What are the most significant arguments for an early date of
authorship of Daniel (6th century BC)? What are the primary
arguments for a late date (2nd century BC)? Arguments for a late
(2nd century BC) dating: Arguments for an early (6th century BC)
dating: Argument from Tradition To give a flavor of the debate
over loan words, here is an excerpt from Wikipedia: More on the
linguistics for an early date. It is more proper to say that
Hebrew had changed drastically by the 2nd century BC. Lingual
shifts had happened but it was still a living language. The most
obvious being the word order changed from verb-subject-object to
subject-verb-object. It is called Mishnaic Hebrew and the
rabbinic writings are full of it. Evidence for Hebrew as a
living language throughout the time of Jesus can be found in
Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus. Also, coins have
been found from the Hasmonean period (165 BC-37 BC) with Hebrew
writing on them. During the time of the Hasmoneans, a Hebrew
renaissance was in full swing