Daniel is in the third of three major divisions of the Old Testament called the Writings. The other two divisions are the Law and the Prophets. His work is in the same grouping as the Psalms, Proverbs and the book of Job. This division, in the KJV New Testament, was also called the Psalms by Jesus (Luke 24:44).
The average number of chapters and verses in a King James Old Testament book is 18 chapters and 471 verses. Daniel's 12 chapters and 357 total words fall below this average.
Date Written, Location
The book of Daniel was written in Babylon between 605 and 530 B.C.
[Location Where Bible Books Written]
The Author
Daniel the prophet and his three friends, from the tribe of Judah, were taken captive by King Nebuchadnezzar during his first attack of Jerusalem in 605 B.C. (Dan. 1:1 - 4). These four males were almost certainly very young men, not boys, as Daniel was old enough to understand God's law and be assertive to his captors regarding not eating unclean foods (1:8 - 21).
[What Are Clean and Unclean Foods?]
[Possible Location of Daniel's Burial]
The exact time of the author's death and where he was buried is not revealed in the Bible. Tradition, however, places his tomb in the city of Susa in Iran.
Time Period
Daniel's book begins in the third year of King Jehoiakim's reign over Judah which was 605 B.C. (Dan. 1:1). His writings tell us he was alive when Cyrus conquered the Babylonians in 539 B.C. (Dan. 5:31) and was still living at least into Cyrus' third year (10:1). The book ends prior to Daniel's death which likely occurred around 530 B.C. (see 12:13).
Daniel Chapter Outline
Chpt. 1: Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar, in 605 B.C., besieges Jerusalem in what will become the first of three major attacks (the other two are in 597 and 586 B.C.). He conquers the city and takes King Jehoiakim as prisoner (Dan. 1:1). He allows him, however, to continue as king until Jehoiakim dies in 598 (see 2Kings 24:5 - 6, Jeremiah 22:19).
Daniel and his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah are taken as prisoners, as young men, back to Babylon and given new names. Daniel's new name is Belteshazzar, Hananiah's is Shadrach, Misheal's is Meshach, and Azariah's is Abednego.
[Where Was Israel, Judah taken Captive?]
Daniel, in Babylon, convinces the king's court to allow him and his friends to be fed foods God's dietary laws allow instead of what the king eats.
Chpt. 2: Nebuchadnezzar is troubled by a dream where he sees a huge statue of a man. The great image he sees has a head of gold, chest and arms made of silver, belly and thighs of brass, and lastly legs of iron (Dan. 2:31 - 33).
Babylon's magicians and sorcerers, unable to discover the dream or its meaning, are condemned to die by the king. Daniel, however, one of the court's magicians, learns of the punishment and prays, along with his three friends, for God's invention.
God reveals Nebuchadnezzar's dream and its meaning to Daniel, who then relays the information to the king. The miraculous revealing of prophecy not only saves the court magicians but also elevates Daniel and his friends to positions of power and influence in the kingdom!
[World Empires from Babylon to End Time]
Chpt. 3: Nebuchadnezzar, after having a huge idol of gold created, commands all his subjects to worship it or die. Daniel's three friends, who worship the true God, refuse to bow down to the golden idol. Their courageous response to the king's demand is the following.
O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up (Dan. 3:16 - 18).
[What Are the Seven Deadly Sins?]
The three men are bound and thrown into a fiery furnace. They are not only miraculous kept from burning, when they come out of the furnace they do not smell of smoke! Nebuchadnezzar, shocked by the miracle, decrees that anyone who speaks evil of the true God will now be executed. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and then promoted by the king.
Chpt. 4: This chapter, written by Nebuchadnezzar, is his recounting of the amazing events that happened to him.
The king recounts experiencing a fearful dream of a huge tree cut down with nothing left but the stump. He then hears the following.
". . . leave the stump of his roots in the earth . . . and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth: Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him." (Daniel 4:15 - 16).
After seeking Daniel's help the king is told that that the tree symbolizes himself. One year later, when the king openly boasts Babylon's power and riches were made possible by his own greatness, he is punished by being given the mind of an animal!
Nebuchadnezzar, for seven years, is allowed by God to live like an animal. He is forced to live in the fields, eat grass like an ox, and have his hair and nails grow tremendously long. After seven years he is given back the mind of a human whereby he can again reign over Babylon.
Chpt. 5: In 539 B.C. Belshazzar, the son of Babylonian King Nabonidus, was responsible for defending the city of Babylon. In October of 539 He hosts a great feast for his lords where he brings out and uses for his guests the holy gold vessels Nebuchadnezzar plundered from Jerusalem's temple.
During the great feast a hand miraculously appears and writes the following words on a wall, "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin." Belshazzar, beside himself with fear, is unable to find a court magician or sorcerer who can interpret the words. Belshazzar's wife recommends he find Daniel in order to interpret the handwriting on the wall.
[Handwriting on the Wall Meaning]
Daniel states what the words mean and is rewarded by being made the third most powerful ruler of the kingdom. The night of the feast the city of Babylon is overrun by the Persians under Cyrus and Belshazzar is killed.
Chpt. 6: Cyrus the Great (called Darius in Daniel 6:1) began his rule over Persia in 559 B.C. By 539 B.C. (Daniel 6:1) he had conquered Media and the Babylonians to become king of the Medo-Persian Empire.
Some of the presidents, rulers and satraps that ruled under Cyrus became envious of Daniel when they learned he would be promoted to the empire's second most powerful position. Knowing his dedication to God, the leaders secretly arrange to entrap him by making it illegal for anyone to pray to their god for thirty days.
Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever.
All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors . . . have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions (Dan. 6:6 - 7).
[Persian (Achaemenid) Empire Map]
Daniel was soon caught praying to God and was arrested. The penalty for disobeying the king's edict was being thrown into a den of lions!
God then saves Daniel, who was easily in his mid-80s (if not older), by sending an angel to keep him from being devoured in the lion's den. Cyrus, after Daniel is freed, then has those who plotted against him, as well as their entire families, thrown into the den where they lose their lives.
Chpt. 7: Daniel experiences a vision (or dream?) where he sees four great beasts. These beasts are a lion, bear, leopard, and one strong beast with iron teeth which possessed ten horns. He also sees the "Ancient of Days" (God the Father) on his throne as well as someone he labels "the Son of man" (Jesus Christ).
[World Empires from Babylon to End Time!]
One of the angels seen in his vision then reveals to him the meaning of the beasts. These symbolic creatures represent world empires starting with Babylon and ending with the final world government that will be destroyed at Jesus' Second Coming.
Chpt. 8: Daniel receives more visions, this time of a ram with two horns and a male goat with one large horn that is eventually replaced by four smaller ones. God then sends the archangel Gabriel to miraculously appear to the prophet and explain what he has seen.
Daniel, in spite of Gabriel's explanation, remained unsure regarding what the vision he saw was referencing.
(Gabriel speaking to Daniel) And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.
And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king's business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it (Dan. 8:26 - 27).
Chpt. 9: Daniel, while reading the writings of Jeremiah, discovers that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years (Jeremiah 25). After seeking God in prayer, the archangel Gabriel is sent to him to reveal what is called the seventy weeks prophecy (Dan. 9:24 - 27).
Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding (Dan. 9:21 - 22).
[Biblical Symbolism of Number 490]
[What Are the Different Types of Angels?]
Daniel is informed that seventy weeks (symbolizing 490 years) was determined upon Jerusalem for it to complete its transgressions, to make an end for sins and for everlasting righteousness to enter into it.
Chpt. 10: Daniel experiences, in the third year of Cyrus, his last recorded miraculous vision. The archangel Gabriel is again sent to him to reveal more information about end time prophecy and the events leading to Jesus' return.
Gabriel, however, also reveals that it incredibly took twenty-one days for him to travel from God's throne to Daniel.
Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
But the prince of the kingdom of Persia (a great demonic power) withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia (Dan. 10:12 - 13).
Gabriel, of himself, did not have the spiritual power to get past the "prince of the kingdom of Persia" (see Ephesians 6:12)! It took another of God's powerful angels, Michael, to come and help him fight his way through to deliver his message.
Chpt. 11: The archangel Gabriel reveals to Daniel several prophetic events to take place between the time of Persia's rulers to the return of Christ. The primary focus of the chapter is discussing the yet future interactions of the "king of the north" (a kingdom north of Israel) and the "king of the south" (a kingdom south of Israel).
[Who Are Kings of North and South?]
[How to Understand Bible Prophecy]
Chpt. 12: This final chapter opens by mentioning that in the end time a period of trouble (Great Tribulation) will come upon the earth (see Matthew 24:21). It then refers to the resurrections of the dead God will soon carry out!
And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever (Daniel 12:2 - 3).
[What Is the Great Tribulation?]
[What Is the First Resurrection?]
Daniel is then informed that the vision he received was not meant for him to understand. The vision, instead, will be understood by those living in the prophetic end times.
And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end (Dan. 12:8 - 9).