In this class, we review the book of Daniel, with a special focus on how the prophecies of this book are partly fulfilled in the time of the Maccabees. We also discuss the portions of Daniel which are deuterocanonical, and the various languages present in the book.
Listen online [here]!
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The Books of Maccabees
Session 4: The Prophecy of Daniel, Maccabees and the Messiah
Course Outline
October 14th, Session 1 - Introduction and Outline, History of the Maccabees
October 21st, Session 2 - The First Book of Maccabees
October 28th, Session 3 - The Second Book of Maccabees
November 4th, Session 4 - The Prophecy of Daniel, Maccabees and the Messiah
November 11th, Session 5 - The Third and Fourth Books of Maccabees, and others
November 18th, Session 6 - How We Got the Old Testament
November 25th, Session 7 - Saints and Theology in the Books of Maccabees
I. Review of 2 Maccabees and Prayers for the dead
Since we did not have sufficient time to cover this in Session 3, we will do so at the beginning of this class.
II. The Three Languages of the Book of Daniel
Like the majority of the Old Testament, Daniel was written in Hebrew (partly). However, there is also a large portion of Aramaic, and certain parts which are preserved only in Greek (in the Catholic Bible).
Modern scholarship suggests that even the Catholic portions (preserved only in Greek) were likely written originally in either Hebrew or Aramaic.
Something unique (and odd) about the book of Daniel is that chapters 2 through 7 (2:4b - 7:28) are in Aramaic. Daniel 2:4 “And the Chaldean answered the King in Syriac…” - here, the narrative suddenly changes to Aramaic (which is related to Syriac). However, when the Chaldeans finish speaking (2:7), the language continues in Aramaic.
III. The Catholic Parts of Daniel
Daniel 3:24-90, the Prayer of Azariah. This falls between verses 23 and 24 in protestant Bibles, and extends the length of chapter 3 from 30 verses to 100 verses! This contains some of the most well known Catholic prayers from Daniel: The Canticle of the Three Children (Daniel 3:57-88) is used for Sunday Laudes.
The story of Susanna and the wicked elders (Daniel 13). This is especially significant in the Traditional Latin Mass for Saturday in the Third Week of Lent - compared with the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11).
Bel and the Dragon (Daniel 14). The story of the idol Bel and the priests who worshipped it, show Daniel’s wisdom in revealing the deception. A second story related how Daniel slayed a dragon in Babylon. Reacting against the destruction of Bel and slaying of the dragon, the Babylonians throw Daniel again into a lion’s den. In this second instance, Daniel is aided by the prophet Habacuc who was carried by his hair from Judea to assist Daniel in Babylon (bringing him food).
IV. Prophecy of the time of the Maccabees
The book of Daniel is set during the time of the Babylonian Captivity (about 597 BC to 538 BC). The book is set entirely in Babylon, among the Jews in exile.
The prophetic accuracy of the book of Daniel is so accurate with regard to the Maccabean revolt that some modern scholars cannot even accept that Daniel was written so early (around 536 BC) - it is especially accurate up to the desecration of the Temple by Antiochus IV in 167 BC and up till just before his death in 164 BC.
Daniel 2 - The King’s Dream, The Statue and Future Kingdoms
Daniel knows and interprets King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the statue made of various materials.
The head of gold is the Babylonian Empire. The chest and arms of silver is the Empire of the Medes. The belly and thighs of brass is the Persian Empire. The legs of iron is the Greek Empire under Alexander the Great. The feet mixed of clay and iron is the Seleucids and the Ptolemies (who did attempt to be united through marriage bonds as well).
In this case, the rock which destroys the Empires could be Zion, or the Jews in general, or the Maccabees.
The more traditional interpretation is as follows: The Babylonians are the head; the Medes and Persians are the arms and chest; the Greeks are the thighs and legs; and the Romans are the feet. In this case, the rock which strikes is the Church founded on Peter (rock).
Daniel 7, The Four Beasts, Four Kingdoms, and the Son of Man
Again, there are four kingdoms represented by four beasts - and there are different ways of interpreting this. The lion with eagles wings, the bear with three ribs, the leopard with four wings and four heads, and the beast with iron teeth and ten horns. The reference of the exceptionally evil “little horn” is likely to Antiochus IV (and this is especially clear with the “little horn” in Daniel 8:9).
Daniel 8, The Ram, the He Goat, the Horns, and the Angel Gabriel
The ram represents the Medes and Persians, while the he goat with a great horn is Alexander the Great. The horn is broken and four smaller horns rise up, Alexander’s four generals and the division of his Empire. The “little horn” is Antiochus IV, who forbids the sacrifices of the Law and persecuted the Jews.
Daniel 9, Daniel’s prayer, the Restoration of the Temple, and the 70 Weeks
This includes the death of Onias III (9:26) and the forbidding of sacrifices according to the Law.
The "abomination of desolation” or “abomination that makes desolation” is referenced in 9:27, 11:31, and 12:11. This refers to Antiochus IV setting up the idol of Zeus in the Temple.
Daniel 10, Gabriel, the Princes of Persia and of Greece, and Michael
Chapter 11, The King of the North and the King of the South
Most especially, Daniel 11 seems to be a prophecy of the time of the Maccabees.
11:3, The “mighty king” is likely Alexander the Great
11:4, Alexander’s Kingdom is divided among his generals
11:5&6, The “king of the South” is Ptolemy in Egypt, the “king of the North” is the Seleucids in Assyria.
11:6, A treaty called for Antiochus II to marry the daughter of Ptolemy II, Berenice. She ended up being betrayed and killed by the first wife of Antiochus II.
11:7-13, The war between the kings of the South and of the North is the strife between the Antiochus rulers (Seleucids of Assyria) and the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt.
11:8 Ptolemy III recovered the idols of Egypt.
11:9, Seleucus II regained control of northern Syria and Phoenicia.
11:10-12, Antiochus the Great (Antiochus III) conquered Judea and, though he had some set backs, ultimately extended the power and rule of the Seleucids.
11:13-16, Antiochus III eventually gains control of the Holy Land from Ptolemy.
11:17-19, Antiochus III the Great gave his daughter, Cleopatra, in marriage to Ptolemy V in 195 B.C. But she sided with Egypt and no advantage was gained. Antiochus then lost a battle against Roman forces. Antiochus the Great was eventually killed.
11:20, Antiochus III’s eldest son, Seleucus IV, imposed heavy taxes throughout Palestine. Seleucus IV was poisoned after only 12 years as king.
11:21-34, Details the persecution of the Jews by Antiochus IV.
11:22 The prince of the covenant who is killed, likely Onias III
11:30 The Romans (“ships of the western coastlands”) intervene as Antiochus IV is trying to gain power against Egyptian Ptolemy, and so he persecutes the Jews as he returns to Assyria.
11:31 Persecution of the Jews, desecration of the Temple, and the idol of Zeus (“abomination unto desolation”) is set up.
11:40 and following, Daniel seems to make a prediction about the end times? Perhaps an anti-Christ? Here, the prophecy no longer fits so closely with Maccabees, because the king of the south does not come to fight against Antiochus IV, nor does Antiochus IV fight for the kingdoms mentioned in 11:43-45.
Daniel 11 seems to be accurate to the events of Maccabees up to about 164 BC, but then the prophecy must shift to further future events.
Chapter 12, The Prophecy of the End Times
Daniel 12 seems to take the future events of the time of the Maccabees as a foreshadowing of the end times.
V. Daniel and the Prophecy of the Messiah
[taken from articles I wrote about a decade ago]
Gabriel’s prophetic proclamation in the Old Testament
Granting that God chose to send an angel and even one of the archangels, we ask why he would choose to send Gabriel rather than Raphael or Michael or another of the archangels. Considering Gabriel’s role in the Old Testament, we will gain some insight.
Gabriel has a prominent role in the book of Daniel, where he is seen to direct and oversee the wars of men. He appears at least in Daniel 8 and 9, and probably also in chapter 10 (though there is some uncertainty, since he does not explicitly state his name there).
In Daniel 9:21-25, the archangel Gabriel gives a most wondrous prophecy of the coming of the Christ. Consider the words of Scripture:
[21] As I was yet speaking in prayer, behold the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, flying swiftly touched me at the time of the evening sacrifice. [22] And he instructed me, and spoke to me, and said: O Daniel, I am now come forth to teach thee, and that thou mightest understand. [23] From the beginning of thy prayers the word came forth: and I am come to shew it to thee, because thou art a man of desires: therefore do thou mark the word, and understand the vision. [24] Seventy weeks are shortened upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, that transgression may be finished, and sin may have an end, and iniquity may be abolished; and everlasting justice may be brought; and vision and prophecy may be fulfilled; and the saint of saints may be anointed. [25] Know thou therefore, and take notice: that from the going forth of the word, to build up Jerusalem again, unto Christ the prince, there shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks: and the street shall be built again, and the walls in straitness of times.
Gabriel speaks of the “seventy weeks” and of the “sixty-nine weeks”, which refer to “weeks of years”, that is four-hundred ninety and four-hundred eighty-three years, respectively – (“weeks of years”, as in Leviticus 25,8: Thou shalt also number to thee seven weeks of years, that is to say, seven times seven, which together make forty-nine years). On this passage from Daniel, the commentary in the Douay-Rheims Bible states:
Seventy weeks: Viz., of years, (or seventy times seven, that is, 490 years,) are shortened; that is, fixed and determined, so that the time shall be no longer.
From the going forth of the word: That is, from the twentieth year of king Artaxerxes, when by his commandment Nehemias rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, 2 Esd. 2. From which time, according to the best chronology, there were just sixty-nine weeks of years, that is, 483 years to the baptism of Christ, when he first began to preach and execute the office of Messias.-- Ibid.
Whether we accept the precision of the chronology, it is quite clear that the archangel Gabriel gives one of the most precise prophecies of the coming of the Christ. Hence, it was fitting that he who had announced the mystery of old, should announce the same when the fullness of time had come.
Again, from another article on the significance of seventy times seven
There is another mystery hidden in the number “seventy times seven”.
Daniel 9:[21] As I was yet speaking in prayer, behold the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, flying swiftly touched me at the time of the evening sacrifice. [22] And he instructed me, and spoke to me, and said: O Daniel, I am now come forth to teach thee, and that thou mightest understand. [23] From the beginning of thy prayers the word came forth: and I am come to shew it to thee, because thou art a man of desires: therefore do thou mark the word, and understand the vision. [24] Seventy weeks are shortened upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, that transgression may be finished, and sin may have an end, and iniquity may be abolished; and everlasting justice may be brought; and vision and prophecy may be fulfilled; and the saint of saints may be anointed. [25] Know thou therefore, and take notice: that from the going forth of the word, to build up Jerusalem again, unto Christ the prince, there shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks: and the street shall be built again, and the walls in straitness of times. (Daniel 9:21-25)
From the Douay-Rheims commentary:
[21] "The man Gabriel"... The angel Gabriel in the shape of a man.
[23] "Man of desires"... that is, ardently praying for the Jews then in captivity.
[24] "Seventy weeks"... Viz., of years, (or seventy times seven, that is, 490 years,) are shortened; that is, fixed and determined, so that the time shall be no longer.
[25] "From the going forth of the word"... That is, from the twentieth year of king Artaxerxes, when by his commandment Nehemias rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, 2 Esd. 2. From which time, according to the best chronology, there were just sixty-nine weeks of years, that is, 483 years to the baptism of Christ, when he first began to preach and execute the office of Messias.-- Ibid.
[25] "In straitness of times"... angustia temporum: which may allude both to the difficulties and opposition they met with in building: and to the shortness of the time in which they finished the wall, viz., fifty-two days.
[26] And after sixty-two weeks Christ shall be slain: and the people that shall deny him shall not be his. And a people with their leader that shall come, shall destroy the city and the sanctuary: and the end thereof shall be waste, and after the end of the war the appointed desolation. [27] And he shall confirm the covenant with many, in one week: and in the half of the week the victim and the sacrifice shall fall: and there shall be in the temple the abomination of desolation: and the desolation shall continue even to the consummation, and to the end. (Daniel 9:26-27)
Again, from the Douay-Rheims Bible Commentary:
[26] "A people with their leader"... The Romans under Titus.
[27] "In the half of the week"... or, in the middle of the week, etc. Because Christ preached three years and a half: and then by his sacrifice upon the cross abolished all the sacrifices of the law.-- Ibid.
[27] "The abomination of desolation"... Some understand this of the profanation of the temple by the crimes of the Jews, and by the bloody faction of the zealots. Others of the bringing in thither the ensigns and standard of the pagan Romans. Others, in fine, distinguish three different times of desolation: viz., that under Antiochus; that when the temple was destroyed by the Romans; and the last near the end of the world under Antichrist. To all which, as they suppose, this prophecy may have a relation.
