Daniel is a book in two parts. The first is a seventy-year history of the life and work of the prophet Daniel while he lived in Babylon (the first phase of God’s New Empire). The second part is a 70x7-year prophecy of the life of Daniel’s people while they lived in God’s New Empire after Babylon.
The Handwriting on the Wall includes 24 chapters and 11 appendixes, explaining the historical context of Daniel’s life and prophecies, what those prophecies meant to the first generation who heard them, and what they continue to mean. This commentary emphasizes that Daniel spoke and wrote for those of his own day—first for those still living in Jerusalem who were supposed to submit to God’s New Empire, and then to those living in exile and looking to the future.
Unlike “liberal” commentaries, The Handwriting on the Wall takes seriously the claim that Daniel and his contemporaries put this book together. In this respect, this commentary stands within the mainstream of all Jewish and Christian commentaries. But unlike most “conservative” commentaries, the author, James B. Jordan, refuses to jump the prophecies off until the end of time, but takes seriously what they meant for those who heard them. Like any scholarly commentary, however, The Handwriting on the Wall is based on careful treatment of the grammar of the Hebrew and Aramaic text, and reflects a thoroughgoing familiarity with scholarly treatments of Daniel, “liberal” and “conservative,” up to the present day.
The Handwriting on the Wall is written in a reader-friendly style, designed for layman, pastor, and scholar alike. Jordan successfully takes the reader both into the amazing stylistic features of the text and into the amazing adventures of the protagonists.
The Handwriting on the Wall takes a Covenant Historical Approach to interpreting the imagery of God’s prophecies revealed to Daniel. The prophecies of Daniel deal with the events in the Covenantal Era that were dawning in Daniel’s lifetime: the Restoration Era after the exile, and the return of God’s people back to the land, city, and temple. There are no “historical parentheses” or “gaps”, no leaps of thousands of years into the future. The book of Daniel is not concerned about predicting the course of European church history after the Apostolic Age and into our time. This book is not only a commentary on Daniel, but an education in how to read and study the texts of the word of God.
Since The Handwriting on the Wall is fully integrated with Logos, Scripture passages are linked to your favorite translation for quick reference and to your Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts for original-language study! You can also read this volume along with your Bible dictionaries, encyclopedias, and the wealth of other Bible study tools in your digital library.