Reimagining Exile in Daniel

The widely accepted view of exile in the Book of Daniel is that it was an ongoing reality which went beyond the initial return of the Babylonian golah (based on Dan. 9). James Seung-Hyun Lee's study, however, reaches deeper to tread the insufficiently explored territory of how the book reconceptualizes exile and how this informs the self-identity of the Danielic group, the final editors of the book. Proposing that for the Danielic group, exile is a place of privilege and a locus of God's revelation and presence, the author shows how this creates a middle space for them that provides a unique historical perspective that both embraces and critiques Babylon and Jerusalem. By identifying themselves with those remaining in exile, the Danielic group claims the legitimacy of their prophetic identity and teaching during the Antiochene persecution.