Somewhere between the late 4th to the 3rd century BCE apocalyptic thought developed in Israel (as in many other places, too). Only the later half of the book of Daniel made it into the canon; the other works remained outside the canon. Despite a certain connection to ancient biblical wisdom literature (as argued by some) the dependence on biblical prophecy cannot be denied. The question then is, what caused the change in futuristic expectations, what are the differences etc.? We will start by reading some prophetic texts concerning the better future and then go on to examine apocalyptic texts from the second temple period.