Daniel
- Biblical Studies & Commentaries
- Publisher: Baker Academic (Baker Publishing Group)
- Published: 2026
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Publisher's Description
Explore the contemporary significance of the Old Testament and hear the Word of God afreshHighly regarded Old Testament scholar Stephen Cook offers a substantive and useful commentary on the book of Daniel and explores the contemporary significance of this prophetic book. This groundbreaking commentary departs from common rationalist approaches in order to engage Daniel's visionary content on its own terms, introducing innovative interpretive frameworks that emphasize the cosmic scope of this biblical book and its revelations of heavenly reality. Integrating insights from fields such as analytical psychology, comparative literature, and cosmology, Cook's approach allows the disorienting imagery of Daniel to resonate fully, offering readers fresh insights into its apocalyptic dreams and transcendent symbolism. Cook also addresses the political and theological implications of apocalyptic literature in modern spiritual and geopolitical contexts. In addition to paragraph-level commentary, all volumes of the Baker Commentary on the Old Testament series feature:● A fresh translation of the Hebrew text● Incisive comments based on the author's translation● Linguistic, historical, and canonical insights● Concluding reflections● Footnotes addressing technical mattersPastors, teachers, and all serious students of the Bible will find here an accessible commentary that will serve as an excellent resource for their study. This volume, like each in the Baker Commentary on the Old Testament series, is grounded in rigorous scholarship but is useful for those who preach and teach. Daniel is the third volume on the prophetic books, following Hosea-Micah by John Goldingay and Isaiah by J. Gordon McConville. Series editors are Mark J. Boda, McMaster Divinity College, and J. Gordon McConville, University of Gloucestershire.
Endorsements (6)
“What would it mean to take an apocalyptic text in full seriousness, to judge its visions on its own terms? Stephen Cook's commentary on Daniel does just this. The dreams and visions of this prophet are not translated to another medium, not explained or explained away, not reduced to another domain, but rather interpreted as incursions of the wisdom of God into the struggles of the earth. Here the reader meets Bulgakov, Moltmann, and Barth; Schopenhauer, Kant, and Heidegger; visual artists of many schools; Blake and Donne and Milton; depth psychology and quantum mechanics; doctrines of free will, of evil and restoration, of providence and covenant, and of messianic prophecy. A stirring translation is accompanied by a full critical apparatus and commentary—a true theological exegesis and one that, at last, allows the heavenly vision to speak in its own tongue!”
“The inspiring narratives and perplexing visions of the book of Daniel have long challenged interpreters. Cook eschews both critical historicist and fanciful literalistic interpretations to argue that the book reveals the deep yet transcendent dimensions of reality. This is apocalyptic wisdom designed to reorient one's view of life and the world and point to the ultimate purposes of God. An innovative multidisciplinary approach to a mystifying, ever-relevant divine word for God's people.”
“Stephen Cook ranges more widely than most Daniel commentators and valuably sheds light on the distinctive dynamics of this challenging biblical book. In particular, he takes seriously the spiritual dimensions of reality. This is a fresh reading of Daniel as Christian Scripture.”
“Daniel invites us into a transcendental, unseen, and inaccessible world. Stephen Cook recognizes that this apocalyptic vision cannot be fully understood through historical-critical or grammatical methods alone. So Cook incorporates insights from analytic psychology, quantum mechanics, and more to vividly and powerfully reveal the richness of Daniel's divinely given revelation. Every reader of this commentary will gain from Cook's thoughtful and innovative exposition.”
“This latest BCOT volume is a welcome contribution by an authoritative exegete with the needed depth of experience in interpreting apocalyptic texts for today's readers. Cook adeptly uses cross-disciplinary tools to clarify Daniel's message. The author is resolute in his determination to allow this book to have a voice that transcends modernist and deistic attempts to domesticate its message. And he has succeeded admirably. All readers will appreciate his approach to Daniel, and we are very much in his debt for this exceptional commentary.”
“Stephen Cook invites us to travel back into the world of Daniel. It is not a world to be translated into another domesticating idiom, in which images and personalities are constrained by historicism and positivism as indispensable interpretive registers. Cook knows where the canon of modern exegetical work is useful and where it is over-determining. The literature of theologically grounded enchantment comes alongside as a useful guide but never dictates what Daniel the wise prophet asks us to see. The result is a creative re-encounter with this rich book of wisdom into God's purposes from on high.”
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