Reading Daniel as a Text in Theological Hermeneutics

Aaron B. Hebbard is Associate Professor of Theology and the Arts at Community Christian College in Southern California. He earned his PhD in literature, theology, and the arts at the University of Glasgow.

• AcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsIntroduction1. A Hermeneutic Reading of DanielThe Historical Continuum of the Danielic CommunityPurpose of DanielDanielic Hermeneutics2. Narration in DanielThe “Tell” of Three NarratorsConclusion3. The Introduction to Danielic HermeneuticsSetting the Sense of ReadingDaniel 1: Introduction to the Narrative4. The Undergraduate Courses – Danielic Hermeneutics in TheoryDaniel 2: Disclosing Dream and IdentityDaniel 3: The Exit Exam for the Unbending BoysDaniel 4: Nebuchadnezzar’s Conversion to YahwismDaniel 5: Belshazzar, the Lightweight InterpreterDaniel 6: The Rise, Fall, and Rise of Daniel5. The Graduate Courses – Danielic Hermeneutics in PraxisDaniel 7: The Court of Heaven Casts JudgmentDaniel 8: Vision, Interpretation, UnderstandingDaniel 9: Daniel’s Seventy and Gabriel’s Seventy-SevensDaniel 10: Another Angelic EncounterDaniel 11: Revelation of DetailsDaniel 12: Danielism – Survival of the Wisest6. The Reader as HermeneutReader as CharacterReader as TextReader as HermeneutBibliography

Sometimes, one encounters a book that feels just a bit 'different'; this volume by Aaron B. Hebbard would seem to be one such example. ... First, it avowedly reads the text/book of Daniel (what he terms 'Daniel') as a textbook in hermeneutics, outlining strategies for interpretation and exposing the (contemporary) reader to the challenges and issues of theological hermeneutics. Second, it avers that Daniel the character (i.e. 'Daniel') is a theological hermeneut par excellence, a skilled and trustworthy practitioner in the art of hermeneutics and interpretation, who is both mentor/teacher to other characters in the text (notably Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) and exemplar to the contemporary reader seeking to harness their skills in such areas. ... [The book's] primary interest is the contemporary reader, and thus takes seriously the narrative effect of Daniel and notably the surprising features, or oddities of the narratives; there is interesting discussion - one might say justification of Daniel's absence from Chapter 3, and it finds fruitful grounds for placing Nebuchadnezzar's doxology at the beginning of Dan 4 rather at the close of Dan 3. It is informed, without being technical (there is only one minimal reference to Hebrew/Aramaic), and would be of value to undergraduates, seminary students or theologically aware lay readers.'