Pastor Peter's Bible Insights
Chronology
No book of the Bible has as many dates stamped into it as the book of Daniel. The names of characters and their dates are well corroborated in the historical record. Daniel did not write his book chronologically. He chose to divide his work into two sections. The first section is primarily historical and the second is primarily prophetic with some overlapping of the two. For study purposes it is helpful to see the flow of the book chronologically. Numerous dates throughout the book make this task simple with the exception of the twelfth chapter, which is not dated. Since chapter twelve contains the last words that he wrote, it is natural to assume that it belongs at the end of the book. Young students of Scripture should know that no book of the Bible was written with chapters and verses. Scholars for reference purposes broke down the Bible into these divisions.
Chapter one 605 1:1 “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim…"
Chapter two 603 2:1 “In the second year of Nebuchadnezzar..."
Chapter three Continues the story line of Nebuchadnezzar
Chapter four Continues the story line of Nebuchadnezzar
Chapter seven 553 7:1 “In the first year of Belshazzar..."
Chapter eight 551 8:1 “In the third year of Belshazzar..."
Chapter five 539 Belshazzar’s fatal feast
Chapter nine 538 9:1 “In the first year of Darius..."
Chapter six Continues the story of Darius
Chapter ten 536 10:1 “In the third year of Cyrus..."
Chapter eleven 536 Continues the story of chapter ten
Chapter twelve Conclusion
Chronology of the Prophet
Plato recorded that the education of youth in Persia began at age fourteen. Xenophon notes that the education of youth in Persia ended at age seventeen. It is most likely that Daniel was 13 or 14 when he was taken to Babylon to begin his education. The following age line for Daniel is an approximation, but it is not likely to be off by more than one or two years.
619 Likely date for Daniel's birth.
Chapter one 605 Daniel is 14.
Chapter two 603 Daniel is 17.
Chapter three Neither Daniel's age nor his whereabouts is known.
Chapter four Best guess is that Daniel is 37.
Chapter seven 553 Daniel is 67.
Chapter eight 551 Daniel is 68.
Chapter five 539 Daniel is 80.
Chapter nine 538 Daniel is 81.
Chapter six Daniel is in his 80’s in the lion’s den.
Chapter ten 536 Daniel is 83.
Chapter eleven 536 Daniel is 83.
Chapter twelve Daniel is in his late 80's.
Study links
Chapter Links
Chapter four
Chapter ten