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.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2002 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Levy, S. (2002). Sacred Spaces in the Book of Daniel. In: Berger, S., Brocke, M., Zwiep, I. (eds) Zutot 2001. Zutot: Perspectives on Jewish Culture, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-3730-2_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-3730-2_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-017-3732-6
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-3730-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive