Daniel Chapter 1
The name Daniel means, “God is Judge” or “judge who pronounces judgment in the name of God”. Little is known of Daniel’s family background. From the testimony of his contemporaries he was known for his righteousness (Ezekiel 14:14,20) and his wisdom 28:3). He is mentioned in these passages with Noah and Job, who were historical people, so Daniel was also a historical person. Compare with what the Hebrew writer says in Hebrews 11:33 “shut the mouths of lions”. Daniel was born into the royal family (Daniel 1:3,6). He was physically attractive and mentally sharp (1:4). He lived at least until the third year of Cyrus, that is, until 536 B.C. (10:1). Therefore, he must have been a young man when Nebuchadnezzar took him captive in 605 B.C. (1:4). If he were 16 when captured, he was 85 in Cyrus’ third year. Daniel is the writer of this book, for Daniel names himself (speaking in the first person) as one receiving the revelations (8:1; 9:2), and he is ordered to preserve the book in which these words are found (12:4). Added to this, Jesus placed His stamp of approval on Daniel’s status as a prophet, “which was spoken through Daniel the prophet” (Matthew 24:15), and quotes from the book of Daniel assigning Daniel as the author (Matthew 24:15; Daniel 9:27; 11:31). The book is very unified, for example the temple vessels are carried into Babylon in chapter 1 and they will become an issue in chapter 5. We are told that Daniel and his companions gain places of importance before the king and this helps explain the later animosity of their opponents. We are told that Daniel was there when the Medo-Persians arrived and this prepares us for his confrontation with the lions. The fact that manuscript fragments from the book of Daniel were found in Qumran, written perhaps in the second century B.C., preclude the notion that Daniel was written in 165 B.C., as many critics suggest. But the motivation behind such critics is unbelief, for they do not believe in predictive prophecy, which means that they do not believe in an omniscient and all-powerful God. Purposes of the Book The book demonstrates Daniel and his friend’s personal devotion to God in very difficult circumstances. Basically four teenage boys are taken over 1000 miles into a distant empire and there the attempt is made to systematically brainwash them and destroy their faith, and instead of weakening, they refuse to compromise, even upon the pain of death (Daniel 3). And 70 years later, Daniel is still faithful (chapter 6)! The book also emphasizes God’s complete control over even the most power nations. He establishes kings and removes them. It was this great truth that Nebuchadnezzar came to understand (Daniel 4:35). The book also unfolds future history after the captivity and the empires that will follow the Babylonian empire, and the time when 1