Rereading Daniel 1 through the lens of trauma

Abstract

In this article, the author argued that the final literary form of the Book of Daniel, especially chapter one, reflects the cultural trauma during the reign of the Seleucid emperor Antiochus IV Epiphanes. After the Jewish community experienced Antiochus IV Epiphanes’s devastation of Jerusalem in 167 BCE, Jews must have been reminded of Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. Building upon Jan Assmann’s cultural memory and Jeffrey Alexander’s cultural trauma theory, the article will examine the features of Daniel 1 in the court tales. Behind the mask of King Nebuchadnezzar, the final editor of the Book of Daniel depicts King Antiochus IV Epiphanes’ propaganda for the Hellenisation of Judeans, which ultimately proved unsuccessful. The cultural memory of Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BCE was ultimately fulfilled by YHWH. For later audiences living during the oppressive reign of King Antiochus IV Epiphanes, Daniel 1 functions as a heuristic tool for survival.
Contribution: This article contributes to trauma-informed biblical interpretation by presenting Daniel 1 as a post-traumatic literary response to Antiochus IV’s persecution. It offers a new reading that situates the chapter within a framework of cultural memory and trauma theory, showing how the narrative supported Jewish identity and resistance during periods of imperial domination