On Six Comments on Daniel

Six short exegetical comments on the Book of Daniel

His hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers
and his nails became like birds’ claws (Dan 4:33 NRSV).

1. Hebrew Supremacism

As well as “set[ting] the scene for the subsequent stories of court life,” the first chapter of the book of Daniel does much to establish one of the many underlying themes of these subsequent stories: the racial and (especially) cultic superiority of the “conquered” Israelites over the “conquering” Babylonians. From a certain perspective, chapter one could be seen as Hebrew-supremacist propaganda.

That’s the opening paragraph from the first of six short exegetical comments I wrote for Dr. Tim Meadowcroft's postgraduate class on the Book of Daniel last year that I've just now collected together on one "Page" of this blog. To read it, just click here or on the tab at the top of this blog called Six Comments on Daniel.

As they are exegetical essays written at a postgraduate level, they are often overtly academic in style, and intentionally technical in substance. This is not to say that they are only of value to specialists, there are things of interest to every reader. I am not trying to ward you off, honest, merely preemptively apologising should the works come across as unnecessarily pedantic.

As always, you can put any questions or comments you have here or at the bottom of the post itself. You can also click HERE if you want to email them to me.

God bless.

Oh, and to Sandy: I know, I know, I know! I should be writing my thesis.