Apocalyptic Literature (I)

General Characteristics of Apocalyptic Literature

Differences  in Content

Both in matter and form apocalyptic literal and the writings associated with it differ from the prophetic writings of the preceding periods. As  mentioned, while the predictive element as present in Apocalypses, as in Prophecy, it is more prominent and relates to longer periods and involves a wider appreciation of the state of the world at large. Apocalypse could only have been possible under the domination of the great empires. Alike in Prophecy and in Apocalypse there is reference to the coming of the Messiah, but in the latter not only is the Messianic hope more defined, it has a wider reference. In the Prophets and Psalmists the Messiah had mainly to do with Israel. “He will save his people”; “He will die for them”; “His people shall be all righteous.” All this applies to Israel; there is no imperial outlook. In the Apocalypses the imperial outlook is prominent, beginning with Daniel in which we find the Messianic kingdom represented by a “son of man” over against the bestial empires that had preceded (Daniel 7:13) and reaching the elevation of Apocalypse, if not its conclusion. While the prophet was primarily a preacher of righteousness, and used prediction either as a guarantee, by its fulfillment, of his Divine mission, or as an exposition of the natural result of rebellion against God’s righteous laws, to the Apocalyptic prediction was the thing of most importance, and in the more typical Apocalypse there is no moral exhortation whatever.

Differences  in Literary Form

In the literary form employed there are marked differences between Apocalyptic and Prophecy. Both make use of vision, but in Prophecy, in the more restricted sense of the word, these visions are as a rule implied, rather than being described. Although Isaiah calls the greater part of his Prophecy  “vision,” yet in only one instance does he describe what he sees; as a rule he assumes throughout that has audience knows what is visible to him. The only instance (Isaiah 6:1-13) in which he does describe his vision is not at all predictive; the object is exhortation. In the case of the Apocalypses the vision is the vehicle by which the prediction is conveyed. In Ezekiel there are visions, but only one of these – “the valley of dry bones” – is predictive. In it the symbols used are natural, not, as always in Apocalypses, arbitrary. Compare in Daniel’s vision of the Ram and the He-goat (Daniel  8). In Ezekiel the dry bones naturally suggest death, and the process by which they are revivified the reader feels is the natural course such an event would take did it come within the sphere of ordinary experience; while in what is told of the horns on the head of the Greek goat there is no natural reason for the changes that take place, only a symbolical one. This is still more marked in the vision of the Eagle in 4 Esdras 11. What may be regarded as yet more related to the form is the fact that while the Prophets wrote in a style of so elevated prose that it always hovered on the border of poetry – indeed, frequently passed into it and employed the form of verse, as Isaiah 26:1 – the apocalyptic always used pure prose, without the elaborate parallelism or cadenced diction of Hebrew poetry. The weird, the gorgeous, or the terrible features of the vision described are thrown into all the higher relief by the baldness of the narrative.

The Book of Daniel Daniel 7-12

The book of Daniel can be divided more or less cleanly into two main parts based on content. The first part, chapters 1-6, contains six tales of Jewish heroism set in the late seventh and sixth centuries BCE.  They are told in the third-person and concern Daniel and his three friends, or Daniel alone, or the three friends alone. The second part, chapters 7-12, contains four apocalypses, which Daniel narrates in the first person. An apocalypse is a dream vision of the future.

The book of Daniel does not claim to have been written by Daniel. The first six chapters are a narrative about Daniel (and his friends), and while the final chapters contain Daniel’s first-person dream accounts, they are introduced using third-person editorial frameworks. Still, Daniel is the dominant figure of the book, absent only in chapter 3.  Who exactly was this Daniel? We get conflicting signals. The first hero tale has Daniel taken captive as a young man in 606 BCE.  The story of Daniel in the lion’s den in chapter 6 has a setting after 539, which would make Daniel an old man by this time. On the other hand, the book of Ezekiel (14:14, 20; see also 28:3), which was written around the time of the exile in 587, refers to Daniel in the same breath with Noah and Job–all exemplary righteous men. These references suggest that Daniel and the other two were already well known symbols of godliness. But how could Daniel be considered legendary to the pre-exilic Israelites if most of the stories told about him had not yet been written?

The Ugaritic texts from Syria come to the rescue. These texts, dating to the fourteenth century BCE and written in a language close to Hebrew, contain an account of a Danel (close enough in spelling to the biblical Daniel that they may be considered equivalent). This Danel was a notably righteous Canaanite king who wanted to see justice done in his kingdom. This suggests that Danel/Daniel was a hero of the ancient world, and that he was the model or namesake for our hero of Israel’s exilic period. Or, . . . the Daniel of Ezekiel fame has nothing to do with the Daniel of the book by that name.

Additions to Daniel – the figure of Daniel became very popular in Judaism. Post-biblical stories about Daniel, called the “Additions to Daniel,” were added in the Greek version of the book of Daniel. The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men is found within chapter 3. The story of Susanna and the story of Bel and the Dragon follow chapter 12. The tale of Susanna is especially clever and delightful. She was a beautiful Jewish woman who was falsely accused of adultery by two Jewish elders. Daniel exposed their lies and vindicated her.

The stories of Daniel are set around the time of the Babylonian exile and the tales may have originated at that time. But the apocalypses of chapters 7-12 betray a much later setting. The history they (fore-) tell culminates in the time of the Maccabees, specifically the years of Antiochus IV. The evidence strongly suggests that the apocalypses were written around 165 BCE shortly before the death of Antiochus in 163 and that the entire book was edited and finalized around that time. This would make Daniel the prime candidate for latest book of the Hebrew Bible.

Daniel Apocalypses (7-12)

To understand the setting of the final portion of the book of Daniel it is necessary to summarize the history of the Maccabean period. The Maccabean conflict is the historical setting for the apocalypses, as well as for the final compilation of the book as a whole.  Alexander the Great began his conquest of the eastern Mediterranean world beginning in 333 BCE By his death in 323 BCE Greek control extended as far east as the Indus Valley. After his death, control of the empire was divided among four generals, of whom only two are important for our purposes. Most of Mesopotamia went to Seleucus and became the Seleucid Empire. Syria, Palestine and Egypt went to Ptolemy and became the Ptolemaic Empire. Palestine was roughly the dividing line between these two empires and for that reason became a matter of contention. Palestine was under the control of the Ptolemaic Empire until around 200 BCE The Greek way of life, with its attractive cultural institutions such as gymnasiums and theaters, Greek language and literature, refined manners and colorful religion, was a serious temptation to the Jewish population, and found not a few cultural converts. But during this time Judaism was still an acceptable and even thriving enterprise. This changed when the Seleucid empire extended its area of control to include Palestine. The Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV, nicknamed Epiphanes, ruled his empire 175 to 164. He faced growing opposition to his rule throughout the Seleucid empire. He interpreted the movements toward independence as being in part inspired by local religious and cultural practices. He decided to eradicate everything that smacked of provincialism and impose, by force if necessary, a uniform system of Greek cultural expression, a process called Hellenization. He outlawed such traditional Jewish practices as circumcision, dietary restrictions, and Sabbath observance, and he made ownership of a Torah scroll a capital offense. Antiochus took visible and outrageous actions to demonstrate royal disfavor of Judaism. He forced Jews to eat pork in violation of kosher regulations, and even sacrificed a pig on the altar of burnt offering in the Jerusalem temple complex. Then he set up a statue of Zeus in the most holy place of the temple. Many Jews accommodated Hellenism, the culture of the Greek world, and assimilated. Others opposed any sort of compromise. They were called Hasids, “faithful ones.” The struggle between the Seleucids and the Hasids is told in 1 and 2 Maccabees.

Armed Jewish resistance broke out in 167, led by a provincial Jew named Mattathias and his sons. The most famous son is Judas Maccabee, “the hammer.” They successfully waged a guerrilla campaign against the Seleucids, eventually resulting in the retaking of Jerusalem. They cleansed and restored the temple and resumed ritual activity as prescribed in the Torah. The temple was rededicated in 164 BCE in a celebration called Hanukkah that lasted eight days. In apocalyptic literature’s typically cryptic and veiled way, the apocalypses of Daniel 7-12 relate to the history of this period.

Son of Man Apocalypse (7)

The apocalypses of Daniel consist of private dream visions followed by official interpretations communicated by angels. In this first apocalypse Daniel saw four beasts and the son of man (1-14) followed by the interpretation (15-27).

1 In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and his mind had a vision while he was in bed. Afterwards he wrote down the dream. 2 Daniel related and said: “I saw the four winds stirring up the great sea in my nighttime vision. 3 Four great beasts came up out of the sea, each different from the others. 4 The first was like a lion and had eagle’s wings. Then its wings were pulled off as I watched, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a human, and it was given a human mind.” (7:1-4)

The narrative introduction to this first apocalypse introduces the dream vision. The year is 554 BCE when Belshazzar ruled over Babylonia on behalf of Nabonidus. The great sea out of which the beasts arose recalls the mythic waters of chaos associated with evil, populated with dragons and monsters (see Isaiah 51:9-10 for a similar allusion to the waters of chaos). The stormy sea is a fitting image for the tumultuous affairs of the nations that threaten God’s people. The lion represents Babylonia.  Daniel goes on to describe three other beasts, a bear standing for Media, a leopard for Persia, and a beast with ten horns so terrible it was unlike any natural creature standing for Greece. As he watched:

9 thrones were put in place, and an Ancient of Days took his throne, his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head was like pure wool; his throne was on fire and its wheels were burning. 10 A stream of fire issued and flowed out from his presence. A thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand ten thousands stood attending him. The court sat in judgment and the books were opened. (7:9-10)

The Almighty, described as a stately elder and called the Ancient of Days, was surrounded by the divine council. He presided from atop his mobile fiery throne-chariot, recalling Ezekiel’s throne-chariot vision and even Elijah’s translation to heaven. Together they rendered judgment, and the terrible beast was destroyed by fire. Then another figure appeared who received command of the earth.

13 As I watched the night visions, I saw one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He went to the Ancient of Days and was presented to him. 14 To him was given dominion, glory, and kingship. All people, nations, and languages would serve him. His dominion would be an everlasting dominion that would not disappear. His kingship would never be destroyed. (7:13-14)

A human-like figure, “one like a son of man,” next appeared in the vision and was given total power over the kingdoms of this world. This mysterious and intriguing figure is separate from the supreme deity yet comes from heaven. It may be the angel Michael, who appears by name in the fourth apocalypse.

Son of Man – the identification of the “one like a son of man” figure in 7:13 is problematic. The phrase “son of man” is used in the book of Ezekiel when Yahweh addresses the prophet (2:1; 3:1; etc.), and seems only to mean human being. In Daniel the phrase “a human-like figure” refers to an angel (8:15 and 9:21; but a different figure is being referred to in these references than the one in 7:13). The “son of man” figure is suggestive yet open-ended. It develops into a messianic notion in post-biblical literature. According to the first book of Enoch (37-71), the Enoch of Genesis 5:24 will return to earth as “son of man” at the end of time and establish the rule of God. “Son of man” is a component of the identity of Jesus of Nazareth in the New Testament Gospels. Jesus prefers the title “son of man” to all others, perhaps just because it both affirms and veils his claim of divinity .

One of the members of the divine council gave Daniel the interpretation of the vision. The human-like figure is a symbol for the collective people of God, just as the individual beasts each stood for an empire. The “holy ones,” as they are called, come to possess the kingdom of God for all time.  The setting of this vision, as well as the detailed description of the fourth beast in verses 23-27, suggests that the term the “holy ones” stands for the righteous Jews who were persecuted by Antiochus IV. The writer of Daniel 7 wrote this apocalypse at the time of Antiochus’s oppressive rule over Judea (175-164 BCE). He was writing in the expectation that the Seleucid kingdom of the wicked Antiochus would come to an end, and then Israel would receive the power of the kingdom of God forever.

Four Ages - clearly the writer of the Daniel 7 apocalypse knew the tale of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2 and updated it to his time. The four metals of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream correspond to the four beasts; the stone which becomes a mountain is the “one like a son of man,” later the “holy ones.” The four-age scheme of world history can be found in other ancient literature. The dynastic prophecy published by Grayson (1975: 24-37) describes the fall of Assyria and the rise of Babylonia, the fall of Babylonia and the rise of Persia, then the fall of Persia and the rise of the Hellenistic monarchies. Also, the Works and Days of Hesiod divides history into four ages: gold, silver, bronze and iron.