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In Enuma Elish, Marduk prepares for battle against Tiamat while surrounded by fire and wind. Daniel uses similar imagery when describing the “Ancient of Days” seated for judgment, following this mythological pattern to show a shift of power in heaven.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Enuma Elish IV
The Seven Tablets of Creation
Ancient Near East, Babylonian
After the gods his fathers had decreed for the lord his fate, They caused him to set out on a path of prosperity and success. He made ready the bow, he chose his weapon, He set an arrow in place, put the bow string on. He raised the club, in his right hand he grasped (it), The bow and the quiver he hung at his side. He set the lightning in front of him, With burning flame he filled his body. He made a net to enclose the inward parts of Tiamat, The four winds he stationed so that nothing of her might escape; The South wind and the North wind and the East wind and the West wind He brought near to the net, the gift of his father Anu.
Date: 1800–1750 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Daniel 7:10
Hebrew Bible
9 “While I was watching, thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His attire was white like snow; the hair of his head was like lamb’s wool. His throne was ablaze with fire, and its wheels were all aflame. 10 A river of fire was streaming forth and proceeding from his presence. Many thousands were ministering to him; many tens of thousands stood ready to serve him. The court convened, and the books were opened. 11 “Then I kept on watching because of the arrogant words of the horn that was speaking. I was watching until the beast was killed and its body destroyed and thrown into the flaming fire.
Date: 200–101 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... A search of Mesopotamian texts proved more fruitful in the search for a forerunner to the mythic pattern of Daniel 7:2-14. It is my contention that Gunkel's thesis in 1895 of a correspondence between the Enuma Elish and Daniel has been undervalued. This is likely to have happened for two reasons: firstly, Gunkel's treatment does not refer in a sufficiently precise way to all the similarities and secondly, the discoveries at Ugarit drew scholarly attention away from the Enuma Elish ... Several aspects of the correspondence strongly suggest that the author of Daniel was aware of the Enuma Elish ..."
Anne E. Gardner, “Daniel 7,2–14: Another Look at Its Mythic Pattern,” Bib 82.2 (2001): 244–252.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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