Its contents are as follow: —
The Genuineness of Daniel.
Chap. 1 — History of attacks on the Book of Daniel.
Chap. 2 — Reply to objections. Sect. 1 Alleged Greek Words — 2 Impure Hebrew — 3 Silence of Jesus Sirach — 4 Position in the Canon — 5 Depreciatory statements of the Jews — 6 The O. T. referred to as a complete Whole — 7 Aimless profusion of miracles — 8 Historical errors — 9 Irreconcilable contradictions — 10 Improbable and suspicious accounts — 11 Later ideas and usages — 12 Unusual indefiniteness of the prophecies — 13 This definiteness ceases with Antiochus Epiphanes — 14 Other objections — 1. The passage, Daniel 12; 2. Correspondence in ideas and expressions with much later Books; 3. Marks of Jewish national pride; 4. Absence of all higher moral tendency; 5. Passages which speak in praise of Daniel.
Chap. 3 — Arguments for the Genuineness. Sect. 1 Testimony of the author himself — 2 Reception into the Canon, and general acknowledgment of Canonicity — 3 Testimony of Christ and the Apostles — 4 Traces of the Book in pre-Maceabean times —
1 The passage of Josephus, Arch. 11:8; 2. 1 Macc. 2, 59, 60; 3. The LXX. of Deuteronomy 32:8, and Isaiah 30 4; Badness of the Alex. version of Daniel, which was nearly contemporary with the alleged original composition —
5 Character of the language;
1. Use of Hebrew and Aramaean; 2. Correspondence of its Aramaean, with that of Ezra, and deviation from that of the Targums —
6 Exact knowledge of history —
7 Familiar acquaintance with the institutions, manners, and customs of the times of Daniel —
8 Other arguments;
1. The entire peculiarity of prophetic style, and the mode of representation adopted in the Book; 2. Several things at variance with the spirit of the Maccabean times; 3. Exact agreement of the historical part and the prophecies; 4. Immediate conjunction of the death of Antiochus Epiphanes and the Messianic times.
As the Professor refers to many Neologian works for the purpose of refuting their wild extravagancies, the titles of the four following ones are given in full. See their characters delineated in our Preface.
Daniel aus dem Hebraisch-Aramaischen neu ubersetzt und erklart, mit einer vollstandigen Einleitung, und einigen historischen und exegetischen Excursen. Von Leonhard Bertholdt, erste und zweyte Halfte. Erlangen, 1806, 1808, in octon.
G. F. Griesinger’s Neue Ansicht der Aufsatze im Buche Daniel. Stuttg. u. Tubing., 1815, in octon.
Ueber Verfasser und Zweck des Buchs Daniel. Revision der in neuerer Zeit daruber gefuhrten Untersuchungen. Von Friedr. Bleek. In der Theologischen Zeitschrift herausgeg. von Schleiermacher, de Wette, u. Lucke, p. 3. Berlin, 1822, in octon.
Her. God. Kirmss Commentatio historico-critica, exhibens descriptionem et censuram recentium de Danielis libro opinionum. Jenae, 1828, in quat.
A list of other interpretations better known on the Continent than in either Great Britain or America, will be found in Rosenmuller’s “elenchus interpretum.” His own elaborate Scholia in Danielem, Lipsiae, 1832, have proved very serviceable for the illustration of these Lectures.
The title of the following French work is worthy of mention. Daniel le prophete dans une suite de Lecons pour une Ecole du Dimanche. 4 vols. Partridge and Oakey, publishers to the Evangelical Alliance.
6 American Works.
A Critical and Historical Interpretation of the Prophecies of Daniel. By N. S. Folsom. Boston, 12mo, 1842.
A work on the system of Professor Stuart; displaying considerable historical research, and more explanatory of Calvin’s views than some modern British works.
The Prophecies of Daniel, Nos. I. and II. By George Bush, Professor of Hebrew in New York City University. New York, 1844.
The Hebrew and Chaldee originals with several of the ancient versions. The comments are strictly exegetical. Most valuable to the critical reader of this Prophet. See a Sketch of its contents in the American Biblical Repository. October, 1844.
7 British Commentators.
Roberti Rolloci Commentarius in Librum Danielis Prophetae. Edinburgi, 1591, 4to.
The Book of Daniel, explained after the following method, etc. By Dr. Edward Wells. Oxford, 1716.
The Septuagint version is printed in parallel columns with the English version, and useful annotations added.
Observations on the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John. By Sir Isaac Newton. London, 1733, 4to.
The Astronomical fame of the author has bestowed great celebrity upon the calculations of this work.
An Essay towards the Interpretation of the Prophecies of Daniel, with occasional remarks upon some of the most celebrated Commentators on them. By Richard Amner. London, 1776, 8vo.
The opinion of Grotius and Le Clerc is followed here, making the times of Antiochus Epiphanes the termination of the events predicted. See British Critic, O. S., vol. 13 p. 290 and following.
Daniel, an Improved Version attempted, with a Preliminary Dissertation and Notes, Critical, Historical, and Explanatory. By Thomas Wintle, B.D. London, 1807, 4to, 1838, 8vo.
The best English version with which the Editor is acquainted. The notes are sufficiently copious and very scholar-like; many references to it have already been made in illustrating these Lectures.
A Dissertation by way of Inquiry into the true import and application of the Vision related, Daniel 9:20 to the end, usually called Daniel’s Prophecy of Seventy Weeks, etc. By Benjamin Blayney, B.D. Oxford, 1775, 4to.
A Dissertation on Daniel’s Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks. By George Stanley Faber, B.D. London, 1811, 8vo
A Dissertation on the Seventy Weeks of Daniel the Prophet. By the Rev. John Stonard, D.D. London, 1826, 8vo.
Daniel’s Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks. By a Layman. London, 1836, 12mo. A Dissertation concerning the Chronological Numbers recorded in the Prophecies of Daniel. By the Revelation Philip Allwood, B.D. London, 1833, 8vo.
The Times of Daniel, Chronological and Prophetical. By George Duke Of Manchester. London, 1845, 8vo.
A very elaborate and original work, in which the chronology is re-arranged on a basis varying from that commonly received.
The Four Prophetic Empires and the Kingdom of Messiah, being an exposition of the first two visions of Daniel. By the Revelation T. R. Birks, M.A. London, 1845.
The Two Later Visions of Daniel: historically explained. By the Revelation T. R. Birks, M.A. London, 1846.
A very clear and useful historical compendium. The first sixteen chapters are a practical comment on these Lectures. Frequent extracts have already been made.
An Inquiry into the Nature, Progress, and End of Prophecy. By Samuel Lee, D.D. London, 1849.
The Events and Times of the Visions of Daniel and St. John, etc. By Samuel Lee, D.D. London, 1851.