Daniel (biblical figure)
Daniel | |
|---|---|
 Daniel's Answer to the King by Briton Rivière | |
| Prophet (Christianity, Islam) | |
| Venerated in | |
| Major shrine | Tomb of Daniel, Susa, Iran |
| Feast | July 21: Roman Catholicism December 17: Greek Orthodoxy Tuesday after fourth Sunday of Pentecost: Armenian Apostolic Church |
| Attributes | Often depicted in the den of the lions |
Tradition or genre | 6th century BCE |
Daniel (Aramaic and Hebrew: דָּנִיֵּאל – Dāniyyēl,{{efn|In Dan. 6:22 only, the Aramaic name is דָּנִיֶּאל meaning "God is my Judge"; Greek: Δανιήλ Daniḗl) is the hero of the biblical Book of Daniel.[1] A noble Jewish youth of Jerusalem, he is taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and serves the king and his successors with loyalty and ability until the time of the Persian conqueror Cyrus, all the while remaining true to the God of Israel.[2] 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.[3][1]
Six cities claim the Tomb of Daniel, the most famous being that in Susa, in southern Iran, at a site known as Shush-e Daniyal.[4] He is not a prophet in Judaism,[5] but the rabbis reckoned him to be the most distinguished member of the Babylonian diaspora, unsurpassed in piety and good deeds, firm in his adherence to the Law despite being surrounded by enemies who sought his ruin, and in the first few centuries CE they wrote down the many legends that had grown up around his name.[6] He is considered a prophet in Christianity, and although he is not mentioned in the Quran, Muslim sources describe him as a prophet.
Background
Daniel's name means "God (El) is my judge".[7] While the best known Daniel is the hero of the Book of Daniel who interprets dreams and receives apocalyptic visions, the Bible also briefly mentions three other individuals of this name:
- The Book of Ezekiel (14:14, 14:20 and 28:3) refers to a legendary Daniel famed for wisdom and righteousness. In verse 14:14, Ezekiel says of the sinful land of Israel that "even if these three, Noah, Daniel and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness." In chapter 28, Ezekiel taunts the king of Tyre, asking rhetorically, "art thou wiser than Daniel?"[3] The author of the Book of Daniel appears to have taken this legendary figure, renowned for his wisdom, to serve as his central human character.[8]
- The Book of Ezra (8:2) mentions a priest named Daniel who went from Babylon to Jerusalem with Ezra.[3]
- The First Book of Chronicles (3:1) mentions a son of David called Daniel.
Daniel (Dn'il, or Danel) is also the name of a figure in the Aqhat legend from Ugarit.[3] (Ugarit was a Canaanite city destroyed around 1200 BCE – the tablet containing the story is dated c. 1360 BCE.)[9] This legendary Daniel is known for his righteousness and wisdom and a follower of the god El (hence his name), who made his will known through dreams and visions.[10] It is unlikely that Ezekiel knew the far older Canaanite legend, but it seems reasonable to suppose that some connection exists between the two.[11] The authors of the tales in the first half of the Book of Daniel were likely also unaware of the Ugaritic Daniel and probably took the name of their hero from Ezekiel; the author of the visions in the second half in turn took his hero's name from the tales.[11]
Tales of Daniel
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.[12][13] The tales in chapters 1–6 can be dated to the 3rd or early 2nd centuries BCE;[14] it is generally accepted that these were expanded by the addition of the visions in chapters 8–12 between 167 and 164 BCE.[15]
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, Daniel and his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah are taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.[8] The four are chosen for their intellect and beauty to be trained in the Babylonian court, and are given new names. Daniel is given the Babylonian name Belteshazzar (Akkadian: