He changes the times and the seasons; he removes kings, and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those who have understanding;
⛓ Read Daniel 2 forward — the whole chapter and its afterlife →Where this passage surfaces again, sorted by the strength of the link. Each kind of reuse — formal quotation, deliberate allusion, faint echo, figural pattern — carries its own mark. Follow any reference to read it in place.
Allusion4
A deliberate verbal borrowing without a citation formula.
Paul's axiom 'there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God' restates Daniel's hymn that God 'changes the times and the seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings.' Strong thematic and conceptual borrowing: the establishment and deposing of rulers is God's act, the theological ground for v.1.
High confidence'It isn't for you to know times or seasons (chronous e kairous) which the Father has set within his own authority' echoes Daniel's 'he changes times and seasons (kairous kai chronous)... he reveals deep and hidden things.' Volume: the paired words 'times and seasons' are a distinctive doublet shared with LXX Daniel. Thematic coherence: high; both texts locate the calendar of the kingdom in God's sovereign reserve. Recurrence: 'times and seasons' as a fixed pair recurs in Jewish apocalyptic. Solid mid-level link.
Medium confidenceJesus' 'You would have no power at all against me, unless it were given to you from above' echoes Daniel's confession that God removes and sets up kings and gives authority. Coherent with John's theology of derived earthly power; medium volume.
Medium confidence'I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth' echoes Daniel's blessing of the God who 'gives wisdom to the wise' yet reveals hidden things — the same revelation-to-the-lowly, concealment-from-the-wise pattern.
Medium confidenceEcho3
A fainter, low-volume reuse, carried by recurrence or thematic coherence.
'A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven' (3:27) coheres with the sapiential/apocalyptic axiom that God gives and removes authority (cf. Dan 2:21,37); faint, conceptual.
Low confidenceDaniel's God who 'gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those who have understanding' offers a Second-Temple precedent for the have/have-not multiplication of 4:25. The connection is thematic and reinforces the chapter's Danielic coloring, but remains faint.
Low confidenceGod 'removes kings and sets up kings' and gives 'wisdom to the wise' — backdrop to the rise-and-fall sequence of kings and the call for the 'mind that has wisdom.' Faint, thematic. Theodotion Dan 2:21.
Low confidence