Daniel

Three biblical men bear the name Daniel. The principal figure is the Jewish captive carried to Babylon and renamed Belteshazzar, whose career under successive kings, abstinence, wisdom, devoutness, and prophetic visions are the bulk of the material. Two briefer notices cover David's second son, also called Chileab, and a priest of the line of Ithamar who returned with Ezra and sealed Nehemiah's covenant.

A Jewish Captive, Also Called Belteshazzar

Daniel is introduced among the sons of Judah taken into Babylonian service: "Now among these were, of the sons of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah" (Dan 1:6). His Babylonian name is supplied later in Nebuchadnezzar's own narration — "Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods" (Dan 4:8). The king addresses him by that title when he submits his dream for interpretation: "O Belteshazzar, master of the sacred scholars, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and no secret troubles you, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and its interpretation" (Dan 4:9).

Educated at the King's Court

Daniel and his three colleagues are placed within the program of palace training that opens the book of Daniel (Dan 1).

Abstinence

At the head of his service in the court, Daniel sets a deliberate boundary against the royal table: "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king's dainties, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself" (Dan 1:8). The full negotiation with the steward and the ten-day trial follow (Dan 1:8-16). A comparable abstinence reappears during the vision sequence of chapter 10: "I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine into my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, until three whole weeks were fulfilled" (Dan 10:3).

Interpreter of Visions

Daniel's office is established by his interpretation of dreams in chapters 2, 4, and 5. The Aramaic narrative of chapter 2 records the moment the wise men of Babylon stood under sentence of death and Daniel intervened: "Then Daniel returned answer with counsel and prudence to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, who had gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon" (Dan 2:14). He then drew his colleagues into prayer for the secret: "Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his colleagues: that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his colleagues should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon" (Dan 2:17-18). The same office persists into Belshazzar's reign (Dan 5).

Wisdom

Nebuchadnezzar's testimony to "the spirit of the holy gods" in Daniel (Dan 4:8-9) is matched by an external witness: Ezekiel, addressing the king of Tyre, holds Daniel up as a proverb of insight — "look, you are wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that is hidden from you" (Eze 28:3). The narrative of chapter 1 grounds the comparison: at the close of the training program, God's gift of understanding is registered for the four young men, and Daniel in particular is given discernment of visions and dreams (Dan 1:17).

Devoutness

Daniel's piety is a thread that runs through every reign he serves under. With his colleagues he sought "mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret" (Dan 2:18). Under Darius, with the writing already signed against him, he kept his daily rule of prayer: "And when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house (now his windows were open in his chamber toward Jerusalem) and he knelt on his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did previously" (Dan 6:10). He fasts for three weeks before the vision of chapter 10 (Dan 10:3) and labors over the prayers and revelations of chapters 9, 10, and 12. Ezekiel pairs him with Noah and Job as a benchmark of righteousness: "though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, says the Sovereign Yahweh" (Eze 14:14); and again, "though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, says the Sovereign Yahweh, they should deliver neither son nor daughter; they should but deliver their own souls by their righteousness" (Eze 14:20).

Promotion and Executive Authority

Each interpretation episode is followed by a public office. After the dream of the great image, "the king made Daniel great, and gave him many great gifts, and made him to rule over the whole province of Babylon, and to be chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon. And Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel was in the gate of the king" (Dan 2:48-49). The queen mother, recalling that Nebuchadnezzar "made him master of the sacred scholars, psychics, Chaldeans, and astrologers" (Dan 5:11), recommends him to Belshazzar; after the writing on the wall is read, "Belshazzar commanded, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom" (Dan 5:29). Under Darius the same elevation continues: he is named "over them three presidents, of whom Daniel was one; that these satraps might give account to them, and that the king should have no damage" (Dan 6:2).

Worshiped by Nebuchadnezzar

After Daniel reports and interprets the dream of the great image, Nebuchadnezzar's response is unguarded: "Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, and worshiped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odors to him" (Dan 2:46).

Courage and Fidelity

Daniel speaks plainly to power. To Nebuchadnezzar he urges, "break off your sins by righteousness" (the counsel of Dan 4:27). Before Belshazzar he refuses the king's gifts and reads the writing without softening: "Let your gifts be to yourself, and give your rewards to another; nevertheless I will read the writing to the king, and make known to him the interpretation" (Dan 5:17). The indictment that follows is direct — "you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, but have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven... and the God in whose hand is your breath, and are all your ways, you have not glorified" (Dan 5:22-23). Under Darius the same fidelity is registered by his enemies themselves: "the presidents and the satraps sought to find occasion against Daniel as concerning the kingdom; but they could find no occasion nor fault, since he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him" (Dan 6:4).

The Conspiracy and the Lions' Den

The full episode is narrated in Dan 6. The hinge is the prayer at the open window after the writing is signed (Dan 6:10), continuing the routine that had marked his life under earlier kings. The deliverance is summarized in his own greeting from the den at dawn: "Then said Daniel to the king, O king, live forever" (Dan 6:21). The narrative arc — knowing the decree, kneeling toward Jerusalem, being brought up from the den unharmed — is the substance of Dan 6:10-23. A later writer, recalling the patriarchs and prophets, gathers the deliverance into a single line: "Daniel in his innocency Was delivered out of the mouth of the lions" (1Ma 2:60).

Prophecies

Daniel's prophetic activity stretches from chapter 4 through the close of the book. Nebuchadnezzar's submission of his dream is at Dan 4:8-9; the night vision of the four beasts and the Ancient of Days is at Dan 7. In that vision, "I looked until thrones were placed, and one who was ancient of days sat: his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, [and] its wheels burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousands of thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened" (Dan 7:9-10). The fate of the beasts follows: "I looked at that time because of the voice of the great words which the horn spoke; I looked even until the beast was slain, and its body destroyed, and it was given to be burned with fire. And as for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time" (Dan 7:11-12). The vision of the ram and the male goat occupies Dan 8. The prayer-and-revelation of the seventy weeks is set against Daniel's reading of Jeremiah: "in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years of which the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the prophet, for the accomplishing of the desolations of Jerusalem, even seventy years" (Dan 9:2). The long vision-sequence of chapters 10-12 opens with the appearance by the river: "I lifted up my eyes, and looked and saw a man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with pure gold of Uphaz: his body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as flaming torches, and his arms and his feet like burnished bronze, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude" (Dan 10:5-6). Daniel's reaction registers the cost of the vision: "For how can the slave of this my lord talk with this my lord? For as for me, immediately there remained no strength in me, neither was there breath left in me" (Dan 10:17). The book closes with the charge to seal the words: "But you, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many will run to and fro, and the knowledge will be increased" (Dan 12:4). Daniel is cited by name in the Olivet Discourse (Mt 24:15).

David's Son Daniel, Also Called Chileab

A second Daniel appears in the genealogy of David's sons born at Hebron. The Chronicler lists him as the second-born: "Now these were the sons of David, who were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn, Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; the second, Daniel, of Abigail the Carmelitess" (1Ch 3:1). The parallel notice in 2 Samuel names him Chileab: "and his second, Chileab, of Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur" (2Sa 3:3).

A Descendant of Ithamar, Companion of Ezra

A third Daniel is one of the priestly heads who returned with Ezra: "Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattush" (Ezr 8:2). He is again named among those who sealed the covenant under Nehemiah: "Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch" (Ne 10:6).