How Scholar's Date The Book Of Daniel - (video)
One commenter on this video on YouTube says...
The creator of this video is not being honest. Scholars clearly lay out the reasons why they think Daniel was actually completed in the 2nd century BCE rather than just appealing to other scholars like the creator claims.
The reasons why scholars believe that the book of Daniel was later in the 2nd century BCE include...
1. The form of language in the Hebrew portions are identical to that found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, suggesting a second century BCE date for the Hebrew chapters 1 and 8-12.
2. In the Hebrew Bible, Daniel is not included among the prophets. This exclusion indicates that both the book and its author were unknown as recently as second century when the prophetic canon was fixed.
3. No reference to Daniel before the 2nd Century BCE.
4. Theology is too advanced: Chapter 12 discusses the dead being judged and taken to either heaven and hell. The concept of heaven and hell was introduced later by the Greeks.
5. No mention of Daniel the person nor his Babylonian name Belteshazzar in any Babylonian records.
6. Daniel 11:31 refers to "the abominable thing that causes desolation." This appears to refer to the erection of a statue of Zeus in the Jerusalem temple in 167 BCE, and would indicate that the book was written later than that date.
7. About 180 BCE, Jeshua ben Sira listed the heroes of the Jewish faith, including "Enoch, Noah and Abraham through to Nehemiah;" Daniel is not mentioned.
8. Contains Greek loan words (Dan. 3:5,7,10, 15); yet the Greek occupation of the area did not occur until the 4th century BCE.
9. The earliest indisputable reference to the book of Daniel occurs in the book of 1 Maccabees 2:60, dated to approximately 100 BCE.
10. The earliest known manuscript copy of a fragment of Daniel is 4QDan from Qumran, also dated to approximately 125-100 BCE.
11. Historical accuracy is poor when the book describes events starting in the 6th century BCE when the author supposedly lived and would have known intimately as a high ranking official of the kingdom, strongest around the events of 164 BCE during the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, and then becomes inaccurate.