📖 The Book of Daniel
Start reading →Old Testament · 12 chapters · Prophet
God rules over all kingdoms and will establish his eternal kingdom.
Who wrote Daniel?
Traditional date c. 535 BC; many modern scholars date the final form to the Maccabean period (~165 BC).
Why Daniel was written
To encourage faithful Jews under pagan rule by showing that God is sovereign over history and that no empire — however powerful — can frustrate his purposes. He delivers the faithful and will establish an everlasting kingdom.
Outline of Daniel
- 11–6: Narratives — Daniel and his friends faithful under pagan kings
- 27–12: Apocalyptic visions — four kingdoms and the coming of the Son of Man
Key verses
How Daniel points to Christ
The 'Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven' (7:13-14) is quoted by Jesus of himself at his trial (Matt. 26:64). Daniel 9's seventy weeks is one of the most studied Messianic prophecies in the OT.
How Daniel begins
1In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.
Read Daniel 1 →