Northern Caribbean University
School of Religion and Theology

DATE OF WRITING FOR THE BOOK OF DANIEL; LINGUISTIC EVIDENCE

A Research Paper
Presented in Partial Fulfillmentof the Requirements for the Course
RELB 203 Apocalyptic Literature I

byLascelles James
October 2006

TABLE OF CONTENTSINTRODUCTION ...................................................1

HISTORY OF INTERPRETATION ......................................2
Linguistic Character ......................................2
ARGUMENTS FOR 6TH CENTURY AUTHORSHIP ............................3
Language Difficulties......................................3Greek......................................................4Aramaic....................................................4Hebrew.....................................................5Persian....................................................5
CONCLUSION .....................................................7BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................8ii

INTRODUCTION
The constituent languages of the book of Daniel suggest thatthe book was written in Maccabean times (2nd century B.C.). Somewriters claim that the language of the book probably indicates a dateof writing later than the Babylonian exile. There are a number oflanguage problems with the view of a Maccabean date for Daniel.
Linguistic evidence that the book was written during that period oftime opposes this view, and the suggestions that propose a Maccabeandate lack literary evidence.
It would appear that most writers on the subject have ignored
linguistic polemics to the contrary and have conjured arguments to
fit the established belief of a Maccabean date for the book. Althoughsome scholars advocate a 2nd century date for the writing of the bookof Daniel, linguistic evidence indicates that the 6th century is themore likely date for the book.

1HISTORY OF INTERPRETATIONOBJECTIONSLinguistic Character
According to Samuel Driver, the use of fifteen Persian words
to describe government officials under the Babylonians before theconquest of Cyrus shows that Daniel was written in a period after
the Persian Empire had been well established.1 It has also beenasserted by Driver that the Hebrew of Daniel resembles the Hebrewof a later date.2 In addition, Driver believed that the Aramaic ofDaniel was a Western dialect spoken around Palestine from the 3rd
century B.C. to the second century A.D.3
Driver summarized that the Persian words presuppose a period
after the Persian Empire had been well established; the Greek words
demand, the Hebrew supports, and the Aramaic permits, a date after
the conquest of Palestine by Alexander the Great(332 B.C.).41

Samuel Rolles Driver, An Introduction to the Literature of theOld Testament (New York: Meridian, 1956), 501.
2Ibid., 505.

3Ibid., 502.

4Ibid., 508.
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ARGUMENTS FOR 6TH CENTURY AUTHORSHIP

Language Difficulties
Albert Barnes reckoned that it is not probable that one who lived
so late as the Maccabean times could have written the book in twolanguages (Hebrew and Aramaic). It is an uncommon thing for authors
to write in two different languages in the same work, and it is neverdone without some special design. A design for which there would nothave been likely to be occasion if they were writing in the Maccabeantimes. It was perfectly natural that Daniel should write in thismanner, and perfectly unnatural that any one should do it in a later
age, and in different circumstances.
If the book had been forged by a Hebrew in the Maccabean times,
he would have been careful to write it in pure Hebrew (canonicallanguage). He would not have intermingled so much of a foreignlanguage.5 Metzger cites Delitzsche as saying that the Hebrew ofDaniel is closely related to that of Ezekiel which was written about
570 B.C.6

5Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament (New York: Baker BookHouse, 1953),17.
6

Bruce M. Metzger,"The Book of Daniel," Christian Faith and Life
3 (1934): 218-220.
3Greek
The books of Maccabees are heavily influenced by Greek cultureand customs; yet this influence is absent in Daniel.7 Baldwin alludesto the fact that no more than three Greek words occur in the Aramaicof Daniel.8 It should be noted that these three Greek words are allmusical instruments. If the book of Daniel was written in Palestine
after a period of 160 years of influence and control by the Greeks
then the writer would have used more Greek terms.

Aramaic
In terms of the Aramaic of the text it has been concluded that thebook could not have been written later than 300 B.C. Stefanovic studied
Old Aramaic inscriptions from the ninth to the seventh centuries B.C.
and found significant similarity to the Aramaic used in Daniel. Kochpoints out that the vocalization of the Aramaic of Daniel appears
to be of Eastern type and the general context and royal figures point
to the east.9 A Western origin would be required if the Maccabean

7Edwin M. Yamauchi, Greece and Babylon (New York: Baker Book
House, 1967), 94
8Joyce G. Baldwin, Daniel: An Introduction and Commentary,vol4, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (London: Inter Varsity Press,1978), 34.
9Klaus Koch,"Is Daniel Also Among the Prophets?" Journal of Bible
4

thesis were correct.
Hebrew
If Daniel originated in Palestine in the 2nd century B.C., thenthe language of the book should reflect the Hebrew that was common
at that time, such as that reflected in the Qumran scrolls. It has
been shown that the Qumran documents have none of the distinct
characteristics of the Hebrew chapters in Daniel. Archer concludes
that in the areas of syntax, word order, morphology, vocabulary,spelling, and word-usage, there is absolutely no possibility ofregarding Daniel as contemporary to other second century documents
and that centuries have intervened between them.10Persian (Aryan)
It is claimed that the presence of Aryan words in Daniel is proofof the late date of the book.11 However, Pusey makes reference to thefact that the meaning of many of these words was forgotten in Maccabean
times. The knowledge of Aryan names was natural to one living nearto Aryan nations, but unnatural to a Jew, living nearly four centuries
Interpretation 39 (1985): 47.
10Gleason Archer, "Modern Rationalism and the Book of Daniel,"
Bibliotheca Sacra 136 (1979): 129-47.
11Otto Eissfeldt, The Old Testament (New York: Harper & Row,1965),522.

5afterward in Palestine.12 All of the 19 Persian loan words found inDaniel have been shown to be of Old Persian origin. None of thesewords were in use later than 300 B.C. The presence of Persian loanwords also tells us that those sections weren't written till, or wereedited in, the 1st year of Cyrus (about 539/8 B.C.) when Persian
influence became strong.
If Daniel had been composed in second century then there shouldhave been no difficulty in rendering any of the terms into Greek.
The LXX translators were unable to translate some of the Persian words
accurately. The meaning of these terms could have been so completely
forgotten by the Alexandrian Jews who composed the LXX that they did
not know how to translate them."1312E. B. Pusey, Daniel the Prophet (London: Klock & Klock, 1978),56.
13Gleason L. Archer, Daniel, vol. 7, Expositor's (Grand Rapids:Zondervan Press, 1985), 22.
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CONCLUSION
The cumulative effect of all of the language components ofthe book of Daniel alone does not allow it to be a 2nd century B.C.
Palestine creation. Claims that the language of the book probablyindicates a date of composition later than the Babylonian exile, areunfounded. It appears that the book was written by someone who wasconversant with both Hebrew and Aramaic (this favours Daniel) as
indicated by the use of both languages to record the accounts. The
fact that only three Greek words appear in the book supports a
pre-Maccabean date for the writing of the book. The characteristicsof the form of Aramaic and Hebrew used in the book indicate that they
pre-dated the Hebrew of the Maccabean era. It also appears that theAryan words found in Daniel must have been used in or near Babylon
at a time not long after the founding of the Persian empire. Thus,
after examining some of the linguistic indicators, it is seems more
likely that the book of Daniel was written in the 6th century B.C.
rather than the 2nd century B.C..

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Archer, Gleason L. Daniel. Vol. 7, Expositor's. Grand Rapids:
Zondervan Press, 1985.
_______ “Modern Rationalism and the Book of Daniel”. Bibliotheca Sacra
136, (1979):129-47.
Barnes, Albert. Notes on the Old Testament. New York: Baker Book
House, 1953.
Daniel, Book of, New Bible Dictionary 3rd edition. United Kingdom:Intervarsity Press, 1996.
Baldwin, Joyce G. Daniel: An Introduction and Commentary. Vol 4,Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries. London: Inter Varsity Press,1978.
Driver, Samuel Rolles. An Introduction to the Literature of the Old
Testament. New York: Meridian Press, 1956.
Eissfeldt, Otto. The Old Testament. New York: Harper & Row, 1965.
Koch, Klaus "Is Daniel Also Among the Prophets?” Journal of Bible
Interpretation 39 (1985): 117-30.
Metzger, Bruce M. “The Book of Daniel." Christian Faith and Life 3(1934): 218-220.
Pusey, E. B. Daniel the Prophet. London: Klock & Klock, 1978.
Yamauchi, Edwin M. Greece and Babylon. New York: Baker Book House,
1967.
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