Major issues in the recent scholarship on the Book of Daniel

What is it about?

This article traces trends in critical scholarship on the Book of Daniel since 1971 with special emphasis on trends since 2001. The author finds that this book of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible is enjoying renewed, widespread, and constructive attention from critical scholars, in contrast to the attention given to the book in the first half of the 20th century when the book suffered from the fallout from the Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy. Areas of renewed interest in the study of Daniel include text criticism, reconsideration of the historical and literary contexts for the composition of the tales, and the mythic-historical referents in the vision of Daniel 7. But scholarship has also introduced new areas of attention and new methodologies for interpretation that have yielded new directions. One new area of attention is to the genre and function of Daniel's tales- are they resistance literature or do they model forms of negotiation with the empire? The interest in Daniel's political function is part of a larger interest among scholars to understand for whom and for what purpose Daniel was produced, but also how it was consumed by later readers. Scholarship has become more attuned to what Daniel does and has done for its readers and not just what Daniel meant in its historical context.

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Why is it important?

This article is important because it attempts to update the state of Daniel scholarship since the last attempt to do so in 2001 by John J. Collins. In this respect, it should provide a useful overview to scholars who are interested in Daniel regardless of their level of experience with the book. Also, it is unique in that it positions traditionalist interpretation within the trajectory of critical interpretation and shows the places where the two have converged. There is an extensive bibliography that includes critical as well as traditionalist publications on Daniel produced within the last ten years.

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