Question:
I have a question about Daniel. I believe that the book of Daniel was create in 6BC, but this is the most problematic passage. Is Daniel 11:40-45 a fail prophecy ? Read this.
Verse 40 is generally regarded by the majority of critical scholars to mark the transition from ex eventu prophecy to a genuine (though erroneous) attempt at prophecy. If the referent of the pronoun in verse 40 is understood to be Antiochus IV Epiphanes, it is impossible to harmonize this text with the known career of Antiochus. Not only is the text silent concerning Antiochus’ eastern campaign in 165 B.C. or the rededication of the Jerusalem temple in 164 B.C., but there was never any third war between Antiochus and Egypt, and Antiochus died not in Judea but in Syria (Polybius, Histories 31.9). This is the basis for the current scholarly consensus that the book of Daniel was written in the year 164 B.C. James Montgomery writes of these verses, “The alleged final victorious war with Egypt, including the conquest of the Cyrenaica and Ethiopia, in face of the power of Rome and the silence of secular history, is absolutely imaginary. All attempts to place the scene of the king’s actual death as accurately foretold in v. 45 are based on misunderstandings, of long inheritance.” [141] In a similar vein, Carol Newsom notes, “Since the author of Dan 11 does not seem to know about Antiochus’s actual campaign in the East in late 165, the rededication of the temple by Judah the Maccabee in December of 164, or the death of Antiochus in Elam at about that same time, it seems that the author of Daniel wrote this prophecy sometime before those events.” [142]
Answer:
I believe that the scholars miss the mark on Daniel completely. The scholarly consensus is based on the false belief that Daniel was not a real person from the 6th ceneturer BC, and that Daniel could not prophesy the future, yet Daniel accurately prophesied the career of Domitian in Daniel 7, the formation of the kingdom of God/the church in Daniel 2, and so many other things that happened well after 164 BC. He also prophesied the coming of Jesus to Jerusalem in AD 30 and the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 with great precision in Daniel 9. Those who assume that the Bible is NOT inspired by God are the ones who have radically misunderstood Daniel. What most of the scholars miss is that Daniel’s prophecy concerning Antiochus Epiphanes ends with Daniel 11:35. It is true that Daniel does not predict the death of Antiochus Epiphanes. The scholars are correct about that, and the vision ends with the reestablishment of God’s rule in Jerusalem.
However, it is with Daniel 11:36-45 that the prophecy shifts to the time of end of the Greek kings. Daniel 11:36-45 concerns the time of Antony, Cleopatra, and the final conquest of the Greek powers by Rome. The king who will do as he pleases in vs. 36 is the same king on vs 37 who will show no regard for the gods of his ancestors, and the king in v. 38 who will honor the gods of the fortresses. He is Octavian/Augustus, who conquered Egypt, destroying the final Greek power. The king of the south in v. 40 is Antony, who, with Cleopatra, attached Octavian, but was defeated. The details concerning Edom, Moab and Ammon also fit the details of the defeat by Octavian of the Parthian as well as the final Greek power. Like Daniel prophesies in v. 42, Egypt did not escape being conquered by Octavian, as well as the Libyans and Cushites. The “reports from the East” in v. 44 concerns the need for Octavian to campaign against the Parthians., during which he “pitched his tent” in Canaan. This prophecy, as all the prophecies in Daniel, are fulfilled in detail by future events.
The problem with the liberal interpreters is that they assume that Daniel is not an actual 6th century BC prophet who actually prophesied real events in the future, but that is exactly what Daniel was. He prophesied the future of the Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman empires in Daniel 2, as well as the establishment of the church during the time of Rome. He foretold the future of the first ten kings of Rome, as well as the career of the eleventh emperor of Rome: Domitian in Daniel 7. He predicted the events of the life of Alexander, his four successors, as well as Seleucus, and his descendant Antiochus Epiphanes in Daniel 8, and he predicted the coming of the Messiah to Jerusalem after seventy sevens in Daniel 9, as well as the destruction of Jerusalem and the Abomination of Desolation in Jerusalem at its destruction in AD 70. It is no surprise that he also gets the final destruction of Greek power under Cleopatra and the events of the war between Octavian and Antony, as well as Octavian’s campaign against the Parthians. Those who put the writing of Daniel in 164 or 165 BC are way off, and this explains their inability to understand what the prophecy of Daniel 11:36-45 as well, as they assume Daniel cannot predict the future, yet this section of Daniel comes after even the most liberal guesses for the authorship of the book.
The problem with the consensus view is that it is based on an incorrect assumption. Incorrect assumptions tend to lead to incorrect conclusions. The incorrect assumption is that Daniel is not an inspired book written by an inspired prophet named Daniel. If we falsely assume that the author of Daniel was a false prophet, then we must force ourselves to the false conclusion that the author of Daniel was talking about current events during the career of Antiochus Epiphanes. But this cannot possibly explain the accurate prophecies in Daniel 2, Daniel 7 and Daniel 9 which came well after 164 BC.
By the way, you say that you believe that Daniel was composed in 6 BC. I am not sure why you say this, especially because fragments of Daniel have been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls which predate 6 BC. It seems your date is not a possibility.
I would like to advise you get a copy of my book, Daniel, Prophet to the Nations. It is available here:
https://www.ipibooks.com/products/daniel In this book I give a detailed analysis of all the visions of Daniel, showing him to be a true prophet to the nations, predicting future events in spectacular detail, including events well after 164 BC and the time of Antiochus Epiphanes. I hope this helps.
John Oakes
