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The Book of Daniel was written during a time when the Jews were suffering greatly under the persecution and oppression of a pagan king. Using stories and accounts of visions, the writer encourages the people of his time with the hope that God will bring the tyrant down and restore sovereignty to God’s people.
The book has two main parts: 1) Stories about Daniel and some of his fellow enemies. These stories are set in the time of the Babylonian and Persian Empires. 2) A series of visions seen by Daniel, which in the form of symbols present the successive rise and fall of several empires, beginning with Babylonia, and predict the downfall of the pagan oppressor and the victory of God’s people.
The ancient Greek translation of Daniel reflected in this Bible includes three additions that are not in the Hebrew text. The first of these contains two parts: The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men. This addition immediately follows the description of Daniel’s friends being thrown into a fiery furnace (Dn 3.19—23) and consists of a prayer for mercy and deliverance offered to God by Azariah and the psalm of praise sung together by Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah while they walked around unharmed in the flames.
The second addition is the story called Susanna, in which a beautiful and virtuous woman is falsely accused of adultery but cleared of all charges by the clever wisdom of Daniel. Daniel's brilliant legal strategy was to separate Susanna's two accusers and take their stories separately. When they could not agree on details, Daniel had proved that they were lying, and his reputation for wisdom increased greatly. In the ancient Greek text this story is chapter 13 of the Book of Daniel (located after chapter 12 in the Bible), but it is not found in the Hebrew text of Daniel.
The third addition is a combination of two little stories that also reveal the great wisdom of Daniel. It is called Bel and the Dragon, and is located as chapter 14 in the ancient Greek translation of the Book of Daniel (appears at the end of the book of the Bible), though not found in the Hebrew text of Daniel. In the first story Daniel outsmarts the priests of Bel and makes clear to the king and people of Babylon that Bel is not a god, but an idol. In the second story, Daniel kills a dragon that worshipped Babylon, again proving that it is not a god. In these stories Daniel is able by his wisdom and courage to help the kind of Babylon discover the one and true God.
Outline of Contents
- Daniel and his three friends 1.1—21
- Nebuchadnezzar’s dream 2.1—49
- Into the blazing furnace 3.1—23
- The Prayer of Azariah A. 1—27
- The song of the three young men A.28—68
- Rescue from the blazing furnace 3.24—30
- Nebuchadnezzar's second dream 4.1—37
- Belshazzar s banquet 5.1—31
Source:
The Book of Daniel. (1972). In Catholic (Ed.), May they be one Bible: Good news translation (2013 ed., p. 1219). Bible Society.