David_Jay, thanks for your illuminating posts. I have a few criticisms though:
The first verse is a narrative device commonly employed in Semitic literature to tell the reader the stories are not meant to be read as historical. The opening verse states that Babylonian monarch Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem "in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, King of Judah." (1.1) However the siege of Jerusalem occurred after the death of Jehoiakim, a death which occurred likely after his own individual capture by the Babylonians prior to their invasion. It is common in the Hebrew Scriptures for authors to take poetic liberties (much like movie makers today) when merely using history as a generic setting.
Above verses are written in a condensed format. Actually there were three sieges and five deportations during their seventy year servitude. Daniel and his companions were deported during the third/fourth year of Jehoiakim, i.e., 605 BCE (Dan. 1:1; cf. 2 Kings 24:1, 2; Jer. 25:11; 46:2; 2 Chron. 36:23). This deportation would be followed by four major deportations (2 Kings 24:10-16; Jer. 52:28-30). This agrees with the Babylonian Chronicle.
The Book of Daniel contains no oracles to Israel or Judah. For a book to be considered a valid prophetic message inspired by God it must contain oracles or pronouncements from YHWH to his people. The phrase in most English Bibles in the Prophets is: "Thus sayeth the LORD." The phrase in Hebrew is actually, "Oracle of the LORD." The book of Daniel has no such phrase and none of its visions or "prophecies" are for Israel or Judah. They are all addressed to non-Jews and Gentile nations.
This must be a modern Jewish development, but whether this has always been the case, remains to be seen. E.g., 1) Dan. 9:24-27 is directed at God’s people and Jerusalem, and 2) the book of Nahum, although one of the prophets, contains an oracle against Nineveh.
The Septuagint is not regarded by Jews as a valid representation of Scripture.
Remember, originally the Septuagint was translated by Alexandrian Jews for Alexandrian Jews. Only later, in the first century, were the book replaced by Greek translations that closely followed the MT of today, eg., Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion.
The idea that Daniel was a prophet is incompatible with our history for, as noted in my previous post, the historical Daniel is supposed have died many years before the Babylonians invaded. (Ezekiel 14.14, 20; 28.3)
Although Daniel is here included with Job and Noah, this does not mean that Daniel lived in their day. He was a contemporary of Ezekiel who had great respect for him.
There was no "shift" of the book of Daniel to the Writings section around the 5th - 8th century C.E. "as confirmed by Koch" as there has never been formal codification of the books that follow the Hamesh Megillot. These "last books" following Megillot are Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles.
The
current classification comes from the Masoretes (ca. 8-10th century CE). In the
day of Jesus and Josephus, the scripture classification was the Law, the Psalms
and the Prophets (cf. Luke 24:44).
Also, the Qumran texts represent collections of Hebrew texts preserved by a Jewish sect that existed on the outskirts of Judaism.
Some view the Qumran library to have been collected by the inhabitants of Qumran. Some MSS were added by them, but with the bulk of it would come from Jerusalem, especially the rolls containing Scripture.
