What Is the Book of Daniel About? Six Chapters of Story, Six of Vision

Daniel reads like two different books bound together. The first six chapters are stories — the furnace, the lions' den, the writing on the wall. The last six are visions — four beasts, seventy weeks, the time of the end.

The double structure

Chapters 1-6 (stories): the exiles refusing the king's food, Nebuchadnezzar's dream, the fiery furnace, the great tree, the writing at Belshazzar's feast, Daniel in the lions' den.
Chapters 7-12 (visions): four beasts, the ram and the goat, seventy weeks, the final conflict.

The halves even reverse their roles: in the first, others have the experiences and Daniel interprets; in the second, Daniel sees the visions and someone else — an angel — explains them to him.

The two-language detail

Rarely mentioned: Daniel is not written in one language.

1:1-2:4a is Hebrew, 2:4b-7:28 is Aramaic — the international language of the day — and 8:1-12:13 returns to Hebrew.

And the Aramaic section is exactly the part concerning the fate of the Gentile empires. The language shifts with the subject: the nations get the nations' language; Israel gets Israel's.

But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods.Daniel 3:18 (KJV)

The three words that carry the book

Brought before Nebuchadnezzar, the three friends say their God is able to deliver them from the furnace. Then come the three words: "But if not." (3:18)

Even if he does not, we still will not bow. That line separates faith from "God will certainly do what I expect" — which is the hardest and most important thing in the book.

The theme running through both halves

Story or vision, Daniel says one thing repeatedly: empires change hands; God's kingdom does not.

Nebuchadnezzar's head of gold, Medo-Persia's chest of silver, Greece's belly of brass, Rome's legs of iron — one after another, and then "the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed" (2:44). Written for people whose nation had just fallen, that is the entire point.

How to read the second half

The visions are hard in their details. On a first pass, take only the direction: who is in charge? The answer never changes. Leave the details to a commentary; the main line does not need one.

Read Daniel 3 and Daniel 6 in the BiblePro app, then chapter 7 — the same theme, told two different ways. And do look for a local church to read alongside others.