Sacred Spaces in the Book of Daniel

Abstract

Some books in the Old Testament are more dramatic than others, but the enigmatic Book of Daniel is certainly one of the most theatrical biblical scriptures.¹ The text is imbued with richly developed monologues and dialogues, and its theatricality lies, primarily, in the performative nature of the language and its messages. The theatricality can also be found in its ‘stage instructions,’ which relate to the organization of the dramatic space, to the rich and variegated decor of the plot, and to a number of stage-props. Daniel, written partly in Hebrew and partly in Aramaic, narrates the history of Daniel, a child abducted together with three other children from conquered Jerusalem to the court of the Babylonian king (chapters 1–6). There, with God’s help, Daniel is able to interpret the King’s dreams and he becomes a powerful figure at court. The second half of the text tells of Daniel’s apocalyptic visions (chapters 7–12), such as the vision of the four beasts, the vision of the ram and the goat, the visions with the man clothed in linen, and the vision with the archangel Michael.