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Literêre genre van die Daniëlverhale
In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi | Vol 35, No 4 | a576 |
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/ids.v35i4.576
| © 1970 M. Nel
| This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 08 August 2001 | Published:
Submitted: 08 August 2001 | Published:
About the author(s)
M. Nel, Departement Ou Testament, Universiteit van Pretoria, South AfricaFull Text:
PDF (174KB)Abstract
Literary genre of the stories in die Book of Daniel
The literary genre of the stories in the book of Daniel has acquired a central position in modern research. Most researchers agree that the stories contain material that is older than the visions contained in Daniel 7-12. Corresponding to the narrative of Daniel and his three friends the following can be listed: the biblical stories of Joseph and Esther; the Assyrian story of Ahikar; the stories of Tobit and Judith; Daniel and Susannah; Daniel, Bel and the Snake; and the story in 1 Esdras 3:1-4:63. The issue regarding the genre of these narratives thus should be addressed. The article proposes that the Daniel stories be read as wisdom literature. Furthermore, the different opinions of the following researchers are discussed: W.L. Humphreys, J.J. Collins, R.R. Wilson, P.R. Davies, G.W.E. Nickelsburg, as well as S. Niditch and R. Doran. The conclusion arrived at is that no consensus on the classification of the genre of the stories exists and that the lack of a standardised system in the classification of genre hampers the discussion.
The literary genre of the stories in the book of Daniel has acquired a central position in modern research. Most researchers agree that the stories contain material that is older than the visions contained in Daniel 7-12. Corresponding to the narrative of Daniel and his three friends the following can be listed: the biblical stories of Joseph and Esther; the Assyrian story of Ahikar; the stories of Tobit and Judith; Daniel and Susannah; Daniel, Bel and the Snake; and the story in 1 Esdras 3:1-4:63. The issue regarding the genre of these narratives thus should be addressed. The article proposes that the Daniel stories be read as wisdom literature. Furthermore, the different opinions of the following researchers are discussed: W.L. Humphreys, J.J. Collins, R.R. Wilson, P.R. Davies, G.W.E. Nickelsburg, as well as S. Niditch and R. Doran. The conclusion arrived at is that no consensus on the classification of the genre of the stories exists and that the lack of a standardised system in the classification of genre hampers the discussion.
Keywords
Literary Genre Of Daniel Stories; Tales Of Conflict; Tales Of Contest; Wisdom Literature
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