Daniel 8
Daniel 8 (the eighth chapter of the Book of Daniel) tells of Daniel's vision of a two-horned ram destroyed by a one-horned goat (a possible allegory for the transition from the Persian to the Greek eras in the Near East), followed by the history of the "little horn", which is Daniel's code-word for the Greek king Antiochus Epiphanes.[1]
The subject of the vision is Antiochus' oppression of the Jews–he outlawed Jewish customs such as circumcision, Jewish monthly/Lunar calendar, dietary restrictions, and Sabbath observance,[Notes 1] made ownership of the Torah scroll a capital offense, and built an altar to Zeus in the Temple (the "abomination of desolation").[2] His program sparked a popular uprising which led to the retaking of Jerusalem and the Temple by Judas Maccabeus (164 BCE).[3]
Summary
In the third year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel in a vision sees himself in Susa, which is in Elam. In his vision he sees a ram with two horns, one greater than the other; the ram charges to the west, north and south, and no other beast can stand against it. Daniel sees a male goat with a single horn come from the west without touching the ground and strike the ram and destroys it. At the height of his power the goat's horn is broken and in its place four horns grow.[Dan. 8:5–8] One of the horns is small but grows great and prospers in everything it does, throwing stars down to the earth, stopping the daily sacrifice, destroying the sanctuary and throwing truth to the ground.[Dan. 8:9–12] Daniel is told the vision will be fulfilled in 2,300 evenings and mornings, when the sanctuary will be cleansed.[Dan. 8:13–14] The angel Gabriel appears and tells Daniel that this is a vision about the time of the end.[Dan. 8:15–19]
Composition and structure
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The Book of Daniel originated as a collection of folktales among the Jewish community in Babylon and Mesopotamia in the Persian and early Hellenistic periods (5th to 3rd centuries BCE), and was later expanded by the visions of chapters 7–12 in the Maccabean era (mid-2nd century).[4] Daniel is a legendary figure[5] and his name was presumably chosen for the hero of the book because of his reputation as a wise seer in Hebrew tradition.[6] The structure of the chapter can be described as follows:[7]
I. Introduction: date and place (verses 1–2);
II. Vision report: ram, he-goat, angelic conversation (3–12);
III. Epiphany (appearance) of interpreter: circumstances and desire for interpretation, epiphany (15–17);
IV. Interpretation: circumstances, interpretation of images, concluding statement by the angel (18–26);
V. Concluding statement of visionary's reaction, v.27.
Genre and themes
The Book of Daniel is an apocalypse, a literary genre in which a heavenly reality is revealed to a human recipient; such works are characterized by visions, symbolism, an other-worldly mediator, an emphasis on cosmic events, angels and demons, and pseudonymity (false authorship).[8] Apocalypses were common from 300 BCE to 100 CE, not only among Jews and Christians, but Greeks, Romans, Persians and Egyptians.[9] Daniel, the book's hero, is a representative apocalyptic seer, the recipient of the divine revelation: has learned the wisdom of the Babylonian magicians and surpassed them, because his God is the true source of knowledge; he is one of the maskil, the wise, whose task is to teach righteousness.[9] The book is also an eschatology, meaning a divine revelation concerning the end of the present age, a moment in which God will intervene in history to usher in the final kingdom.[10]
Daniel 8 conforms to the type of the "symbolic dream vision" and the "regnal" or "dynastic" prophecy, analogous to a work called the "Babylonian Dynastic Prophecy"–a more extensive example appears in Daniel 11. For its sources it draws on Daniel 7, which supplies the symbolism of the "little horn" and the "holy ones" (angels), as well as on the Book of Ezekiel, which provides the location by a river and the epiphany of the angel, and on the Book of Habakkuk with its concern with the "end of time." The "little horn" which casts some of the stars to the ground recalls Isaiah 14:12 and Lucifer, which in turn presupposes the Ugaritic (Canaanite) myth of Attar's attempt to take the throne of Baal.[11]
Chapter 8 is about the actions of the world-powers at the "end-time".[12] The course of history is pre-determined, and Antiochus is merely playing a role in the unwinding of God's plan.[13] Daniel 8 is thus a reinterpretation and expansion of Daniel 7:[14] where chapter 7 spoke only cryptically of the change-over from the Medo-Persian empire to the age of the Greek kings, chapter 8 makes this explicit; by the same token, chapter 8 speaks cryptically of the "little horn," whose story will be taken up in detail in the following chapters.[12]
Interpretation
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Historical background
Daniel 8 is an interpretation of the author's own time, 167–164 BCE, with a claim that God will bring to an end the oppression of the Jewish people.[15] It begins with the Greek conquest of the Persian empire, touches on the rise of the four Greek successor-kingdoms, and then focuses on the career of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who took the throne of Seleucid Syria in 175 BCE.[16] Antiochus found himself in conflict with the Jews, and while the details are obscure, it appears that there was a revolt in Jerusalem, he sent troops to suppress it, and as a result the daily Jewish sacrifice was stopped and the Temple polluted.[17] The date for this is usually given as 167 BCE.[17] The attempt to wipe out traditional religion and culture inevitably provoked a reaction, and the rebel Jews, led by Judas Maccabee and his brothers, won sufficient military victories over the Seleucids to take back and purify the temple three years later.[17]
The ram, the he-goat, the great horn and the four new horns
The symbols of the ram and he-goat, explained in the text of Daniel 8 as representing the kings of Persia and Greece, are apparently drawn from the constellations that preside over Persia and Syria in Hellenistic astrology.[18] Scholars are agreed that the goat's first horn (the horn which is broken) is Alexander the Great, and the four horns which then arise are the four generals who divided his empire.[19] The detail that the goat does not touch the ground as he attacks the ram may reflect the speed of Alexander's conquest.[20]
The "little horn" and his war on God
The "little horn" which arises from the four horns is Antiochus Epiphanes.[18] It "grows in power to the south and to the east and towards the beautiful land," reflecting Antiochus' campaigns in Egypt (169–168 BCE), Persia (166 BCE) and Israel (the "beautiful land").[21] "Truth was flung to the ground" by the little horn as it tramples the land: this is probably a reference to the Torah, the Law of Moses.[22]
Daniel 8:13's "holy ones of the Most High" clearly means angels, although sometimes in the Hebrew Bible it seems to refer to the Israelites.[23] Stars were commonly identified with angels in ancient Israel, and in 8:10 the reader is told that the little horn "grew great ... and some of the host of the stars it cast down to the ground and trampled upon them," indicating that Antiochus fights against the "heavenly host" of God's angels.[24] Indeed, he "aspired to be as great as the Prince of the host," God himself.[21]
Daniel is the only book in the Hebrew Bible which gives names to angels. Gabriel may have received his because he "has the appearance of a man" (Hebrew gaber); he appears here as a messenger and interpreter of God's message, the same role he was later given by the author of Luke's annunciation scene (Luke 1:19,26).[25] Michael is depicted as Israel's guardian angel and a warrior.[25] The prominence given these divine beings in Daniel is typical of Hellenistic Jewish literature, but much more restricted than in contemporary works such as First Enoch.[25]
The 2,300 evenings and mornings
In verse 13 Daniel overhears two "holy ones" (angels). One asks" "For how long is this vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over the sanctuary and host to be trampled?" and Daniel is informed that it will be "for 2,300 evenings and mornings," or 1,150 days.[26] This is contradicted (twice in one sentence) at the end of Daniel 12, which says that "from the time the regular burnt offering is taken away ... there shall be 1,290 days; happy are those that persevere and attain the 1,335 days" (Daniel 12:11–12): the different numbers, first 1,150 days, then 1,290, finally 1,335, are presumably revisions made when the earlier numbers passed without fulfillment.[27]
The period in question was initially the duration of the desecration of the Temple, but 1,150 days is slightly less than three and a half years, while the desecration lasted only three years.[26] It seems likely that the focus of the author shifted from the desecration and re-dedication of the Temple to the end of history, which would be marked by the resurrection of the dead: the final number in Daniel 12:12 is followed by the instruction to Daniel to "go your way and rest; you shall rise for your reward at the end of days."[27]
(The interpretation of the 2300 evenings and mornings as equivalent to half that number of days–1150 days–appears to be the most common, but C. L. Seow, a leading Daniel scholar, takes it to mean 2300 full days. This would be equivalent to about seven years; assuming that the end-point is the re-dedication of the Temple and restoration of sacrifices in 164 BCE, the starting point would then be the murder of the high priest Onias III in 171, another notable year in the events leading up to the desecration.)[28]
Christian eschatological readings
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The Book of Daniel, and along with Revelation, formed one of the foundations of Christian eschatology.[29][Notes 2] The authors of the Gospels identified Jesus with Daniel 7's "one like a son of man", and by the 3rd century CE the stone of Daniel 2 and the fourth figure in the furnace in Daniel 3 were interpreted as Christ, the fourth kingdom of Daniel 7 was Rome, and the "little horn" was the Antichrist (his identification as Antiochus was denied by Jerome in a famous exchange with the pagan philosopher Porphyry).[30] Daniel's timetable was reinterpreted to fit Christian expectations: the prophecy of 70 weeks in Daniel 9:20–27, for example, was commonly held to end either with the life and death of Christ or with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE.[31]
In the Middle Ages dissident Catholics, and later Martin Luther, identified the pope as the Antichrist, while the "little horn" included Mohammed, Antiochus, and the papacy, depending on which chapter of Daniel involved.[31] In the 17th century the English Puritans interpreted their struggle in terms of God's army (themselves) battling the Antichrist (the pope) and his ally (the king), and the Fifth Monarchy Men took their name and ideal of government from Daniel 7.[32]
As late as the 18th century no less a figure than Isaac Newton could still read Daniel as a coded prediction of the future, but already this approach was in decline.[33] A few 17th century scholars had begun saying that Daniel referred only to Antiochus, and in the 19th century this and the 2nd century date of the book became the scholarly consensus.[34] Nevertheless, the traditional "historicist" interpretation continues in popular culture, and conservative scholars continue in its defence.[35]
Appendix
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Notes
- Known as Chodesh, Millah, Shabbos
- Eschatology: Concerning the "end-time". See Carroll, 2000, p.420.
References
Citations
- Bandstra 2008, p. 452.
- Bandstra 2008, p. 449.
- Aune 2010, p. 15-19.
- Collins 1984, p. 29,34–35.
- Collins 1984, p. 28.
- Redditt 2008, p. 176-177,180.
- Collins 1984, p. 84-85.
- Crawford 2000, p. 73.
- Davies 2006, p. 397-406.
- Carroll 2000, p. 420-421.
- Collins 1984, p. 86-87.
- Kratz 2001, p. 100.
- Towner 1984, p. 121.
- Knibb 2001, p. 18.
- Towner 1984, p. 115-116.
- Grabbe 2010, p. 6-10.
- Grabbe 2010, p. 16.
- Collins 1984, p. 87.
- Brettler 2010, p. 213.
- Towner 1984, p. 119.
- Hammer 1976, p. 85.
- Hill 2009, p. no pagination.
- Collins 1998, p. 104-105.
- Collins 1998, p. 105.
- Towner 1984, p. 117.
- Collins 2013, p. 85.
- Collins 2013, p. 86.
- Seow 2003, p. 125.
- Rowland 2007, p. 344.
- Lucas 2005, p. 156,158.
- Lucas 2005, p. 156.
- Weber 2007, p. 374-375.
- Collins 2001, p. 1.
- Lucas 2005, p. 157.
- Collins 2001, p. 1-2.
- After table in Froom 1950, pp. 456–7
- After table in Froom 1950, pp. 894–75
- After table in Froom 1948, pp. 528–9
- After table in Froom 1948, pp. 784–5
- After table in Froom 1946, pp. 744–5
Bibliography
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- Bar, Shaul (2001). A letter that has not been read: dreams in the Hebrew Bible. Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press. ISBN 978-0-87820-424-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Boyer, Paul S. (1992). When Time Shall Be No More: Prophecy Belief in Modern American Culture. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-95129-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Brettler, Mark Zvi (2005). How To Read the Bible. Jewish Publication Society. ISBN 9780827610019.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Carroll, John T. (2000). "Eschatology". In Freedman, David Noel; Myers, Allen C. (eds.). Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Eerdmans. ISBN 9789053565032.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Cohn, Shaye J.D. (2006). From the Maccabees to the Mishnah. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 9780664227432.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Collins, John J. (1984). Daniel: With an Introduction to Apocalyptic Literature. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802800206.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Collins, John J. (1998). The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic Literature. Eerdmans. p. 103. ISBN 9780802843715.
Son of Man: The interpretation and influence of Daniel 7.
CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) - Collins, John J. (2001). Seers, Sibyls, and Sages in Hellenistic-Roman Judaism. BRILL. ISBN 9780391041103.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Collins, John J. (2002). "Current Issues in the Study of Daniel". In Collins, John J.; Flint, Peter W.; VanEpps, Cameron (eds.). The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception. BRILL. ISBN 9004116753.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Collins, John J. (2003). "From Prophecy to Apocalypticism: The Expectation of the End". In McGinn, Bernard; Collins, John J.; Stein, Stephen J. (eds.). The Continuum History of Apocalypticism. Continuum.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Collins, John J. (2013). "Daniel". In Lieb, Michael; Mason, Emma; Roberts, Jonathan (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of the Reception History of the Bible. Oxford UNiversity Press.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Crawford, Sidnie White (2000). "Apocalyptic". In Freedman, David Noel; Myers, Allen C. (eds.). Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Eerdmans.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Davies, Philip (2006). "Apocalyptic". In Rogerson, J. W.; Lieu, Judith M. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Studies. Oxford Handbooks Online. ISBN 9780199254255.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- DeChant, Dell (2009). "Apocalyptic Communities". In Neusner, Jacob (ed.). World Religions in America: An Introduction. Westminster John Knox Press.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Doukhan, Jacques (2000). Secrets of Daniel: wisdom and dreams of a Jewish prince in exile. Review and Herald Pub Assoc. ISBN 9780828014243.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Dunn, James D.G. (2002). "The Danilic Son of Man in the New Testament". In Collins, John J.; Flint, Peter W.; VanEpps, Cameron (eds.). The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception. BRILL.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Froom, Le Roy Edwin (1950). Early Church Exposition, Subsequent Deflections, and Medieval Revival. The Prophetic Faith of our Fathers: The Historical Development of Prophetic Interpretation. 1. The Review and Herald Publishing Association. p. 1006. Archived from the original on 2012-06-14. Retrieved 2010-12-17.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Froom, Le Roy Edwin (1948). Pre-Reformation and Reformation Restoration, and Second Departure. The Prophetic Faith of our Fathers: The Historical Development of Prophetic Interpretation. 2. The Review and Herald Publishing Association. p. 863. Archived from the original on 2012-06-14. Retrieved 2010-12-17.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Froom, Le Roy Edwin (1946). PART I, Colonial and Early National American Exposition. PART II, Old World Nineteenth Century Advent Awakening. The Prophetic Faith of our Fathers: The Historical Development of Prophetic Interpretation. 3. The Review and Herald Publishing Association. p. 802. Archived from the original on 2012-06-14. Retrieved 2010-12-17.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Grabbe, Lester L. (2010). An Introduction to Second Temple Judaism: History and Religion of the Jews in the Time of Nehemiah, the Maccabees, Hillel, and Jesus. Continuum. ISBN 9780567552488.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Grabbe, Lester L. (2002a). Judaic Religion in the Second Temple Period: Belief and Practice from the Exile to Yavneh. Routledge. ISBN 9780203461013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Grabbe, Lester L. (2002b). "A Dan(iel) For All Seasons". In Collins, John J.; Flint, Peter W.; VanEpps, Cameron (eds.). The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception. BRILL. ISBN 9004116753.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Hammer, Raymond (1976). The Book of Daniel. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521097659.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Harrington, Daniel J. (1999). Invitation to the Apocrypha. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802846334.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Hill, Andrew E. (2009). "Daniel". In Garland, David E.; Longman, Tremper (eds.). Daniel—Malachi. Zondervan. ISBN 9780310590545.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Hill, Charles E. (2000). "Antichrist". In Freedman, David Noel; Myers, Allen C. (eds.). Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Eerdmans. ISBN 9789053565032.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Horsley, Richard A. (2007). Scribes, Visionaries, and the Politics of Second Temple Judea. Presbyterian Publishing Corp. ISBN 9780664229917.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Knibb, Michael (2002). "The Book of Daniel in its Context". In Collins, John J.; Flint, Peter W.; VanEpps, Cameron (eds.). The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception. BRILL. ISBN 9004116753.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Kratz, Reinhard (2002). "The Visions of Daniel". In Collins, John J.; Flint, Peter W.; VanEpps, Cameron (eds.). The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception. BRILL. ISBN 9004116753.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Levine, Amy-Jill (2010). "Daniel". In Coogan, Michael D.; Brettler, Marc Z.; Newsom, Carol A. (eds.). The new Oxford annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical books : New Revised Standard Version. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199370504.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Lucas, Ernest C. (2005). "Daniel, Book of". In Vanhoozer, Kevin J.; Bartholomew, Craig G.; Treier, Daniel J. (eds.). Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible. Baker Academic. ISBN 9780801026942.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Matthews, Victor H.; Moyer, James C. (2012). The Old Testament: Text and Context. Baker Books. ISBN 9780801048357.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)McDonald, Lee Martin (2012). Formation of the Bible: the Story of the Church's Canon. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-59856-838-7. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
- Niskanen, Paul (2004). The Human and the Divine in History: Herodotus and the Book of Daniel. Continuum. ISBN 9780567082138.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Provan, Iain (2003). "Daniel". In Dunn, James D. G.; Rogerson, John William (eds.). Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-8028-3711-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Redditt, Paul L. (2009). Introduction to the Prophets. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802828965.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Reid, Stephen Breck (2000). "Daniel, Book of". In Freedman, David Noel; Myers, Allen C. (eds.). Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Eerdmans. ISBN 9789053565032.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Rowland, Christopher (2007). "Apocalyptic Literature". In Hass, Andrew; Jasper, David; Jay, Elisabeth (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of English Literature and Theology. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199271979.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Ryken, Leland; Wilhoit, Jim; Longman, Tremper (1998). Dictionary of Biblical Imagery. InterVarsity Press. ISBN 9780830867332.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Sacchi, Paolo (2004). The History of the Second Temple Period. Continuum. ISBN 9780567044501.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Schwartz, Daniel R. (1992). Studies in the Jewish Background of Christianity. Mohr Siebeck. ISBN 9783161457982.
- Seow, C.L. (2003). Daniel. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 9780664256753.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Schiffman, Lawrence H. (1991). From Text to Tradition: A History of Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism. KTAV Publishing House. ISBN 9780881253726.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Spencer, Richard A. (2002). "Additions to Daniel". In Mills, Watson E.; Wilson, Richard F. (eds.). The Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Mercer University Press. ISBN 9780865545106.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Towner, W. Sibley (1984). Daniel. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 9780664237561.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- VanderKam, James C. (2010). The Dead Sea Scrolls Today. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802864352.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- VanderKam, James C.; Flint, Peter (2013). The meaning of the Dead Sea scrolls: their significance for understanding the Bible, Judaism, Jesus, and Christianity. HarperCollins. ISBN 9780062243300.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Waters, Matt (2014). Ancient Persia: A Concise History of the Achaemenid Empire, 550–330 BCE. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107652729.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Weber, Timothy P. (2007). "Millennialism". In Walls, Jerry L. (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199742486.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Wesselius, Jan-Wim (2002). "The Writing of Daniel". In Collins, John J.; Flint, Peter W.; VanEpps, Cameron (eds.). The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception. BRILL. ISBN 0391041282.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Further reading
- Baldwin, Joyce G. (1981). Donald J. Wiseman (ed.). Daniel: an introduction and commentary. Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press. ISBN 978-0-87784-273-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Briant, Pierre (1996). From Cyrus to Alexander. Librairie Artheme Fayard. Translation by Peter Daniels, 2002. Paris. p. 42. ISBN 1-57506-031-0.
- Brown, Raymond E.; Fitzmyer, Joseph A.; Murphy, Roland E., eds. (1999). The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Prentice Hall. p. 1475. ISBN 0-13-859836-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Carey, Greg (1999). Bloomquist, L. Gregory (ed.). Vision and Persuasion: Rhetorical Dimensions of Apocalyptic Discourse (Google On-line Books). Chalice Press. p. 224. ISBN 0-8272-4005-8. Retrieved 2010-06-25.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Casey, Maurice (1980). Son of Man: The interpretation and influence of Daniel 7. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. p. 272. ISBN 0-281-03697-7.
lists ten commentators of the 'Syrian Tradition' who identify the fourth beast of chapter 7 as Greece, the little horn as Antiochus, and – in the majority of instances – the "saints of the Most High" as Maccabean Jews.
CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) - Cohn-Sherbok, Dan (1996). The Hebrew Bible (Google on-line books). Cassell. p. 257. ISBN 0-304-33703-X. Retrieved 2010-06-24.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Colless, Brian (1992). "Cyrus the Persian as Darius the Mede in the Book of Daniel" (PDF). Journal for the Study of the Old Testament. subscription site. 56: 115. Retrieved 2010-06-12.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Dougherty, Raymond Philip (1929). Nabonidus and Belshazzar: A Study of the Closing Events of the Neo- Babylonian Empire. Yale University Press. p. 216. ASIN B000M9MGX8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Eisenman, Robert (1998). James, the brother of Jesus : the key to unlocking the secrets of early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-025773-X.
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