15/08/21
– Daniel 1:1-4 – Outline of Daniel’s background.
Some
introductory information:
“Daniel”
means “God is my Judge” from Dan (a judge) and ‘el (God).
A background on the Dan part of Daniel’s name:
(noting that Daniel also has God’s name – El – attached, and that Daniel was of
Judah and not Dan)
Some background on Dan (judge), one of the sons of
Jacob.
1/. the 5th son of Jacob, the 1st of Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid
2/. the tribe descended from Dan, the son of Jacob
3/. a city in Dan, the most northern landmark of Palestine
The name Dan is first used in the OT as early as Genesis 14:14, although it is
likely that this mention of Dan is an anachronism, as the birth of Dan, son of
Jacob, wasn’t noted until Genesis 30:6.
Genesis 14:14 – And
when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained [servants],
born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued [them] unto
Dan.
It was probably recorded as “Dan” even though it didn’t officially exist
then because much of the biblical record is likely to have been by verbal
tradition until it was written by Moses (a long time after Dan was born!) as
dictated by God as per
2 Peter 1:20-21 – 20Knowing
this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.21For
the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake [as they were] moved by the Holy Ghost.
The city of Dan was originally named Laish.
Judges 18:28-29 – 28And [there
was] no deliverer, because it [was] far from Zidon, and they had no
business with [any] man; and it was in the valley that [lieth] by
Beth–rehob. And they built a city, and dwelt therein.
29And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan
their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city [was] Laish
at the first.
Some of Daniel (2:4 to 7:28) is written
in Aramaic with the rest in Hebrew.
Daniel 1:1-3 – 1In the third
year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. 2And the Lord
gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the
house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god;
and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god. 3And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he
should bring [certain] of the children of Israel, and of the king’s
seed, and of the princes;
Babylon
(Vs 1) – Babel
(Babel or Babylon, the ancient site and/or capital of
Babylonia (modern Hillah) situated on the Euphrates)
This word is first used in Genesis 10:10 (“Babel”
as the beginning of Nimrod’s kingdom) and again in Genesis 11:9
(“Babel” as the site of the city and tower of Babel on a plain in the land of
Shinar).
Genesis 11:7-9 – 7Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that
they may not understand one another’s speech. 8So the Lord scattered
them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to
build the city. 9Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because
the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did
the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
In 257
times out of 262 occurrences in the OT it is translated “Babylon”.
Shinar (Vs
2) – Shin‘ar (“country of two rivers”; the
ancient name for the territory later known as Babylonia or Chaldea)
First mentioned in Genesis 10:10 as the site of Nimrod’s city of Babel. Translated “Babylonish” in Joshua 7:21.
spake (Vs 3) – ‘amar (to say, to answer, to say in one’s
heart, to think, to command, to promise, to intend) Here it would be
a command, as one in authority to one who serves.
the
master (Vs 3) – rab –
noun (captain; chief)
As an adjective, rab means much, many, great.
The idea would be that this person had authority over many. The word “rabbi” (a
title used by the Jews to address their teachers) is derived from this word.
eunuchs – cariyc
(officials; eunuchs)
the master of his eunuchs
– rab cariyc
(Rabsaris – see Jeremiah 39:3, 39) It is clear that this Rabsaris (Ashpenaz) was tasked with selecting suitable
youths such as Daniel and his three companions for service in Babylon.
the children (Vs 3)
– ben (son; grandson; child)
Therefore, literally the sons of Israel.
seed Vs 3 – offspring
the princes – partam
(noble; nobleman) Of Persian origin. Used 3
times in the OT; the other two are in Esther (1:3 – “the nobles” & 6:9 –
“noble”)
Daniel
was taken into captivity (with Israel) to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. From Daniel 1:1 it seems that Daniel was taken captive to Babylon in the
3rd year of King Jehoiakim (who reigned 609-598 BC) which would have
been in 605 BC. In 605 BC, after the battle of Carchemish with Egypt, history
tells us that Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem, causing King Jehoiakim to
pay tribute to Nebuchadnezzar. Four years later Jehoiakim stopped paying
tribute and in 598 BC Nebuchadnezzar again laid siege to Jerusalem. Jehoiakim
was killed during the siege. His son, Jeconiah, who became king in his place
during the siege, was deported to Babylon (in 597 BC), along with his court
(officials and nobles) plus many others. This was the first official deportation
of Judah to Babylon, with most of the remaining people being deported in
587/586 BC, when Jerusalem was defeated, the wall broken down and the temple
destroyed. Nebuchadnezzar placed King Zedekiah on the throne in 597 BC
(replacing Jeconiah whom he took captive to Babylon). Zedekiah ruled as
Nebuchadnezzar’s puppet-king until his deportation after the siege of Jerusalem
in 587 or 586 BC when the temple and wall were destroyed, and the population of
Judah in general taken captive to Babylon.
If
Daniel were deported to Babylon in the 3rd year of Jehoiakim (thus
605 BC after the siege of Jerusalem), then this deportation wasn’t officially recorded
in history.
Daniel 1:1 does seem to very clearly
state that Daniel was taken captive in around 605 BC. Yet, because the first
official deportation in history was noted as being in 597 BC, many have assumed
that Daniel was deported to Babylon in 597 BC, along with King Jeconiah and his
court. This has led many Bible scholars to surmise that the book of Daniel was
written at a later date and actually referring to events that occurred hundreds
of years later in the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (sometimes called Epimanes – the Mad One – by his contemporaries).
Wikipedia
says that “The consensus of most modern
scholars is that Daniel is not an historical figure and that the book is a
cryptic allusion to the reign of the 2nd century BCE Hellenistic king Antiochus
IV Epiphanes.”
However,
while there may not have been a major deportation to Babylon in 605 BC, it is
quite possible for Nebuchadnezzar to have selected a number of noble and
influential people to take back to Babylon with him at that time. While only a
small group, they would have fulfilled two major purposes: to act as hostages
to better ensure the obedience of the puppet kingdom (of Jehoiakim) set up by
Nebuchadnezzar to govern according to his will, and to gain a number of young
men to train to be advisors to him (Nebuchadnezzar).
Note that the Wikipedia account as quoted above takes the view that Daniel should be seen as having more to do with myths and legends than actual reality. Under the heading of “Tales of Daniel”, it says “The Book of Daniel begins with an introduction telling how Daniel and his companions came to be in Babylon, followed by a set of tales set in the Babylonian and Persian courts, followed in turn by a set of visions in which Daniel sees the remote future of the world and of Israel. The tales in chapters 1–6 can be dated to the 3rd or early 2nd centuries BCE; it is generally accepted that these were expanded by the addition of the visions in chapters 8–12 between 167 and 164 BCE.” We should also note that according to many of these alleged modern biblical scholars, large sections of the Old Testament are likewise accorded legend status, including the creation account of Genesis 1-11and the book of Jonah.
Encyclopaedia Britannica says “The language of the book—part of which is Aramaic (2:4–7:28)—probably indicates a date of composition later than the Babylonian Exile (6th century bc). Numerous inaccuracies connected with the exilic period (no deportation occurred in 605 bc; Darius was a successor of Cyrus, not a predecessor; etc.) tend to confirm this judgment. Because its religious ideas do not belong to the 6th century bc, numerous scholars date Daniel in the first half of the 2nd century bc and relate the visions to the persecution of the Jews under Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175–164/163 bc).” It also declares that the book of Daniel belongs to the “Myths of time and eternity”.
The effect of this modern “scholarship” is to downplay the importance of the prophecies of Daniel, thereby permitting those modern “scholars” to ignore those parts of Daniel that deal with prophecy, especially with respect to the end times, because, if Daniel is to be taken as truth, then there will have to be a final seven-year period before the end, when Israel will be brought back onto God’s prophetic timeline, requiring the church to be taken off that timeline (via that much-disputed rapture of the church). And many today do not like this teaching at all! We’ll deal with these aspects later as we go through Daniel. However, for the time being, we’ll make the quite reasonable assumption that Daniel is the word of God and therefore truth itself.
Note that while Vs 1 above sets the scene at about 605 BC, Vss 2 & 3 do not necessarily follow directly after.
However, if they do follow on at the same time (which does appear to be so),
then, as stated above, Daniel, along with others “of the king’s seed, and of the
princes”, was taken to
Babylon in 605 BC, yet the event is not recorded anywhere else in history. I
consider it most likely that Daniel was taken captive to Babylon in 605 BC.
It
is likely that Daniel was of royal descent. According to the Jewish historian Josephus,
Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego were all
related to King Zedekiah (who was the final king placed on the throne by
Nebuchadnezzar). Ultimately, Zedekiah saw his sons killed, then had his eyes
put out and taken captive to Babylon. It is also possible (though not certain)
that Daniel and the 3 others were made eunuchs under the authority of the
prince of eunuchs (Ashpenaz). Isaiah’s prophecy to Hezekiah does suggest that
Daniel may have been made a eunuch.
Hezekiah
was told by Isaiah that his descendants would be taken captive to Babylon and
made eunuchs.
Isaiah 39:5-7 – 5Then said
Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: 6Behold, the
days come, that all that [is] in thine house, and [that] which
thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon:
nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. 7And of thy sons that shall
issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall
be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
Daniel 1:4 – Children in
whom [was] no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and
cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as [had] ability
in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning
and the tongue of the Chaldeans.
no
blemish –
no physical defect – see the following:
Service
to God demanded a high level of physical perfection.
Leviticus 21:17-20 – 17Speak unto
Aaron, saying, Whosoever [he be] of thy seed in their generations that
hath [any] blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God. 18For
whatsoever man [he be] that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a
blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any
thing superfluous, 19Or a man that is brokenfooted,
or brokenhanded, 20Or crookbackt, or a
dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his
stones broken;
This
physical perfection also applied to their sacrifices.
Malachi 1:13-14 – 13Ye said also,
Behold, what a weariness [is it]! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the
Lord of hosts; and ye brought [that which was] torn, and the lame, and
the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith
the Lord. 14But cursed [be] the deceiver, which hath in his
flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth
unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I [am] a great King, saith the Lord
of hosts, and my name [is] dreadful among the heathen.
However,
keep in mind that these requirements in Vs 4 above were not of God but of Nebuchadnezzar
of Babylon. Other passages (e.g. Daniel
3 & 4) in
Daniel do strongly suggest Nebuchadnezzar’s personal vanity in these
conditions.
well
favoured –
good-looking; handsome. Rulers do tend to choose physically-good-looking people
around them, and this was especially true for those of the middle east. Most of
those in authority definitely prefer to avoid what they saw as ugliness.
The
Chaldeans apparently specifically chose certain youths who were physically
perfect, etc.
skilful – to have wisdom and to act
wisely
cunning – yada‘
(to know; to have knowledge)
knowledge – da‘ath
(knowledge) It is derived from yada‘
(to know; to have knowledge)
cunning
in knowledge
– To have knowledge of knowledge, that is, intelligent.
understanding – biyn (to discern; understand; consider)
science – madda‘
(knowledge), also derived from yada‘ (to know; to
have knowledge)
Thus
understanding science = To understand what they know, to have
discernment regarding their knowledge. That is, not just having knowledge but
the ability to use that knowledge effectively (with discernment).
ability
to stand – ‘amad – capable of proper service to the king
the
learning – cepher (books; writings) Thus they had to understand the
literature of the Chaldeans. This included an understanding of the language
involved with such “learning”.
It is interesting to note the similarity of cepher with our word “cipher” (a means by which
knowledge is allegedly unlocked; a code). It is possible that Daniel was taught
how to gain knowledge from esoteric documents which only those initiated into
its secrets might be permitted to learn. It is also interesting to note that the
esoteric Babylonian Talmud (upon which much of Jewish belief rests today) was
only fully accessible to those initiated, such as the Pharisees of Jesus’ day.
the tongue – the language. Not
necessarily the Chaldean language spoken by its citizens but probably the
learned writings of the Chaldean wise men.
Those
chosen included Daniel (and the others taken captive with him, notably
Shadrach, Meschach and Abed-nego)
– Daniel 1:6.
The
LXX says “young men in whom was no blemish, and beautiful in appearance,
and skilled in all wisdom, and possessing knowledge, and acquainted with
prudence, and who had ability to stand in the house before the king, and [the
king gave commandment] to teach them the learning and language of the
Chaldeans.”
The Chaldeans – This can refer to the race of Chaldeans in
general, and is understood as such in most occurrences. For example, Jeremiah
uses the term “Chaldeans” 43 times, mostly referring to their army which is
attacking Jerusalem and Judah. However, in Daniel this term may be used for a
particular group of the Chaldean people. The Greek dictionary says that it
means “a territory in lower Mesopotamia bordering on the Persian Gulf;
the inhabitants of Chaldea, living on the lower Euphrates and Tigris; those
persons considered the wisest in the land (by extension)” Daniel uses this
term (“Chaldeans”) 11 times. In some of the cases he is not referring to the
general Chaldean population, but to a specific group among the Chaldean people:
a group chosen for their perceived wisdom and learning, often associated with
priests, magicians or astrologers.
biblestudytools.com says that “The Chaldeans were really the
learned class; they were priests, magicians or astronomers, and in the last of
the three capacities they probably effected discoveries of great importance. In
later times they seem to have degenerated into mere fortune-tellers.” and www.abarim-publications.com notes that “BDB Theological Dictionary
additionally notes that the Chaldeans were considered a learned class in
Babylon, skilled in interpretations. Hence, when king Nebuchadnezzar wanted his
troubled dreams explained, he summoned the magicians, the conjurers, the
sorcerers and the Chaldeans. …. The Chaldeans apparently considered
themselves clairvoyant enough to expose the deeper meanings of any nocturnal
image but were unable to probe the king's head for the actual dream. The king,
furious, announced that he would have all the wise men of the kingdom executed.
The Chaldeans hadn't seen that coming either.”
Four times in Daniel 2 (2; 4; 5; 10), once in Daniel 4 (7) and twice in
Daniel 5 (7, 11), Chaldeans describes that group of men who were wise in
matters of the occult.
It is apparent that Daniel, Shadrach, Meschach
and Abed-nego were chosen to join this group of
Chaldeans, yet there can be no implication that they had to be involved with
the occult here. They were to learn of the Chaldean wisdom which could be and
was used by many (not necessarily all) in the occult sense. However, it is
quite possible that the (allegedly three) wise men of Bethlehem fame were of
the same group of people. They were declared to be magi (a
caste of priests, philosophers, and magicians, among the ancient Persians;
hence, any holy men or sages of the East – definitions.net) We get our word
“magic” from this word.
etymonline.com says that the magi were “"skilled magicians, astrologers," from Latin magi, plural of magus
"magician, learned magician," from Greek magos, a word used for the Persian learned and
priestly class as portrayed in the Bible (said by ancient historians to have
been originally the name of a Median tribe), from Old Persian magush "magician" (see
magic). Also, in Christian history, the
"wise men" who, according to Matthew, came from the east to Jerusalem
to do homage to the newborn Christ”
bibleask.org says that “The word Chaldeans also designates a class of scholars at
the Babylonian court who were the leading astronomers of their day. The wise
men from the East that followed the star at the birth of Jesus were from their
descendants, and they must have been influenced by the prophet Daniel (Matthew
2:2). This learned class of people were also educated in sciences like
mathematics and linguistics. They also practiced magic and astrology.”
Both
Ezekiel and Daniel would have been captives in Babylon. Ezekiel was probably
taken captive to Babylon in 597 BC, while Daniel 1:1
teaches that Daniel was taken off to Babylon in 605 BC. Each of them would have
lived out their lives in captivity; thus it is likely they would have known of
each other. However, it is also clear that they had different ministries to
different groups of people. Ezekiel was a prophet living in his community of
Judeans, while Daniel would have spent much of his time in and around the
palace as one of the king’s advisors.
Ezekiel
refers to Daniel as a righteous man, along with Noah and Job. He says that even
the righteousness of Noah, Daniel and Job could not deliver the sinful land, writing
that in spite of their exceptional righteousness, these three could only
deliver their own souls and not able to deliver those whom God was bringing
judgment against. Even Noah, Daniel and Job could not deliver Israel from the
pollution of their sins.
Ezekiel 14:12-14 – 12The word of
the Lord came again to me, saying, 13Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I
stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof,
and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it: 14Though
these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver [but]
their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God.
Ezekiel 14:19-20 – 19Or [if] I
send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut
off from it man and beast: 20Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, [were]
in it, [as] I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither
son nor daughter; they shall [but] deliver their own souls by their
righteousness.
There
are only two passages in the NT that mention Daniel by name and they both deal
with the Daniel 9:24-27 passage, particularly Daniel 9:27.
Matthew 24:15 – When ye
therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the
prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let
him understand:)
Mark 13:14 – But when ye
shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet,
standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth
understand,) then let them that be in Judæa flee to
the mountains:
Both
these passages are parallel accounts of the same event which Daniel talks about
in Daniel 9:27 – And he shall
confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he
shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading
of abominations he shall make [it] desolate, even until the
consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
It
refers to the Revelation 12 account of the fleeing of Israel into the
wilderness for the 2nd half of the final 7 years before Christ’s
second coming, a 7-year period known as the tribulation period, or the great
tribulation. The Matthew and Mark accounts should not be confused with what
appears to be a similar event in Luke
21:9-24 which
actually refers to the Diaspora (the Jewish dispersion from around 70 AD until the
20th century). The Luke passage also does not refer to Daniel’s
abomination of Daniel 9:27. I’ll discuss these
passages later when I tackle Daniel
9:24-27.
However, it must be noted that if Jesus directly referred to Daniel’s
prophecies, then any who dismiss Daniel as a collection of myths and legends
will also have to declare Christ’s parables as also being fictional rather than
fact!
In
fact, while Daniel is seen as a major OT counterpart of the NT Revelation, the
book of Zechariah is quoted more often in the NT than is Daniel.
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