(5) Attacks Upon Its Unity. The unity of the book has been disputed by several critics, and more especially by Eichhorn and Bertholdt. MI) conceived it to have been written by more than one author, on accounL of some contradictions which they thought they had discovered in it, such as in i :21, compared with x :1, and in i :5-18, compared with ii :1.
(6) Genuineness and Authenticity. Much greater is the difference of opinion respecting the authenticity of the book. The oldest known opponent of it is the heathen philosopher Por phyry. in the third century of the Christian era. He found no successor in his views until the time of the English deists, when Collins attempted to attack the authenticity of Daniel, as was done by Semler in Germany. In later times its authen ticity has been questioned by a number of Biblical critics, who have made elaborate attacks upon it.
The objections of these writers have been fully met and confuted. Theyrest, to a great extent, part ly on historical errors, partly on the want of a sound exegesis, and, lastly, on the perversion of a few passages in the text. Thus it has turned out that several of the arguments have led to a far dif ferent and even opposite result from what was originally meant, namely, to the defense of the authenticity of the book. The existence of a king Darius of the Medians, mentioned in chap. vi., is a thorough historical fact, and the very circumstance that such an insignificant prince, eclipsed as his name was by the splendor of Cyrus, and therefore unnoticed in the fabulous and his torical chronicles of Persia, should be known and mentioned in this book, is in itself a proof of the high historical authority of Daniel. Nor does the whole dogmatic tenor of the book speak less in favor of its genuineness, since the dogmatic spirit of the Maccabman period is essentially different from that which it exhibits, as, for example, in the Christology, which forms the substance and basis of Daniel. (See DARIUs.) H. A. C. H.
(7) Interpretation. The book contains three representations of the world's history, more or less closely related to each other, which, with their interpretations, may be outlined as follows: The interpretation A has been the one generally received. In fact, it was almost universal in the early Jewish and the Christian Church. B has had
few advocates. C is now the prevailing inter pretation. (E. L. Curtis, Hastings' Bib. Diet.) (8) Literature. The most important commen tators on Daniel are, among the fathers, Ephraim Syrus, Jerome, Theodoret ; among the rabbins, Jarchi, Aben Ezra, JosephJacchiades; among the Protestant theologians, Melanctlion, Calvin, Martin Geier, de Dieu, Venema, Chr. Bened. Michaelis, J. D. Michaelis. In more recent times critical works on Daniel have appeared by Bertholdt (18o6), Rosenmfiller (1832), Havernick (1832), Lengerke (1835), Maurer (1836), Birks, The four prophetic empires, and The two later visions of Dan.; Stuart, Commentary, Boston, 185o; Noyes, Now Transl. of the Heb. Proph., vol. ii, 1866; Ewald (Proph. d. A. B.), 3867, Eng. tr., 1881; Keil, 1869, Eng. tr., 1872; Zockler (Lange's Bibelwerk), 187o. Eng. tr. and add. by Strong, 1875; Fuller (Speaker's Com.), 1876; (Kgf. Kom.), 1889; Bevan, 1892; Behrmann (Hand. Kom.), 1894; Farrar (Expositor's Bible), 1895; Heng. Beitracgc, 1831, Eng. tr., 1848; Tregelles, Defence of Authenticity, 1852; Auber len, Der Prophet Daniel and Offenbarung Johan nes, 1854-57, Eng. tr., 1857; Pusey, Dan. the Pro phet, 1864, 3d ed. 1869; Fuller, Essay on the Au thenticity of Daniel, 1864; Lenormant, La Divina tion chez: les Chald. (pp. 169-236), 1875; Cornill, Margoliouth in Expos., April, 18go; Fuller in, Expos., 3d series, vols. i, ; Sayce HCM (pp. 495-537), 1893; Terry, Proplz. of Dan. Expounded, The following works may also be consulted: The Old Testament Introductions of Karl F. Keil, Cornill, Driver, KOnig, Strack et al., and the Old Testament Theologies of Dillmann, Schultz, Sinend et al., and the Messianic or Old Testament Prophecies of Briggs, Delitzsch, Hof: mann (Weissagung u. Erfuellung), Omni. Riehm, et al., and in the Histories of Israel or The Jews of Ewald, Gratz, Kohler, Kittel, Stade, Schfirer et al.
(9) Apocryphal Addenda. (See DEUTERO CANONICAL BOOKS.) In the version of the Sev enty, and in that of Theodotion, there are found some considerable additions to the book of Daniel which are wanting in the Hebrew canon. These are: (1) The Prayer of Azarias, etc. (Dan. iii: 24-51; (2) The Song of the Three Children (Dan. iii :52-9o) ; (3) The History of Susanna ( Dan. xiii) ; (4) The Narrative of Bel and the Dragon (Dan xiv).