Sceptics of Daniel

 

Last week I was reading some profiles on the prophet Daniel.  My sources included the Douay Bible, Matthew Henry’s Commentary, & Reader’s Digest's "Who's Who in the Bible".  I found some interesting tidbits of information.

The Hebrew Bible (Holy Scriptures of Judaism) is traditionally divided into three parts:  the Torah, the Prophets, & the Writings.  Interestingly enough, Daniel isn’t included among the Prophets but rather in the Writings. 


Reader’s Digest points out three apparent discrepancies in the book of Daniel:

1.      Nabonidus was the last ruler of Babylon, not Belshazzar.  That was dealt with in my article entitled THE CONQUEST OF BABYLON.  I think scholars agree that King Nabonidus was more interested in the study of foreign religions and history than in government.  Nabonidus took a ten year hiatus in Arabia and left his son Belshazzar at the helm as prince regent.  Also interesting is that Daniel’s reward for interpreting the “writing on the wall” was not the number two position behind Belshazzar but rather the number three position behind Belshazzar #2 and Nabonidus #1.

2.      Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon, not the unknown Darius the Mede.  That was also dealt with in THE CONQUEST OF BABYLON.  Scholars are well familiar with Gubara or Ugbara (Greek, Gobryas) who conquered Babylon on October 12, 539 BC.  Scholars, including William H. Shea, equate him with Darius the Mede.

3.      In Daniel 1:1, the prophet calls Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon.  That was 606 BC, the year of Daniel’s deportation and the year before Nebuchadnezzar actually became king of Babylon.  Matthew Henry said Nebuchadnezzar reigned for some time in conjunction with his father (co-regency).  It is also possible that he fulfilled the dual role of army general and prince regent if his father was absent or incapacitated.  Of further note, by accession-year reckoning based on Judah's civil calendar, Jehoiakim's third regnal year was from October 1, 606 BC to September 30, 605 BC.  In that sense, "the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim" as recorded in Daniel 1:1 was both the year when Daniel was deported (606 BC) and the year when Nebuchadnezzar was king (605 BC).

      Why was Jehoiakim's third year, which included Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Jerusalem and Daniel's deportation, dated to 606 BC by the Douay Bible, Matthew Henry, and Reader's Digest?  Because pre-twentieth century historians measured the reigns of kings by factual-year reckoning.  That meant a king’s reign was reckoned from the day of his accession to the anniversary of his accession, exactly one year later, and then from anniversary day to anniversary day going forward.  Historians determined that Jehoiakim's accession occurred in Oct/Nov 609 BC.  Therefore, his third factual year was Oct/Nov 607-Oct/Nov 606 BC.  That meant the siege of Jerusalem and the deportation probably occurred sometime between January 1 and November 1, 606 BC.