List arguments that the Book of Daniel was not written in the sixth century BCE?

Answer 1

The following arguments are not exhaustive, but hopefully are sufficient to demonstrate that the Book of Daniel was not written in the 6th century BCE, during the Babylonian Exile.

Historical errors

Daniel 1:1 states that Jehoiakim surrendered Jerusalem to Nebuchadrezzar. According to 2 Kings 24:1-10, Jehoiakim was already dead by the time the city was taken.

The book states that Babylon was captured from King Belshazzar by Darius (Daniel 5:31), a Median king. Daniel lived until the first year of the reign of Cyrus, whom Daniel described as a successor of Darius. However, we know that Nabonidus was really the last king of Babylonia, and that he was defeated by Cyrus the Great of Persia (The Cambridge Ancient History Volume IV, p139). We also know that Darius was a later successor to Cyrus, as king of Persia.

King Darius I is called the son of Xerxes (Ahasuerus), in Daniel 9:1, although we know that Darius was the father of Xerxes.

The book was written by someone not at all familiar with the events of the time attributed to Daniel. Had it been written at the time of the Babylonian Exile, these historical blunders would not have been made.

Not mentioned by contemporaries

According to Daniel, the prophet Daniel achieved such high rank in the Babylonian Empire that he was second only to the king of Babylon. After the Persian conquest, he was once again elevated to a role second only to the king of Persia. We have many archaeological records from both empires, but none mentions Daniel, or even a stranger who rose to high rank in either kingdom. This is strong circumstantial evidence that Daniel did not even exist.

Although the author wrote of Daniel as a great leader whom the Jews must have admired and respected, he is never mentioned in the Old Testament. In the absence of any genuine Old Testament references to this Daniel, this is further evidence that he did not really exist, could not have written the book in his name, and the book was of later authorship.

A Daniel is mentioned obscurely in Ezra and Nehemiah, then in Ezekiel chapter 14, where he was likened to Noah and Job, and Ezekiel chapter 28, where he was said to be an exemplar of wisdom. But the Ezekiel references were too early to refer to the Daniel of the Book of Daniel, who at most would only have been an unknown teenager. It is likely, however, that these vague Daniel references inspired the later author to use this as the name for his hero.

Prophecies

In chapter 2, Daniel prophesied that King Nebuchadnezzar would be followed by an inferior kingdom, then a third and a fourth kingdom. The fourth kingdom would then become divided. And in the days of these kings, God would set up a kingdom that would never be destroyed (Daniel 2:44) Some Christians interpret this as a prophecy that includes the Roman Empire and the advent of Christianity. More objectively, it was simply a prophecy of King Nebuchadnezzar's successor, then the Persian Empire and the kingdom of Alexander, which was divided after Alexander's death.

1 Maccabees

1 Maccabees describes the battles that occurred in the final prophecy of the Book of Daniel, and at 1:54 tells us, "On the fifteenth day of the month Chislev, in the year one hundred and forty-five, the king erected the horrible abomination upon the altar of holocausts, and in the surrounding cities of Judah they built pagan altars." This was 167 BCE.

1 Maccabees goes on to tell us about the Jewish revolt in response to this desecration, with Judas Maccabaeus 'in the year one hundred and forty-eight' restoring sacrifice according to the law on the new altar of holocausts. This was 164 BCE, just 3 years after the desecration also described in the Book of Daniel. Judas Maccabaeus achieved further victories over the Syrian overlords, expanding the territory under local Judahite control and setting up a Jewish kingdom.

The author of Daniel knew about the desecration, but not the successful Maccabaean response to it, just three years later. Many commentators would therefore assume that the Book of Daniel was written sometime between 167 and 164 BCE, soon after the desecration of the sanctuary. The book was not written during the Exile, but during the darkest period since the Exile to give the people a sense of pride and hope for the future.