Who Wrote the Book of Daniel?

The book of Daniel says who wrote it. Daniel himself records his visions in the first person. In Daniel 7:1 he tells us that he had a dream and visions as he lay on his bed, and that he wrote down the substance of his dream. Again and again the text names him as the one receiving and recording what God showed him (Daniel 7:28; 8:2; 9:2; 10:1-2; 12:4-5).

So the short answer is Daniel, a Jewish noble taken to Babylon as a young man around 606 BC. He served under Babylonian and Persian kings for most of a century. That is the plain claim of the book, and it is the position this site holds. But the question is worth more than a one-line answer, because a serious reader will meet the claim that Daniel was written much later by someone else. This article gives the evidence for Daniel’s authorship, the main objections, and why the answer matters.

What does the book itself claim about its author?

The strongest evidence is inside the book. Chapters 7 through 12 are written as first-person report. Daniel sees the visions, an angel explains them to him, and he writes them down. Chapter 12 opens with a command spoken directly to him:

But you, Daniel, shut up these words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will roam to and fro, and knowledge will increase. — Daniel 12:4 (BSB)

A few verses later he adds his own testimony:

Then I, Daniel, looked and saw two others standing there, one on this bank of the river and one on the opposite bank. — Daniel 12:5 (BSB)

Chapters 1 through 6 are written in the third person, telling Daniel’s story rather than speaking as him. That shift is not unusual in ancient writing. A book can report events about its author in one section and speak in his voice in another. The same pattern appears in Nehemiah, where parts of the book use “I” and parts speak of Nehemiah by name. The book as a whole still presents Daniel as its source.

The book also places Daniel in real history. He is described as coming from the noble families of Judah (Daniel 1:3) and being carried to Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. His public life runs from Nebuchadnezzar through Belshazzar, Darius the Mede, and Cyrus the Persian (Daniel 6:28). The historical sections read like the memory of someone who was there.

What outside evidence supports Daniel as the writer?

Two lines of evidence stand out.

First, the prophet Ezekiel, a contemporary also living in exile, names Daniel three times alongside Noah and Job as a righteous man (Ezekiel 14:14, 20; 28:3). That is remarkable. Ezekiel treats Daniel as a known figure of exceptional wisdom, which fits a real man already famous in his own lifetime.

Second, Jesus Himself refers to the book and credits it to Daniel. In the Olivet Discourse He speaks of the abomination of desolation and names Daniel as the prophet who described it (Matthew 24:15). He also speaks of Himself in terms drawn from Daniel’s visions of the Son of Man (Matthew 25:31; 26:64). The New Testament elsewhere treats the book as authoritative (1 Corinthians 6:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:3).

A third point is the language. Parts of Daniel are written in Aramaic and parts in Hebrew, and the writer moves between them as his subject requires. That fits an educated Jewish official serving in a bilingual empire.

Why do some scholars date Daniel to the second century BC?

This is the main challenge you will meet. Many modern critical scholars argue that Daniel was written around 165 BC, during the persecution of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, by an unknown author who wrote under Daniel’s name. Their reasons usually come down to three.

1. Detailed prophecy. The visions match later events so closely that these scholars conclude the book must have been written after the events, not before.
2. Language and style. They argue the Hebrew and Aramaic point to a later period.
3. Historical details. They point to questions about Belshazzar and Darius the Mede.

Each of these has been answered at length by conservative scholars, and the answers are worth knowing. The prophecy objection is really a philosophical one: it assumes in advance that God cannot tell the future. But prediction is exactly what the book claims to be. The language arguments have been challenged by further study of the Aramaic of Daniel, which fits the Persian period well. And the historical questions have eased as archaeology has confirmed more of the book’s background, including the existence of Belshazzar as a coregent in Babylon.

A reader does not have to master these debates. It helps simply to know that the late-date view rests on assumptions about prophecy, not on evidence that settles the case.

Does it matter who wrote Daniel?

It matters, for two reasons.

First, it touches how we read the book. If Daniel is a genuine sixth-century prophet, then the visions are real predictions given by God, and the book’s comfort is that God rules over empires before they rise. If it is a second-century work of fiction, that comfort shrinks into hindsight.

Second, it touches how we read Jesus. He treated Daniel as a prophet whose words would come true. If we trust Him, we have good reason to trust the book He endorsed.

The message of Daniel is steady either way you read the debates. God is sovereign over kings and kingdoms. He humbles the proud. He protects His people. And He is working toward a kingdom that will never end. Daniel’s own life shows what trust looks like under pressure. When a decree forbade prayer, he went home and prayed anyway:

Now when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house, where the windows of his upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before. — Daniel 6:10 (BSB)

How should you study Daniel from here?

Read it in order. Start with chapters 1 through 6 for the stories and the picture of faithful living in a foreign land. Then read chapters 7 through 12 slowly, asking what each vision says about God’s rule. Notice how often the book turns from empire to the everlasting kingdom.

Pray before you read. Ask God to give you understanding and to shape your heart, not just your curiosity. When a passage puzzles you, write down your question and keep reading; many parts of Daniel become clearer alongside the rest of Scripture.

Finally, read with other believers. A pastor or a mature Christian friend can help you weigh the interpretive questions and avoid the many speculative charts that grow up around this book. Daniel was written to steady God’s people, not to fuel guesswork. Let it do that for you.

Common questions

Did Daniel write the whole book that bears his name?

The book presents Daniel as its author. Chapters 7 through 12 are written in his own voice as he records his visions, and chapters 1 through 6 tell his story in the third person. That mix of first-person and third-person writing is common in the Old Testament, as in Nehemiah.

Did Jesus say Daniel wrote the book?

Yes. In Matthew 24:15 Jesus refers to the abomination of desolation and names Daniel as the prophet who described it, and He uses Daniel’s Son of Man language of Himself. That is strong testimony from the Lord Himself about the book’s prophetic character.

When was the book of Daniel written?

The traditional view places it in the sixth century BC, during Daniel’s lifetime in Babylon and Persia, roughly 605 to 530 BC. Many modern scholars argue for a second-century date around 165 BC, but that view rests heavily on the assumption that detailed prophecy is impossible.

Why do some people say Daniel was written later?

The main reason is that the visions match later events so closely that critics conclude they must have been written after those events. Conservative readers answer that God can and does reveal the future, which is exactly what the book claims to do.