OUTSIDE TESTIMONY IN FAVOR OF DANIEL

25. (a) How did Josephus attest to the genuineness of Daniel’s account? (b) In what way does Josephus’ account regarding Alexander the Great and the book of Daniel fit in with known history? (See second footnote.) (c) How does linguistic evidence support the book of Daniel? (See page 26.)

²⁵ Let us move again to the positive. It has been suggested that no other book of the Hebrew Scriptures is as well attested to as Daniel. To illustrate: The famous Jewish historian Josephus attests to its authenticity. He says that Alexander the Great, during his war against Persia in the fourth century B.C.E., came to Jerusalem, where the priests showed him a copy of the book of Daniel. Alexander himself concluded that the words of Daniel’s prophecy that were pointed out to him referred to his own military campaign involving Persia.e This would have been about a century and a half before the “forgery” as proposed by critics. Of course, critics have assailed Josephus concerning this passage. They also assail him for noting that some prophecies in the book of Daniel were fulfilled. Yet, as historian Joseph D. Wilson remarked, “[Josephus] probably knew more of the matter than all the critics in the world.”