Endorsements for Daniel

Daniel (Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary). By Sharon Pace. (Smyth & Helwys, 416 pp., $55.00)

Sharon Pace has produced an excellent commentary on Daniel—not an easy task given the many ways in which this book has often been misused and abused. Readers will appreciate her careful attention to historical-critical questions about the text, her use of illustrative materials from the ancient Near Eastern world, her examples drawn from the history of interpretation of Daniel, and especially her insightful theological comments about the text. This commentary provides a good model of how to combine solid, critical exegesis of the biblical text with thoughtful application of ideas drawn from that exegesis.

-- Mitchell G. Reddish
Professor and Chair, Religious Studies
Stetson University


Imagination! Dr. Pace’s thoughtful and enjoyable work on the stories of Daniel is honest historically but also useful religiously. A refreshing combination! By recognizing the faithful imaginative work of ancient Jewish storytellers and authors, Dr. Pace has written a work that will be welcomed by scholars, pastors, and laypersons alike.

-- James E. Bowley
Chair, Department of Religious Studies
Associate Professor of Religious Studies
Millsaps College


Dr. Pace penetrates the manifold complexities of the Book of Daniel, providing the Babylonian, Persian, Greek, and Jewish historical background required to interpret it, as well as encyclopedic illustration of its archaeological, artistic, literary, and religious perspectives. She proves to be an experienced and insightful guide, decoding the text’s miraculous stories and symbolic visions in an engagingly written exposition of its multi-layered message. Her commentary is ultimately a profound theological meditation on how, in a world historically filled with violence and suffering, we can seek hope.

--Professor Eugene Ulrich
Chief Editor, Qumran Biblical Scrolls
University of Notre Dame



This commentary tackles a number of knotty issues in a lucid manner, without focusing only on historical explanations of the text or lodging itself in the apocalyptic speculation so dear to some commentators today. For each chapter of Daniel she offers her understanding of the text, in conversation with a wealth of other commentators, both ancient and contemporary. The ‘sidebars’ for each page offer substantial and clear explication of many terms found in Daniel. These additions graphically present historical, cultural, and religious background of the text, matters often presumed in other commentaries. She finds a sense of perjuring strength in the struggle to envision a compassionate God, whose final gift to suffering people is a strong hope that the Divine One will ultimately transform the present experiences of exile for those who stand firm in trust. The most intriguing aspect of the commentary may be the section entitled “Connections”, which probes a wealth of Jewish and Christian responses to experiences of unexplained pain and suffering and places them in conversation with Daniel.

As a result, Sharon Pace persuasively depicts Daniel as a word of hope for people suffering loss, opposition or oppression. Her counter-texts come either from inner-biblical processes of interpretation or from the history of the struggle with unaccountable evil, among Jews or Christians. It is highly recommended for students and pastors, and will also enrich the interpretive possibilities for scholars and students of religion and the Bible.

--John C. Endres, S.J.
Professor of Sacred Scripture (Old Testament)
Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley and Graduate Theological Union


With a rare combination of theological sensitivity and exegetical insight, Sharon Pace has provided readers of Daniel with a thoroughly fresh perspective on this often enigmatic book. Drawing on years of study as well as the best of contemporary scholarship, she is able with lively prose and clear explanations to relate Daniel’s trials at the court of an oppressive foreign king, and his apocalyptic visions of the “end,” to the experience of all who in the midst of suffering or persecution put their hope in God. That effort, in turn, is enriched by Pace’s concern not only to understand the text of Daniel in its original historical context but also to engage the rich history of Jewish and Christian interpretation (including its literary and artistic representations)--a most welcome addition to the standard commentary format.

--Robert A. Di Vito
Department of Theology
Loyola University of Chicago


Sharon Pace is one of my favorite writers because of her special ability to employ just the right phrase at the right time. Thus, unlike many commentaries, this one is actually a joy to read! I found the “Connections” sections especially captivating as the author weaves her insights into the book of Daniel together with her observations about other biblical stories and with contemporary experience of life in an often hostile world.

--John Ragsdale
Assistant Professor of Religion
Kentucky Wesleyan College

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