From Joseph to Daniel : The Literary Development of the Narrative in Daniel 2

Scholars have recognized the composite nature of the narrative in Daniel 2 based upon certain contradictions within the story. Additional evidence will be marshaled to bolster this claim, including variation in the use of divine names according to the evidence of the Old Greek version. Furthermore, I suggest that a more precise division of the source material can be obtained based upon a philological analysis of the expression (v. 14), and its Akkadian cognates. The earlier stratum of the story presents Daniel as a “second” Joseph, and closely parallels both the story of Genesis 41 and the tale in Daniel 5. The secondary section is analyzed in an appendix in an attempt to identify its literary and historical context, with special attention given to the relationship between the description of God in 2:21 and the depiction of Antiochus IV Epiphanes in Daniel 7:24-26.