by literary style and setting into two main parts:  Narratives about Daniel and his friends (1-6) and Apocalyptic Visions (7-12).  We usually date the final form of the book to c. 175-164 B.C.E. in the Maccabean Period, even though Chapters 1-6 are set in the earlier period of the Babylonian exile.  Based on Bandstra 448-450 summarize the key events of the Maccabean period.  In order to do this you will need to identify the following: 

Alexander the Great and the Seleucids and Ptolemies 

Antiochus IV Epiphanes and his policies including his actions in the Jerusalem Temple

Hellenization

Hasids

Maccabees

2.   Describe the problems living outside Palestine posed for Jews from the period of the Babylonian exile through the Hellenistic Period. How does Daniel 1-6 address these problems? Cite specific stories or passages.  Note:  Bandstra holds that these stories "send two fundamental messages" (446).  What are these?

3. Describe the problems posed for Jews within Palestine by the Seleucid conquest. How does Daniel 7-12 address these problems? Cite specific passages.

4.Why do scholars label Daniel (especially 7-12) as an apocalyptic text? What features of apocalyptic literature does it display? What are some examples from the text.   Bandstra suggests that there may be some similarities between the modern genre of science fiction and apocalyptic “for the way it tries to conceptualize and visualize the shape of the future.” (453)  In what ways is this an apt and useful comparison and in what ways is it not helpful?  What functions does apocalyptic serve?  What literary features make it possible for readers to constantly reinterpret and reapply an apocalyptic text?

5. Unpack the symbolism of Daniel, Chapter 7. Note that the vision is described in 7: 1-14. It is interpreted in 7:15-28, although the interpretation also needs interpretation. Daniel 7 is full of symbolism. How does it update Nebuchadrezzar’s dream in Daniel 2?   What do the various animal/beasts represent?  What are some of the possible interpretations of the "one like a son of man" in 7:13-14?  One common interpretation of the animalsymbolism is as follows:

Note:  Horns representing divine power appeared on Seleucid coins. A similar four kingdom pattern occurs in Daniel 2:36-45.

6. Interpret the visions of Chapters 8 and 9 in terms of the social and political struggles of the times.

7.  Chapter 9 reinterprets Jeremiah 25:11-12 and 29:10.  Jeremiah said that Israel would be in the Babylonian exile for seventy years.  Daniel writes of domination for seventy weeks of years (490 years).  This is an example of reinterpretation within an apocalyptic text.  Daniel itself has become the subject of many reinterpretations from shortly after it was written until today.  What literary features of apocalyptic make it likely that it will be reinterpreted and applied to ever new situations?  What literary features of apocalyptic make it likely that it will be reinterpreted and applied to ever new situations?   What accounts for its ongoing appeal and force?

Note:  There are a variety of ways readers approach the symbolism.  Some read the symbols as steno symbols having a one to one correspondence to a particular meaning, often a particular historical figure or event.  Others read the symbols as tensive symbols capable of more than one meaning.   In that case the one like a son of man, for example, could refer to the holy ones in Israel persecuted in the Maccabean period and also to a future messiah.  It could even represent those who are persecuated but remain faithful in any generation.  For an excellent discussion of modes of interpreting Revelation, the major apocalyptic text in the New Testament, see David Barr, The New Testament Story: An Introduction. 4th edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2008, 378-382.

8.  What are the important elements of the final vision of 12:1-13?  How does resurrection fit into the historical situation?

9.  Bandstra discusses the apocryphal additions to Daniel that appear in the Septuagint (the early Greek translation).  How do the stories of Susanna and Bel and the Dragon portray Daniel?