The Greek Apocalypse of Daniel is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

pseudepigraphic Pseudepigrapha (also anglicized as "pseudepigraph" or "pseudepigraphs") are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past.Bauckham, Richard; "Pseu ...

text (one whose claimed authorship is unfounded) attributed to the Biblical

Daniel Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...

and so associated with the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

(

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

). However, no

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

groups regard this text as

canonical The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean "according to the canon" the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, "canonical example ...

or indeed as authoritative

scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...

.''Historical Dictionary of Prophets in Islam and Judaism'', B.M. Wheeler, ''Apocalypse of Daniel'' The canonical

Book of Daniel The Book of Daniel is a 2nd-century BC biblical apocalypse with a 6th century BC setting. Ostensibly "an account of the activities and visions of Daniel, a noble Jew exiled at Babylon", it combines a prophecy of history with an eschatology ...

has much apocalyptic imagery, and this apocalyptic-style text deals with a similar subject, describing one particular vision of Daniel regarding the appearance and activities of the

Antichrist In Christian eschatology, the Antichrist refers to people prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and substitute themselves in Christ's place before the Second Coming. The term Antichrist (including one plural form) 1 John ; . 2 John . ...

before the Day of Judgement. The text is dated to the ninth century A.D. and is extant in three

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...

s, dated to the fifteenth century A.D. It was rediscovered and published at the end of nineteenth century. It should not be confused with numerous other medieval works ascribed to

or to Methodius, such as the '' Syriac Apocalypse of Daniel'' of the seventh century, the '' Hebrew Apocalypse of Daniel'' of the twelfth century, or the ''

Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius Written in Syriac in the late seventh century, the ''Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius'' shaped and influenced Christian eschatological thinking in the Middle Ages.Griffith (2008), p. 34.Debié (2005) p. 228.Alexander (1985) p. 13.Jackson (2001) p. ...

''. The ''Apocalypse of Daniel'' has been written in

in the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

about the early years of the ninth century AD. The original date of certain elements could be centuries earlier than that of the document as a whole.G.T. Zervos ''Apocalypse of Daniel, a new Translation and Introduction'' in ed. James Charlesworth ''The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Vol 1'' (1983) This text can be divided in two sections. The first one (chapters 1–7) recounts under the form of a prediction (''

vaticinium ex eventu ''vāticinium ex ēventū'' (, "prophecy from the event") or ''post eventum'' ("after the event") is a technical theological or historiographical term referring to a prophecy written after the author already had information about the events bein ...

'') the Byzantine–Arab War of the eighth century and the enthronement of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

. The remaining chapters (8-14) describe the origin and personal characteristics of the

References

External links

information on Early Jewish Writings
Old Testament pseudepigrapha Apocryphal revelations Byzantine literature Christian apocalyptic writings Daniel (biblical figure) {{NewTestament-apocrypha-stub

See also

References

External links