Jeffro
The story about Nebuchadnezzar going mad borrows elements from a Babylonian story of Nabonidus. But the reference to ‘seven times’ is likely also a reference to the ‘seven sabbaths’ (49 years) from Jerusalem’s destruction in 587 BCE until the Jews returned in 538 BCE. In the context of Daniel’s main theme, that period of Jewish oppression and restoration is analogous to the ban of Jewish worship in 168 BCE until its restoration in 165 BCE.
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If Neb's madness was not an actual event being simply a story then why was such a myth placed into a historical period pertaining to Jewish oppression?
What then is the book of Daniel's main theme?
If Daniel was not a prophet and Daniel was simply a historical account of Jewish oppression of the 2nd century then why did Jesus refer to Daniel as a prophet and make reference to a future fulfilment as prophecy pertaining to Jerusalem?
scholar JW