One feature of this section is daniel s reliance on heavenly figures to interpret and explain his visions. A noble jewish youth of jerusalem, he is taken into captivity by nebuchadnezzar of babylon and serves the king and his successors with loyalty and ability until the time of the persian conqueror cyrus, all the while remaining true. The four visions of chapters seven to twelve are an early example of apocalyptic literature and, in contrast to the earlier chapters, are introduced in the first person. It was a form usually utilized to communicate the content of a. As has been said of the book of revelation, so we might say of daniel 712, that it is a picture book rather than a code book. So the visions of daniel are really one of our first important pieces of apocalyptic literature. The form the book of daniel assumes has indeed many of the characteristics used to denote apocalyptic literature as does its new testament counterpart, revelation, but this book set the pace emulated by the later writers. Apocalyptic writings are marked by distinctive literary features, particularly prediction of future events and accounts of visionary experiences or journeys to heaven, often involving vivid symbolism. Cook makes the puzzling visions and symbols intelligible to modern readers. Daniel and apocalyptic literature open yale courses. For example, the book of daniel comes from the era 165 b.
It is found in the old testament of the christian bible among the major prophets daniel, jeremiah, ezekiel, and isaiah and in the kevitum in the jewish bible. The book of daniel i have been arguing that to understand the radically new view of the afterlife that emerged in ancient judea in the horrible years leading up to the maccabean revolt, it is important to know something about a new genre or literature that began to be produced at the time, the apocalypse. I take this opportunity to express my thanks to some of those who. A product of the judeochristian tradition, apocalyptic literature is. The book of daniel presents a collection of popular stories about daniel, a loyal jew, and the record of visions granted to him, with the babylonian exile of the 6th century bce as their background. Efforts to link this daniel with the danel of the ugaritic texts have not proven successful.
Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Yet through careful study of the book of revelation, we can translate the symbols into 21stcentury terminology. An introduction to the interpretation of apocalyptic. Biblical literature apocalyptic and eschatological works.
Revelation, apocalyptic writing and the old testament grace. This summary of the book of daniel provides information about the title, authors, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of daniel. What are the eschatological themes in the book of daniel. Although daniel and revelation are sometimes designated as prophecy, the two books are more accurately labeled apocalyptic literature, a specific type of prophetic writing. In later jewish and early christian apocalypses, in which the hero undertakes a heavenly trip and sees the secrets that are hidden from others, these sources of. It then continues sporadically throughout the book and the ending of isaiah contains an apocalyptic vision of the new city. The book of revelation is particularly indebted to daniel, though it is worth remembering that the writer was drawing on a much wider range of sources than modern christians are familiar with. In summary, the use of apocalyptic writing in the bible was inspired by god, and this style serves as an excellent literary medium for conveying future prophetic events. If the relevant biblical books are actually written during the lifetimes of the traditional authors, then they are prophetic rather than apocalyptic on at least these ground. In fact, it has been said that the apocalyptic was really an attempt to rationalize and systematize the predictive side of prophecy.
In the bible, we find this genre in the book of revelation and in the second half of daniel. However, there are sources of apocalyptic literature in addition to these. The book of daniel, the first of the apocalyptic writings, did not represent an entirely new type of literature. Prophecy, babylon, and 1 enoch by sarah robinson a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of arts department of religious studies college of arts and sciences university of south florida major professor. The book of daniel offers a fully matured and classic example of this genre of literature unfulfilled prophecy. An introduction to the interpretation of apocalyptic literature. Daniel and the apocalyptic literature lecture 23, yale university, introduction to the old testament. The book, however, was written in a later time of national crisiswhen the jews were suffering severe persecution under antiochus iv epiphanes.
Apocalyptic bakers evangelical dictionary of biblical. The book of daniel has sometimes been classified with the prophetic books of the old testament, a mistake owing largely to a failure to distinguish between the predominant characteristics of prophetic and apocalyptic writings. Interpreting biblical texts series 9780687051960 by stephen l. Apocalyptic literature is a genre of prophetical writing that developed in postexilic jewish. The apocalyptic style of writing seems to have been inspired by prophetic books of the bible, especially daniel. Revelation, apocalyptic writing and the old testament. An introduction to the bibles apocalyptic literature.
What are the characteristics of apocalyptic literature. Although apocalyptic has its roots in ot prophecy in general, the real prototype of the non biblical ap. Apocalyptic literature is a specific form of prophecy, largely involving symbols and imagery and predicting disaster and destruction. Daniel, with an introduction to apocalyptic literature forms of the old testament literature collins, john joseph, knierim, rolf p. Daniel belongs to the latter group, a type of writing that in many respects sharply contrasts prophetic literature. Apocalyptic literature frequently contains strange descriptions and bizarre imagery.
The book of daniel is an apocalypse, a literary genre in which a heavenly reality is revealed to a human recipient. Jan 05, 2010 it should be noted that as a genre, apocalyptic literature is actually a commentary on current events disguised as a prophecy made in the distant past. In later jewish and early christian apocalypses, in which the hero undertakes a heavenly trip and sees the secrets that are hidden from others, these. Let me suggest that biblical apocalyptic which i will differentiate from the genre apocalyptic literature that modern scholars have developed actually is best understood similarly to eschatology. Similar to the book of daniel, many of them describe visions their authors purportedly saw. Quotation given in full when space permits corresponding quotations from daniel. Daniel is the apocalypse that both jewish and christian traditions share. Prophecy was written to people in need of repentance. He then addresses the biblical books of daniel and revelation and other important but lesserknown examples. And in fact the book of revelation is largely a christian interpretation of the.
With an introduction to apocalyptic literature john. We appreciate the nature of apocalyptic literature far better today than we did in centuries past. Apocalyptic literature biblical studies oxford bibliographies. One feature of this section is daniels reliance on heavenly figures to interpret and explain his visions. Fundamentally exegetical, the fotl volumes examine the structure, genre, setting, and intention of the biblical literature in question. Calls gods people to faithfulness and abidance during times of hardship. Others reach much the same position through a consideration of leading new testament concepts. However, in recent decades it has moved to the forefront of research. How does the apocalyptists view of history differ from the prophets.
The widely held view that the book of daniel is largely fictional rests mainly on the modern philosophical assumption that longrange predictive prophecy is impossible. Apocalyptic elements can be detected in the prophetical books of joel and zechariah, while isaiah chapters 2427 and 33 present welldeveloped apocalypses. The book of ruth, in which a foreign woman enters the community of israel and becomes greatgrandmother to none other than king david, expresses a view of gentiles entirely opposed to that of ezra and nehemiah. My data base for the book of daniel approaches four thousand items. Daniel, with an introduction to apocalyptic literature forms of the old testament literature. Table 10 shows the number allusions made by new testament writers to the book of daniel. Daniel, with an introduction to apocalyptic literature forms.
The book of daniel is a 2ndcentury bc biblical apocalypse combining a prophecy of history with an eschatology a portrayal of end times cosmic in scope and political in focus. Part 1 provides criteria for interpreting apocalyptic literature. A survey of the prophetic and apocalyptic books of the old testament kindle edition by hays, j. In the bible, we find this genre in the book of revelation and in the second half of daniel theres also a lot of apocalyptic literature outside the bible. The early chapters of daniel are historical, and revelation includes letters to seven churches in asia minor. Apocalyptic definition and meaning bible dictionary. Part 2 discusses not only daniel and revelation but also apocalyptic dimensions of the hebrew prophets, the earliest jesus movement, the gospels, and paul. Link to kregel this new contribution to kregels handbooks of old testament exegesis has a more narrow focus since apocalyptic literature only appears in parts daniel and a few other prophetic books. The biblical use of apocalyptic language, like the broader use of prophetic and. The most striking is the resemblance they all bear to the book of daniel.
The hermeneutics of biblical apocalyptic by jon paulien biblical research institute committee loma linda, ca february, 2001 the seventhday adventist church, as i understand it, derives its unique witness to jesus christ from the conviction that the apocalyptic prophecies of daniel and revelation portray a. It should be noted that as a genre, apocalyptic literature is actually a commentary on current events disguised as a prophecy made in the distant past. But actually, we are not left to attempt a stab in the dark. Apocalypse had its beginnings in passages in the works of the prophets.
Daniel s aramaic is closer to eastern aramaic rather than western aramaic much like that which is found in the elephantine papyri fifthcentury b. Bills series on apocalypse begins his analysis of the. The book implies that daniel was its author in several passages, such as 9. The intertestamental period, and the biblical apocalyptic.
He begins with definitions of apocalypticism and apocalyptic literature as he introduces readers to the social and historical worlds of the apocalyptic groups. In more mundane language, it is an account of the activities and visions of daniel, a noble jew exiled at babylon, its message being that just as the god of israel saved daniel and his friends from their enemies, so. Apocalyptic literature free online biblical library. The book of daniel belongs to a category of literature called apocalyptic.
Daniel, with an introduction to apocalyptic literature. Chapters 1 to 6 describe daniel s interpretation of king nebuchadnezzars dream. Apocalyptic writings are marked by distinctive literary features, particularly prediction of future events and accounts of visionary experiences or journeys to heaven, often involving. So, what were going to do, is i need to give you some basic definitions because one of the problems in dealing with a book of revelation, or daniel, or ezekiel, or even parts of zechariah is that there is not a basic framework of understanding as to how prophecy works, and especially how apocalyptic prophecy works in the biblical world. The aramaic of the genesis apocryphon compared with the aramaic of daniel. Apocalyptic literature usually comes out of difficult times. Chapters 1 to 6 describe daniels interpretation of king nebuchadnezzars dream. Encountering the old testament, chapter 31 flashcards. The phrase apocalyptic literature is used to describe some of the noncanonical writings called the apocrypha. The book of daniel is the apocalyptic book of the hebrew bible. Apocalyptic literature was much concerned about sources of information about the heavenly world and about the places of the damned and saved souls. The book of daniel in the ot and the revelation in the nt are possible exceptions. Apocalyptic literature was written to people in need of reassurance. An introduction to jewish apocalyptic literature, the biblical resource series, grand.
The book of daniel offers a fully matured and classic example of this genre of literature. Biblical literature biblical literature apocalyptic and eschatological works. Apocalyptic literature apparently developed out of preexilic prophetic literature. Apocalyptic literature this type of literature is most readily recognized in the book of daniel in the old testament and the revelation to john in the new testament. The first known record of apocalyptic literature is isaiah 24. It also occurs in especially jewish apocalyptic literature, probably under rabbinical influence ditomasso 2005. Daniel, with an introduction to apocalyptic literture is volume xx of the forms of the old testament literature, a series that aims to present a formcritical analysis of every book and each unit in the hebrew bible. Although apocalyptic has its roots in ot prophecy in general, the real prototype of the nonbiblical ap. The section related to apocalypse is the second half of the texts, which consists of four visions. The book of daniel is a 2ndcentury bc biblical apocalypse combining a prophecy of history.
Apocalyptic literature encyclopedia of the bible bible. Nowhere is the biblical text stranger than in the apocalyptic literature of the old and new testaments. Taylor has crafted a handbook to explore those riches and uncover a way to understand apocalyptic literature more fully. At one time, old testament apocalyptic literature was relegated to the more obscure reaches of biblical scholarship, acceptable to occasionally refer to, but too thorny to delve into deeply. Apr 23, 2019 daniel is the apocalypse that both jewish and christian traditions share. A popular introduction to and overview of biblical apocalyptic literature, with a theological and canonical emphasis. The rich veins of insight to be mined in the book of daniel and other apocalyptic texts are being rediscovered. In more mundane language, it is an account of the activities and visions of daniel, a noble jew exiled at babylon, its message being that just as the god of israel saved daniel and his friends from. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the message of the prophets. Other old testament books relevant to the study of apocalyptic literature, such as zechariah, also have significant bibliographies. The book of ruth, in which a foreign woman enters the community of israel and becomes greatgrandmother to none other than king david, expresses a view of gentiles entirely opposed to. The biblical style of writing seems to have inspired a number of nonbiblical writings.
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