The possibility that Darius the Mede is to be identified with Cyrus the Persian king.



D. J. Wiseman, “Some Historical Problems in the Book of Daniel,”

D. J. Wiseman, ed.,

Notes on Some

Problems in the Book of Daniel

l. London: The Tyndale Press, 1965. pp. 9-18.

Some Historical Problems in the Book of Daniel

D. J. Wiseman

A. DARIUS THE MEDE

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3. The ‘Cyrus’ Theory.

In 1957 I put forward as a working hypothesis the possibility that Darius the Mede is to be identified with Cyrus the Persian king.

19 It may be helpful to review this theory in the light of criticism made of it by Dr. Whitcomb.

20 The basis of the hypothesis is that Daniel 6:28 can be translated ‘Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, even (namely, or i.e.) the reign of Cyrus the Persian.’ Such a use of the appositional or explicative Hebrew wa„w construction has long been recognized in Chronicles 5:26 (‘So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria even the spirit of Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria’) and elsewhere.

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See: http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/daniel_wiseman.pdf