Daniel (Apollos Old Testament Commentary | AOT)

by Ernest Lucas

Publishers:

Apollos; IVP

, 2002

Overview

In many ways, the Old Testament book of Daniel is an enigma. It consists of two different kinds of material: stories about Judean exiles working in the court of pagan kings (chapters 1–6) and accounts of visions experienced by one of these exiles (chapters 7–12). It is written in two languages, Hebrew and Aramaic, and the language division does not match the subject division. Whether the book’s affinities lie more with the Hebrew prophets or with later Jewish apocalypses is debated, as are its affinities with the wisdom traditions of both Israel and Babylon. Refreshingly, Ernest Lucas postpones much of the discussion of such issues to an Epilogue, and invites the reader to an investigation of the meaning of the text in the form in which we now have it. He identifies the central theme of the book as the sovereignty of the God of Israel. With even-handedness and clarity, Lucas demonstrates that, for preachers and teachers, there is much in Daniel that is fairly readily understandable and applicable, and that there are also theological depths that are rewarding for those willing to plumb them and wrestle with the issues they raise.

Contents

Top Highlights

“There is no doubt an allusion here to Is. 66:24, the only other place in the HB where the word ‘abhorrence’ (dir’ôn) occurs.” (Page 295)

“Conversely, the power of a story to persuade people to accept and live by the theological, moral or other claims it is making may depend on their believing that there is some connection between the story and events in the real world outside the story. At the very least, it is unlikely that the stories of Dan. 1–6 would have come to be accepted as Scripture by which people sought to live their lives if those who originally received the stories had not believed that they rang true to the kind of situations experienced by faithful Jews in the Diaspora.” (Page 27)

“The oldest of these, 4QDan^c, comes from the late second century bc (Ulrich 1987: 17), and the most recent from the last phase of the occupation of Qumran in the first century ad (Trever 1970). The change from Hebrew to Aramaic at 2:4b is attested in 1QDan^b (Barthélemy & Milik [eds.] 1955: 150–151), and the change from Hebrew to Aramaic at 8:1 is attested in 4QDan^a and 4QDan^b.” (Page 19)

“Goldingay (1993: 302) speaks of the need for two acts of imagination if we are to appreciate the significance of such stories for us and for our lives in today’s world. The first is the act of imagination that is needed to let the story grasp us as it would have grasped the hearers or readers for whom it was first composed.” (Page 30)

“Secondly, many of the ‘court tales’ seem to have been intended to edify the readers as well as to entertain them” (Page 27)

Product Details

• Title: Daniel
• Author: Ernest Lucas
• Series: Apollos Old Testament Commentary
• Volume: 20
• Publishers: Apollos, IVP
• Print Publication Date: 2002
• Logos Release Date: 2018
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Bible. O.T. Daniel › Commentaries
• ISBNs: 0851117805, 9780851117805
• Resource ID: LLS:AOT27DA
• Resource Type: Bible Commentary
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-01-20T00:50:01Z

About Ernest Lucas

Ernest Lucas worked in biochemical research for a few years before studying theology at Oxford University and becoming ordained as a Baptist minister. He has been the minister of churches in Durham and Liverpool. While at Liverpool, he was awarded a Ph.D. by the university there for his research on the book of Daniel. For several years he worked as Educational Director and the Associate Director at the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity. In 1994 he moved to Bristol Baptist College, an Affiliated College of Bristol University, where he is Vice-Principal and Tutor in Biblical Studies.