Texts in Conversation
Daniel describes the wise shining like stars, a description of the permanence of their resurrection based on the ancient Near Eastern tradition of melammu. Philippians echoes this language, urging believers to shine in the world like lights in the sky.
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Daniel 12:3
Hebrew Bible
1 “At that time Michael, the great prince who watches over your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress unlike any other from the nation’s beginning up to that time. But at that time your own people, all those whose names are found written in the book, will escape. 2 Many of those who sleep in the dusty ground will awake—some to everlasting life, and others to shame and everlasting abhorrence. 3 But the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavenly expanse. And those bringing many to righteousness will be like the stars forever and ever. 4 “But you, Daniel, close up these words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will dash about, and knowledge will increase.”
Date: 2nd Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Philippians 2:15
New Testament
12 So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence, 13 for the one bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort—for the sake of his good pleasure—is God. 14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without blemish though you live in a crooked and perverse society, in which you shine as lights in the world 16 by holding on to the word of life so that on the day of Christ I will have a reason to boast: that I did not run in vain nor labor in vain. 17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice together with all of you. 18 And in the same way you also should be glad and rejoice together with me.
Date: 56-63 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Notes and References
"... Matthew 13:36–43 refers to the fate of destruction for the sons of the evil one (Matt 13:42, but also Matt 13:50) in language of Daniel 3:6 and to the fate of the righteous (Matt 13:43) in that of Daniel 12:3. A parallel to the allusion to Daniel 12:3 in Philippians 2:15 may indicate that this is not an isolated apocalyptic interest of Matthew among emerging Christianity, even though this evangelist stands out among the Synoptic Gospels in accentuating these traditions ..."
Hogeterp, Albert L.
Expectations of the End: A Comparative Study of Eschatological, Apocalyptic, and Messianic Ideas in the Dead Sea Scrolls and New Testament
(p. 125) Brill, 2009
* 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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