*4.3. Daniel and Maccabees*

Against the background of a shared history of persecution by the Seleucids, especially by Antiochus IV Epiphanes and his desacralization of the Jerusalem temple, the books of Daniel and the Maccabees offer different answers for survival and resistance. They cover in their central sayings roughly the same period of the second century BCE, but they differ in their vision on the role of human action.

For the book of Daniel, two points are crucial, as Tonstad has demonstrated (Tonstad 2016, p. 142). The first is the famous dream of Nebuchadnezzar, which envisages a statue with images of parts of the human body and a series of metals representing the diminishing power and value of the four empires of Babylonia, Media, Persia, and Greece:

"The head of that statue was of fine gold (Babylonia), its chest and arms of silver (Media), its middle and thighs of bronze (Persia), its legs of iron (Greece [Alexander]), its feet partly of iron and partly of clay (Ptolemies and Seleucids)" (Dan 2:32–33).

The last and weakest part of the statue will be crushed by a stone "cut out *not by human hands*" (Dan 2:34.45). The dream interpreter Daniel spans ages and imperial powers with a vision of hope for the threatened present of the Seleucid persecutions. It is a dream interpretation of cultural and religious resistance. The deliverance from imperial power will *not* be by human hands; it will come without human agency. An everlasting kingdom will appear, for "the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed" (Dan 2:44). This probably refers to a direct manifestation of divine ruling (Koch 2015, pp. 213–23).

The second point focusses on a heavenly scene and introduces Michael, the guardian angel of Israel, who helps the heavenly messenger, Gabriel. The divine answer to Daniel's prayers and mourning was delayed, according to the text, because Gabriel was opposed by the national angel of Persia.50 Admittedly, Daniel's search for understanding the future fate of Israel and his prayers were heard immediately by God:

"but the angel of the kingdom of Persia opposed me (Gabriel) twenty-one days. So Michael, one of the chief-princes came to help me and I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of Persia". (Dan 10:13)

After delivering his message, Gabriel has to return "to fight against the prince of Persia" (Dan 10:21a).<sup>51</sup> In this vision, the wars are transcended to heaven. The scenes in heaven mirror the earthly circumstances and national parties. Therefore, both Israel and Persia have their own guardian angel. However, one thing is clear for the "wise" (*ma´skîlîm*)*,* the hands and heads behind the book of Daniel. The real battle, the course of history towards the end of time, will be decided in heaven. No battle on earth will be decisive. This important premise allows a detailed report in disguise of the events from Alexander the Great till Antiochus IV Epiphanes (Dan 11:3–40 in combination with foresayings of the end of time. Thus, Michael, "the great prince, the protector of your (Daniel's) people", returns in the final chapter of the book as the deliverer of Israel (Dan 12:1). Resurrection of the dead, final judgement, afterlife, will occur when the time of the end has come. Of course, the crucial question follows " *ad matay ¯* "how long", will it take till this end, this delivery will come? (Dan 12:6).

Both examples, the pulverization of the imperial power by a stone "not made by human hands" in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, and the battle between the angels of nations

claiming that the course of history will be decided in heaven, not by armed resistance on earth, contradict the Maccabean solution of the violent revolt.

#### *4.4. The Role of Apocalypses*

Though there is violence in the rhetoric of the Daniel apocalypses, moving the vindication of war to the heavenly domain means that violent *human* action is not the decisive factor. With the help of the analyses of Anathea Portier, it is possible to widen this aspect. She argued that the first Jewish apocalypses emerged as resistant counter-discourse: not a flight from reality into fantasy, but a literature of resistance to an empire, which realized its power not only through force and physical violence but also through propaganda and ideology.52 Within this sphere, the Daniel apocalypses contradicted the Seleucids' claims through their ideological propaganda:

"they answered terror with radical visions of hope.... a new visionary form that reconnected past, present, and future in a narrative governed by divine providence. In these ways apocalypse intervened in the logic of terror and so countered the empire's deadliest weapon". (Portier-Young 2011, pp. xxii–xxiii, 175)

With this definition of the exercise of power, apocalypses are resistance literature indeed (Portier-Young 2016, pp. 104–9).

However, this does not mean that apocalypse as a genre in general took the position of Daniel. The allegory of the Animal Apocalypse in 1 Enoch sides with Judas Maccabeus and his revolt. In this dream vision the flock of sheep (Jews) is attacked by birds of prey, the raven representing the Seleucids. Finally "a large horn (Judas Maccabeus) sprouted on one of the lambs" (1 Enoch 90:9) ... . "And those ravens battled and contended with it, and they wanted to eliminate its horn, but they did not prevail against it" (1 Enoch 90:12; Olson 2013, pp. 208–14). The passage tells the early military successes of the Maccabean revolt, the failure of the Seleucid armies, and is apparently unaware of Judas' death in the battle of Elasa (160 BCE). Therefore, the passage may be dated before 160 BCE. The allegory of the Animal Apocalypse serves as propaganda for the Maccabean revolt and its armed resistance, because it is followed by the eschatological final battle in which all the beasts and birds of prey will be destroyed53 (Olsen 2013, pp. 90–99). Judas and his battles are the last important step for the eschaton with a final battle, a last judgement and a new Jerusalem, a new temple where God will reside (1 Enoch 90:20–36).54
