[2] After time spent studying and teaching in Oxford, St Andrews and Germany,[2] he rejoined the university in 1935 when he was appointed to the Chair of Old Testament Language, Literature and Theology.
Norman Porteous was one of the panel of translators of the New English Bible[2] and latterly Dean of the University of Edinburgh, where he was also Senior Professor Emeritus;[2] he may also have been its oldest graduate.
According to this theory the anonymous author attributed events that were witnessed by this writer in the 2nd century BCE to Daniel as prophecies.
[6] Since the writer's incomplete and erroneous view of historical details in the second half of the sixth century support the theory of a late date of writing.
[6] Porteous and Roche agree that the book is composed of folktales used to fortify the Jewish faith during a time of persecution and oppression by the Hellenized Seleucids four centuries after the Babylonian captivity.