One of the keys to understanding Daniel is knowing that this is a Hebrew prophet riding to the Jews in captivity and afterward. The book of Daniel should therefore be interpreted in the context of the conventions of Hebrew riding and not according to our own modern way of understanding a text. Much of the Bible is actually written in the form of poetry, but it isn't rhyme and meter in the modern sense. Instead we often find thought parallels. These take the form of chiasic structure, recapitulation, and parallelism. The basic rule of parallel instruction is as follows. The writer will say something idiomatically, and then he'll say it more clearly, or he'll do it the other way around. He'll use plain speech and then use a figure of speech. This is done throughout the entire Bible, but especially in the book of Genesis, the poetic books such as Psalms and Proverbs, and throughout the prophets. In a single passage this can be a parallelism or a reverse parallelism, which is known as a chiasm. Parallel structure can also appear over longer passages. This is known as recapitulation or chiasmic structure. In fact, the two main sections of Daniel, chapters 2 through 7, and chapters 8 through 12 are organized in chiasic structure. An example of chiasic structure would be two ideas, A and B, together with variations on these ideas. These can be represented as A, B, B prime, A prime, and then C, D, E, and so on can be added for each new idea. In a simple chiasm, first concept is mentioned once, then concept B is mentioned twice until the structure ends with the final A. Genesis has more chiasms than any other book in the Bible. The beginning of Genesis chapter 4, for example, uses this kind of chiasic structure and describing the two sons of Adam, Abel and Cain. Genesis 4 describes their names, their occupations, and their offerings. Now Adam knew Eve as wife in Shibur Cain and said, I have acquired a man from the Lord. Then Shibur again, this time his brother Abel. No Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel with his offering, but he did not respect Cain in his offering. And Cain was very angry at his cone as fell. Here Cain is mentioned first, then Abel, and then the ideas are repeated in the reverse order. The structure draws attention to the differences between Cain and Abel pointing out the essential differences in their character. Now the whole book of Daniel is written in the double chiasm. The double chiasic structure also emphasizes the two languages in which the book is written, Hebrew and Aramaic. The first chiasm is written in Aramaic from chapters 2 through 7, following an ABC CBA pattern. Chapter 1 serves as an introduction. Then the dream and visions of chapters 2 and 7 form a recapitulation of two similar predictions of four world empires. This is the AA pattern. Daniel paints a vivid picture of four world empires with markedly different symbols representing each and finally being conquered by the kingdom of God. In Chapter 2 there are four types of metal making up a statue. In Chapter 7 there are four types of beasts. Chapter 3 and 6 also form a thematic or chiasic pair. This is Bb. The casting of the three Hebrew children into a fiery furnace and their deliverance by a fourth man walking in the midst of the fire, likened to the son of God in Chapter 3, is paired with the faith of the older Daniel and the shutting of the lion's mouths many years later in Chapter 6. Then chapters 4 and 5 also form a pair of ideas. This is C. C. The humiliation of King Nebuchadnezzar in Chapter 4 is paired with the overthrow and death of Belshazzar in Chapter 5. So we have A, Chapter 2, B, Chapter 3, C, Chapter 4, C, Chapter 5, B, Chapter 6 and then A, Chapter 7. The second chiasm is in Hebrew from chapters A through 12. It also uses an ABC, CBA pattern with an exception of Daniel 926, a break in the center of the pattern. So here we have an ABCD CBA structure. Chapter 8 opens with Persia and Greece represented by a ram in a male goat. Persia is the empire that allows the Jews to rebuild the temple. Greece is the empire that is divided into four kingdoms. Chapter 8 culminates with a tyranny of a king of fierce count who shall destroy the mighty and holy people and stand up against the Prince of princes. That's Daniel 8 23 through 25. This is paired with a line of Persian and Greek kings in Chapter 11 which is centered around a vile person who sets up the abomination of desolation in the temple. And it continues into Chapter 12 in which the temple is desecrated once again this time by the Romans in 87. The second pairing is the two intercessory prayers recorded in the opening of chapters 9 and 10. This is B, B. The third pairing is the decree to rebuild Jerusalem in 925 and the decree that Jerusalem is to be destroyed and the temple desecrated in 927. This is C.C. But at the very center of this chiasm is one verse, Daniel 926 and this is D at the very center is the Messiah being cut off. The greatest of anti-nhistory, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ for the sins of the nations of the whole world. But in this way the prophecy of Daniel is the story of the wars of the nations against Jesus Christ and finally the victory of Messiah, the prince over the kingdoms of this world through the salvation of his people. The book of Daniel is almost like a pair of books. The first section is prophetic historical and the second is prophetic or we can see it as a single book that hinges in the middle. The outer pairing is the first chiasm is the prophecy of Messiah's kingdom and at the center of the second chiasm is the 70 weeks prophecy which gives the timing of the coming of Messiah's kingdom. Both the first and second chiasm must therefore be interpreted consistently. They showed that Christ's victorious kingdom would come in the days of these kings that is in the days of the Roman Empire. We should also consider that even if some of these thought parallelisms were unintentional, this was part of Hebrew culture, it was part of their mindset. Westerners are more inclined to think in terms of Greek philosophy. We tend to think more linearly. We see a beginning in the middle and in that order or premise argument conclusion. But an ancient thought information was often given non-linearly through circular patterns or recapitulation. In Daniel, the Hebrew prophets and their original hearers would have understood the conventions of chiasmic structure and parallelism better and more immediately than we do today. If we don't understand that at the outset and we try to interpret the sections of Daniel separately and we don't get the overall meaning, then we miss the forest for the truce.
