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Christians regard Daniel as a prophet, and Jesus is quoted as referring to him as "Daniel the prophet" in Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14. It appears he is also referred to as "Daniel the prophet" in the Dead Sea Scrolls [1]. In the context of the books of the Bible, Christians refer to Daniel as one of the "four great prophets"; as the Book of Daniel appears in most Christian editions of the Bible, after the other three "great prophets" (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel).

Judaism does not consider Daniel to be a prophet. He is not once spoken of in the Old Testament as a prophet. In the Christian Old Testament (apparently following the Septuagint Greek translation [2]) Daniel appears in the "Prophets" section; but in the Jewish Tanach, he appears in "Writings." There are two reasons Jews do not consider Daniel to have been a prophet:

Daniel never spoke directly to God. According to the Torah, prophets (navis) speak to God, not to intermediaries like angels. Daniel saw angels and never spoke to God. This is the primary reason Daniel is not considered a prophet.
In Judaism a prophet (navi) speaks to his or her generation, not to future generations. The Prophets in the Jewish Tanach (e.g., Isaiah, Ezekiel) spoke primarily to their generation, but their message was also pertinent to the future. Daniel's visions were for the future, not for his generation. The Men of the Great Assembly (Sanhedrin) who codified the Jewish Bible (Tanach) argued about including Daniel in the Bible and placed him in Writings, not Prophets.
In Rashi's commentary to the Talmud (1st Chapter of megillah) he brings down that to be qualified as a prophet, one needs to spread the message one hears. Daniels prophecy are relveant for the future, for they cryptically state what will be in days to come. However, Daniel's prophecies were not spread to the population as implied by the text itself.
Some reasons which may be given for believing that Daniel was a prophet include:

that according to the Talmud and the Hebrew Scriptures, Daniel received and interpreted dreams and visions, similar to many other Jewish prophets; as well as messages from angels or arch-angels. Indeed, according to the Christian version, Moses himself received the written Torah from the hand of "the Angel of the Lord" (who spoke to Moses out of the 'burning bush'). Daniel himself denied that his ability was because of any human wisdom of his own (Daniel 2:29).
Daniel recorded his visions (which became prophecies) for future as well as present use; including prophecies about the exact date of the coming of the Jewish Messiah into Jerusalem, many other prophetic events which later transpired in history, and prophecies which are regarded by some (perhaps mainly premillennialist) Christians as referring to a terrible, as-yet unfulfilled, future time of the Tribulation. Accurate prediction of the future is repeatedly given as a mark of a true prophet as opposed to a false one, both in the Hebrew Scriptures and in the Talmud.

2006-08-02 07:22:50 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0 2

Prophetic dreams and visions point to God’s Kingdom in the hands of his Messiah.

Immense image that is crushed by stone cut without hands out of a mountain; the image depicts the succession of world powers starting with Babylon and ending with all of them being crushed and replaced by the Kingdom of God. (2:1-49)

Immense tree that is cut down and banded for seven times; initially fulfilled when the king goes insane and lives like a beast for seven years, until he recognizes that the Most High is Ruler in the kingdom of mankind and that He gives rulership to the one He chooses. (4:1-37)

Handwriting appears on the wall when Belshazzar uses vessels from Jehovah’s temple to toast his idol gods; Daniel is called, fearlessly rebukes the king, explains the writing, telling him that his kingdom has been given to the Medes and the Persians. (5:1-31)

March of world powers depicted by lion, bear, leopard, fearsome beast with ten horns, as well as a small horn from the head of the latter beast; then the Ancient of Days gives rulership over all peoples to one like a son of man. (7:1-28.)

Ram, male goat, and small horn represent world powers to succeed Babylon; small horn defies Prince of the army of the heavens, then is broken without a hand. (8:1-27)

Seventy weeks (of years); after 7 + 62 weeks Messiah is to appear and thereafter be cut off; covenant (Abrahamic) to be kept in force for Jews exclusively for one week. (9:1-27)

Struggle between king of the north and king of the south, the standing up of Michael as deliverer, and events that follow this. (10:1–12:13.)

If you add these up, there are at least 7 visions recorded in the Bible book of Daniel.

If you would like further information or a free home Bible study, please contact Jehovah's Witnesses at the local Kingdom Hall. Or visit http://www.watchtower.org

2006-08-02 07:40:59 · answer #2 · answered by Jeremy Callahan 4 · 0 0

At least three, as I recall. But it is the dreams of others which he interpreted that bears the most significance.

2006-08-02 07:21:11 · answer #3 · answered by Privratnik 5 · 0 0

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