Best Commentaries on Daniel

Longman flags Davis’s commentaries as must-reads. He writes, “Even on those interpretive points where I might disagree with him, I enjoy reading Davis. Pastors should certainly not skip this volume.”

Duguid’s commentary on Daniel is an outstanding reference written from a classically Reformed background. Mathison says it “should be of use to both pastors and general readers.”

Hill is an evangelical scholar committed to divine inspiration and full authority of the Bible. This comes out clearly in his writing. As Longman explains, “Hill writes with sensitivity to the theological message of the book. He supports the traditional view that the first-person apocalyptic vision reports of Daniel in chapters 7–12 go back to the sixth-century prophet.” With transliterations and translations of Hebrew words, this resource enables Bible teachers and students to understand even the more technical notes.

Longman explores the original meaning and contemporary significance of this interesting, yet often-enigmatic, biblical book. He explains his move from the ancient text to our modern situation: “Daniel becomes, in the first six chapters, a study of how a person of faith not only copes but even thrives in a hostile cultural setting. In the last half of the book, it raises the question of how we are to understand the apocalyptic sections of Scripture that describe the end of history. The theme of the whole book is that in spite of present difficult circumstances, God is in control and will defeat the forces of evil and oppression.”

A technical resource for scholars. Collins begins his discussion of Daniel with a survey of the book’s anomalies and an examination of the bearing of form criticism on those anomalies. He explores the book’s place in the canon and the problems with its coherence and bilingualism. Collins also provides a section-by-section commentary with a verse-by-verse structural analysis of each section. Longman says, “A very competent form-critical analysis and summary of discussion of Daniel.”

Building on his work in the Forms series, Collins provides one of the most thorough scholarly treatments of Daniel. Longman notes that despite Collins’ critical leanings, “evangelicals can learn much from this volume. . . The lengthy and extremely informative introduction includes an essay by A. Y. Collins, ‘The Influence of Daniel on the New Testament.’” This essay especially may interest readers.

Goldingay uncovers the mysteries of Daniel, illuminating Daniel’s historical setting and using it to explain the book’s prophecies. His comprehensive work analyzes the composition of the book, demonstrating an amazing grasp of the secondary literature. He also provides a fresh translation. Though readers “will be put off by some of his radical (at least for an evangelical) conclusions, most notable of which are that the stories in chapters 1– 6 are fictitious and the visions are quasi-prophecies,” Longman contends “it would be a major mistake to ignore this important commentary.”