Overview

Daniel is the account of a faithful Jewish exile who rose to prominence in the courts of Babylon and Persia, and of the visions God gave him concerning the future of the nations and the coming kingdom of God. The book combines stirring narratives of faithfulness under pressure—Daniel and his friends refusing to defile themselves, the fiery furnace, the lions’ den—with sweeping apocalyptic visions of the rise and fall of empires and the establishment of God’s everlasting kingdom. Its overarching message is the sovereignty of God over all the kingdoms of the earth: “the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will” (4:25). Daniel’s visions foretell the succession of world empires and point to the coming of “one like a son of man” who receives an everlasting dominion (7:13–14), and to the establishment of a kingdom that “shall never be destroyed” (2:44). For the Reformed reader, Daniel displays the sovereignty of God over history and the nations, the call to faithful witness under persecution, the certainty of God’s coming kingdom, and the messianic hope fulfilled in Christ, the Son of Man. It is the book of God’s sovereignty over the nations and the coming of His everlasting kingdom.

Author

The book is the work of Daniel, a Jewish noble taken into Babylonian exile as a youth, who served in the courts of Babylon and Persia and received the visions recorded in the book. The conservative position affirms Daniel’s authorship in the sixth century BC. Critical scholarship has widely dated the book to the second century BC (the time of the Maccabean crisis under Antiochus Epiphanes), arguing that its detailed prophecies of later history must be after-the-fact descriptions rather than genuine prediction. The conservative position rejects this, affirming the sixth-century date and the genuineness of the predictive prophecy: the book presents itself as Daniel’s work; it displays accurate knowledge of the sixth-century Babylonian and Persian setting; the predictive prophecy is precisely what the book offers as evidence of God’s sovereignty over history; and the Lord Jesus refers to “Daniel the prophet” (Matt. 24:15). The conservative conclusion affirms Daniel as the author of the book in the sixth century BC, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Date & Provenance

Daniel was taken into exile in about 605 BC and served through the Babylonian period and into the early Persian period, into the reign of Cyrus (1:21; 10:1), a span of some seventy years. The book was composed during this period, in the sixth century BC, in Babylon and the Persian empire, where Daniel lived and served. The events and visions are dated to the reigns of various Babylonian and Persian kings. The provenance is the courts of Babylon and Persia, among the exiles, where Daniel served as a high official and received his visions.

Audience & Recipients

Daniel was written for the Jewish exiles and the broader people of God, to assure them of God’s sovereignty over the nations and the certainty of His coming kingdom amid the experience of exile and foreign domination. The book addressed the exiles’ situation under the great pagan empires, encouraging them with the truth that God rules over all the kingdoms of the earth, that He is faithful to His people, and that His kingdom will ultimately triumph over all earthly powers. It also called God’s people to faithful witness and uncompromising obedience under the pressure of a pagan culture. Through the exiles, the book speaks to the people of God in every age who live under hostile powers, assuring them of God’s sovereignty, calling them to faithful witness, and directing their hope to the coming kingdom of God fulfilled in Christ.

Genre

Daniel is a combination of narrative and apocalyptic prophecy. The first half (chs. 1–6) consists of narratives recounting the faithfulness of Daniel and his friends in the courts of Babylon and Persia, while the second half (chs. 7–12) consists of apocalyptic visions concerning the future of the nations and the coming kingdom of God. The book is also notable for being written partly in Hebrew and partly in Aramaic (the international language of the day). The apocalyptic visions employ symbolic imagery—beasts representing kingdoms, the “son of man,” and detailed prophetic sequences—to convey God’s sovereign plan for history. Reading Daniel well means attending to both its narrative and apocalyptic genres, drawing the lessons of faithfulness from the narratives, interpreting the symbolic visions in light of their theological message and the unfolding of God’s kingdom, and discerning its messianic hope as it points to Christ, the Son of Man.

Occasion & Purpose

The occasion was the Babylonian exile and the experience of God’s people under the domination of the great pagan empires, which raised the question of God’s sovereignty and the future of His people and His kingdom. The book was written to assure God’s people of the sovereignty of God over all the kingdoms of the earth, to encourage faithful witness and obedience under the pressure of a hostile culture, and to reveal God’s plan for history and the certainty of His coming everlasting kingdom. Its purpose is to demonstrate that God, not the pagan kings, rules over history and the nations; to call God’s people to uncompromising faithfulness even at the risk of their lives; to foretell the rise and fall of the world empires and the establishment of God’s kingdom; and to point to the coming of the Son of Man and the messianic kingdom. The book aims to strengthen the faith and faithfulness of God’s people by revealing God’s sovereignty over history and the triumph of His kingdom, fulfilled in Christ.

Historical & Cultural Background

Daniel is set in the courts of Babylon and Persia during the exile. Daniel and his companions were among the young Jewish nobles taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, trained for royal service, and pressed to assimilate into Babylonian culture and religion. The book reflects the world of the great Mesopotamian empires—the splendor and power of Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar, the fall of Babylon to the Medo-Persian empire, and the early Persian period under kings like Darius and Cyrus. Daniel and his friends faced constant pressure to compromise their faith—to defile themselves with the king’s food, to worship the king’s image, to cease praying to the LORD—and their faithfulness under these pressures, and God’s deliverance of them, are central to the narratives. The apocalyptic visions concern the succession of world empires (commonly understood as Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome) and the coming of God’s kingdom, set against the backdrop of the rise and fall of these great powers. Understanding the pressures of the pagan court, the succession of empires, and the experience of God’s people under foreign domination illumines the book’s narratives and visions.

Structure & Outline

Daniel divides into two main parts: the narratives of faithfulness (chs. 1–6) and the apocalyptic visions (chs. 7–12).

1:1–6:28 — Narratives of Faithfulness in the Courts

• 1:1–21 — Daniel and his friends refuse to defile themselves.
• 2:1–49 — Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the great statue and the kingdom of God.
• 3:1–30 — The fiery furnace: the three friends’ faithfulness.
• 4:1–37 — Nebuchadnezzar’s humbling and acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty.
• 5:1–31 — Belshazzar’s feast and the fall of Babylon.
• 6:1–28 — Daniel in the lions’ den.

7:1–12:13 — Apocalyptic Visions of the Nations and the Kingdom

• 7:1–28 — The vision of the four beasts and the Son of Man.
• 8:1–27 — The vision of the ram and the goat.
• 9:1–27 — Daniel’s prayer and the prophecy of the seventy weeks.
• 10:1–12:13 — The final vision of the future and the end.

Key People

• Daniel — The faithful exile and prophet who served in the courts and received the visions.
• Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego — Daniel’s three friends, delivered from the fiery furnace.
• Nebuchadnezzar — The king of Babylon, humbled and brought to acknowledge God’s sovereignty.
• Belshazzar — The Babylonian ruler during whose feast Babylon fell.
• Darius — The ruler who reluctantly cast Daniel into the lions’ den.

Key Places

• Babylon — The empire and court where Daniel served and witnessed.
• The Persian empire — Where Daniel continued to serve after the fall of Babylon.

Key Verses

“He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings… he reveals deep and hidden things.” (Dan. 2:21–22, ESV)

“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed… and it shall stand forever.” (Dan. 2:44, ESV)

“And behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man… and to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom… an everlasting dominion.” (Dan. 7:13–14, ESV)

Key Themes

The sovereignty of God over the nations. The dominant theme of Daniel is the absolute sovereignty of God over all the kingdoms of the earth. Against the backdrop of the great pagan empires and their proud kings, the book repeatedly affirms that “the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will” (4:25, 32). God raises up and removes kings, “changes times and seasons” (2:21), humbles the proud (as He humbled Nebuchadnezzar), and brings down empires (as He brought down Babylon). The kings of the earth, for all their power, are under God’s sovereign rule and accountable to Him. The book teaches that God is sovereign over history and the nations, that no earthly power rules apart from His will, and that He governs all things toward the establishment of His kingdom.

Faithful witness under persecution. The narratives of Daniel and his friends model faithful, uncompromising witness under the pressure of a hostile culture. They refuse to defile themselves with the king’s food (ch. 1), refuse to worship the king’s image even at the threat of the fiery furnace (ch. 3), and continue to pray to the LORD even at the threat of the lions’ den (ch. 6). Their faithfulness is marked by courage, conviction, and trust in God, even when deliverance is uncertain (“but if not,” 3:18). And God honors and delivers them. The book teaches the call to faithful, uncompromising obedience and witness under persecution, the courage to obey God rather than men even at the risk of one’s life, and the trust in God that holds firm whether or not He delivers.

God’s coming everlasting kingdom. The visions of Daniel foretell the succession of world empires and the establishment of God’s everlasting kingdom that will supersede them all. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the great statue (ch. 2) depicts a succession of kingdoms, culminating in a stone “cut out by no human hand” that strikes the statue and becomes a great mountain filling the whole earth—the kingdom of God that “shall never be destroyed” (2:44). The vision of the four beasts (ch. 7) similarly depicts the succession of empires, followed by the coming of “one like a son of man” who receives an everlasting dominion (7:13–14). The book teaches that the kingdoms of this world will rise and fall, but that God’s kingdom is everlasting and will ultimately triumph over all earthly powers—a kingdom established by the Son of Man and consummated at the end of history.

The Son of Man and the messianic hope. A central messianic prophecy of Daniel is the vision of “one like a son of man” who comes “with the clouds of heaven” and is given “dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him,” an “everlasting dominion… that shall not pass away” (7:13–14). This figure, the Son of Man, is a divine-human figure who receives universal and eternal dominion from the Ancient of Days. Jesus repeatedly applied the title “Son of Man” to Himself, drawing on this vision (e.g., Matt. 26:64), identifying Himself as the one who receives the everlasting kingdom. The book teaches the coming of the Son of Man and the establishment of His everlasting kingdom, fulfilled in Christ.

God’s faithfulness and the certainty of His plan. Throughout the book, God is shown to be faithful to His people and sovereign over the unfolding of history according to His plan. He delivers His faithful servants, reveals the future to His prophet, and governs the rise and fall of empires toward the establishment of His kingdom. The prophecy of the seventy weeks (ch. 9), given in response to Daniel’s prayer, reveals God’s timetable for the accomplishment of His redemptive purpose. The book teaches that God is faithful to His people and to His covenant, that history unfolds according to His sovereign plan, and that the certainty of His coming kingdom is the ground of His people’s hope and faithfulness.

Place in Redemptive History

Daniel occupies an important place in redemptive history, set during the exile and revealing God’s sovereignty over the nations and the certainty of His coming kingdom, which points to Christ. The book addresses the experience of God’s people under the domination of the great pagan empires, assuring them that God, not the pagan kings, rules over history, and that His kingdom will ultimately triumph over all earthly powers. The visions trace the succession of world empires and the establishment of God’s everlasting kingdom, set against the backdrop of the rise and fall of these powers. Most significantly, the vision of the Son of Man (7:13–14) and the prophecy of the coming kingdom point forward to Christ, who applied the title “Son of Man” to Himself and who inaugurated the kingdom of God in His first coming and will consummate it at His return. The prophecy of the seventy weeks (ch. 9) sets forth God’s timetable for the accomplishment of redemption, pointing to the coming of the Messiah. In the larger story, Daniel advances redemptive history by revealing God’s sovereignty over the nations and history, foretelling the coming of the Son of Man and His everlasting kingdom, and assuring God’s people of the certain triumph of God’s kingdom. The book thus sustains the messianic and kingdom hope, fulfilled in Christ, the Son of Man, whose kingdom will never be destroyed.

Christ in Daniel

Christ is anticipated in Daniel preeminently as the Son of Man, the figure who comes “with the clouds of heaven” and receives from the Ancient of Days “dominion and glory and a kingdom” that is everlasting and universal (7:13–14). Jesus repeatedly applied the title “Son of Man” to Himself, most strikingly before the high priest, claiming to be the one who would come on the clouds of heaven (Matt. 26:64; cf. Mark 14:62), thereby identifying Himself as the divine-human King of Daniel’s vision who receives the everlasting kingdom. Christ is also the stone “cut out by no human hand” that strikes the statue of the empires and becomes a great mountain filling the whole earth—the kingdom of God that He establishes and that will never be destroyed (2:34–35, 44). He is the one whose coming is foretold in the prophecy of the seventy weeks (9:24–27), which points to the Messiah who would “make an end of sins” and “atone for iniquity” and bring “everlasting righteousness.” And He is the deliverer foreshadowed in the deliverances of Daniel and his friends—the one who saves His people from death (the fiery furnace, the lions’ den), even as He Himself passed through death and was raised. Indeed, the mysterious fourth figure in the fiery furnace, “like a son of the gods” (3:25), has often been seen as a preincarnate appearance of Christ, present with His people in the fire. Daniel thus directs the reader’s hope to Christ, the Son of Man, the King of the everlasting kingdom, the Messiah of the seventy weeks, and the deliverer who is with His people in their trials.

Systematic Theology Themes

The Doctrine of God (Sovereignty)

Daniel is one of Scripture’s strongest affirmations of the sovereignty of God over history and the nations—His raising up and removing of kings, His governance of the rise and fall of empires, and His sovereign plan for history—grounding the doctrines of God’s sovereignty and providence.

Christology and the Kingdom of God

The vision of the Son of Man (7:13–14) and the prophecies of the coming kingdom are foundational for the doctrine of Christ’s person (the divine-human Son of Man) and His everlasting kingdom, fulfilled in Christ.

Eschatology

Daniel’s apocalyptic visions of the succession of empires, the coming of the Son of Man, the everlasting kingdom, the prophecy of the seventy weeks, and the resurrection (12:2) contribute richly to the doctrine of the last things, the coming of Christ’s kingdom, and the resurrection and final judgment.

The Doctrine of Faithful Witness

The narratives of Daniel and his friends model faithful, uncompromising witness and obedience under persecution, informing the doctrine of the believer’s calling to faithfulness and the courage to obey God rather than men.

The Resurrection

Daniel 12:2, “many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt,” is one of the clearest Old Testament statements of the resurrection of the dead, grounding the doctrine of the bodily resurrection and the final judgment.

Confessional Connections

• WCF 5 (Providence) — Daniel’s affirmation of God’s sovereignty over the nations and history (“the Most High rules the kingdom of men,” 4:25) is foundational for the doctrine of providence.
• WCF 8 (Christ the Mediator) — the vision of the Son of Man and His everlasting kingdom (7:13–14) grounds the doctrine of Christ’s person and kingly office.
• WCF 33 (The Last Judgment) and WCF 32 (the Resurrection) — Daniel’s visions of the coming kingdom and the resurrection (12:2) ground the doctrines of the last things and the resurrection.
• WCF 2 (God) — God’s sovereignty, wisdom, and foreknowledge, displayed in the revealing of the future, support the doctrine of His attributes.
• WCF 16 (Good Works) — the faithful obedience of Daniel and his friends under persecution illustrates the call to faithful witness.
• WLC Q. 191 / on the kingdom of God — Daniel’s vision of the everlasting kingdom connects to the petition “Thy kingdom come.”

Application Points

• Trust God’s sovereignty over history and the nations. Take comfort, amid the rise and fall of powers and the turmoil of the world, that God rules over all the kingdoms of the earth and governs history toward the triumph of His kingdom (4:25).
• Be faithful and uncompromising under pressure. Follow the example of Daniel and his friends in faithful, uncompromising obedience to God, even under the pressure of a hostile culture and at the risk of your life, resolved to obey God rather than men (3:16–18; 6:10).
• Trust God whether or not He delivers. Imitate the faith of the three friends, who trusted God to deliver them “but if not,” would still not compromise—a faith that holds firm regardless of the outcome (3:17–18).
• Hope in the coming kingdom. Set your hope on the everlasting kingdom of God, established by the Son of Man, which will supersede all earthly powers and never be destroyed (2:44; 7:13–14).
• Give your allegiance to the Son of Man. Recognize Christ as the Son of Man who has received the everlasting dominion, and give Him your worship and allegiance as the King of the kingdom that shall not pass away.
• Pray with confidence in God’s plan. Like Daniel, pray earnestly, confessing sin and appealing to God’s faithfulness, trusting that God hears and that history unfolds according to His sovereign plan (ch. 9).

Interpretive Challenges

• The date and authorship of the book. The major critical challenge is the dating of Daniel to the second century BC, based on the assumption that its detailed prophecies must be after-the-fact descriptions. The conservative position affirms the sixth-century date and the genuineness of predictive prophecy, noting the book’s own claims, its accurate sixth-century setting, the function of prophecy as evidence of God’s sovereignty, and Jesus’ reference to Daniel the prophet (Matt. 24:15). The genuineness of the predictive prophecy is precisely the point: it demonstrates God’s sovereignty over history.
• The interpretation of the apocalyptic visions. The visions of the succession of empires (the statue in ch. 2, the beasts in ch. 7) are commonly understood to represent Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, with the kingdom of God established in the time of the Roman empire (the first coming of Christ). The details of the visions, especially the “little horn” and the final events, are interpreted variously; the central truth—the succession and fall of earthly empires and the establishment of God’s everlasting kingdom—is clear, while the precise identification of every detail is debated.
• The prophecy of the seventy weeks (9:24–27). This is one of the most debated passages in Scripture, with various interpretations of the timeline and the referents of the “weeks,” the “anointed one,” and the events described. The major views include a primarily messianic interpretation (pointing to Christ’s first coming, His atoning death, and the destruction of Jerusalem) and dispensational interpretations (involving a future seventieth week). The conservative and broadly amillennial reading generally sees the prophecy as fulfilled in the coming, death, and work of Christ and the events surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70; faithful interpreters differ on the details.
• The relationship of the narratives and visions. The book combines narratives of faithfulness (chs. 1–6) and apocalyptic visions (chs. 7–12), and the relationship between them is theologically significant: both display God’s sovereignty—over the personal trials of His people and over the sweep of history—and both call God’s people to faithfulness in light of the certain triumph of God’s kingdom.

Further Study

• Within the Old Testament: the historical context of the exile in 2 Kings 24–25 and 2 Chronicles 36; the contemporary prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel; the kingdom and Son of Man themes developed from the Davidic covenant and the Psalms (e.g., Ps. 2; 110).
• New Testament fulfillment: the “Son of Man” applied to Christ throughout the Gospels (especially Matt. 26:64; Mark 14:62); the kingdom of God inaugurated by Christ; Revelation, which draws extensively on Daniel’s apocalyptic imagery; the resurrection (John 5:28–29, echoing Dan. 12:2).
• Classic Reformed resources: John Calvin’s Commentary on Daniel; the relevant volume of Matthew Henry; and the treatments of Daniel’s theology of sovereignty, the kingdom, and the Son of Man in biblical-theological and commentary works pointing to Christ.