Who was Daniel?
He was a Jewish
statesman and seer in the Babylonian court whose career is recounted in the
book of Daniel.
Daniel’s
early life is cloaked in silence. Nothing is known of his parents or family,
though he was probably descended from Jewish nobility (Dn 1:3). If born during
the time of King Josiah’s reforms (c. 621 bc), Daniel would have been about 16
when he and his three friends—Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah—were deported from
Jerusalem to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. They may have been hostages to
assure the cooperation of the royal family in Judah.
Daniel,
renamed Belteshazzar (meaning “may Bel [god] protect his life”), was trained
for court service. He quickly established a reputation for intelligence and for
absolute fidelity to his God. After three years of instruction, he began a
court career that lasted nearly 70 years (Dn 1:21). Daniel had hardly finished
his training when he was called on to interpret one of Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams,
in which a great image collapsed and disintegrated when struck by a stone. God
revealed its meaning to Daniel, who explained it to the king. In gratitude
Nebuchadnezzar offered him the post of governor of Babylonia.
***This
is an expert from the Tyndale Bible dictionary (p. 348). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale
House Publishers. Elwell, W. A., & Comfort, P. W. (2001).
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