Daniel (Prophet)

The Biblical Account

Daniel is the central figure of the Book of Daniel. According to Daniel 1:1-6, in the third year of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against Jerusalem, and young men of royal and noble descent were carried off to Babylon. Daniel was among them. In Babylon he was given the name Belteshazzar. With his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, he declined the king's food and ate vegetables and drank water instead (Daniel 1:8-16).

• Chapter 2: Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a great image and is raised to high office. Daniel does not appear in chapter 3, in which his three friends are cast into the fiery furnace.
• Chapter 4: He interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a tree.
• Chapter 5: At King Belshazzar's feast, he interprets the writing that appears on the wall.
• Chapter 6: Under Darius the Mede, he defies a royal decree by continuing to pray three times a day and is cast into the lions' den, yet he is unharmed.
• Chapters 7–12: These chapters record visions and prayers, including the vision of the four beasts and the prophecy of the seventy weeks.

Daniel 1:21 states that "Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus." Daniel 10:1 records a vision he received in the third year of Cyrus.

Significance Within the Bible

Ezekiel 14:14, 20 names "Daniel" as a righteous man alongside Noah and Job, and Ezekiel 28:3 refers to him as a man of wisdom. Tradition has identified this figure with the Daniel of the Book of Daniel. Some scholars, however, regard him as a different person, pointing to a slight difference in the Hebrew spelling and to a figure named Danel who appears in ancient Ugaritic literature.

In the New Testament, Jesus refers in Matthew 24:15 to "the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet." Although Hebrews 11:33 does not mention him by name, its phrase "stopped the mouths of lions" is commonly understood as a reference to Daniel.

Interpretation and Points of Debate

• Date of composition: Conservative evangelicals hold that the book records events that Daniel himself experienced and wrote down in the sixth century BC. Most historical-critical scholars date the book's final form to the second century BC, during the reign of Antiochus IV, and some regard Daniel as a literary figure.
• Was he a prophet?: The Hebrew Bible places the Book of Daniel among the Writings (Ketuvim) rather than the Prophets. Protestant and Catholic Bibles place it among the prophetic books, and the New Testament calls Daniel a prophet.
• The seventy weeks (Daniel 9:24-27): Dispensationalism interprets the final week as a future seven-year tribulation. Many interpreters in the Reformed tradition regard it as fulfilled in the work of Christ. Critical scholars take it to refer to the era of Antiochus.
• Additions to Daniel: Catholic and Orthodox Bibles include additional material in the Book of Daniel, such as the stories of Susanna and of Bel and the Dragon; these also appear in the edition of the Korean Common Translation that contains the Apocrypha. Protestants do not regard these sections as canonical. The claims that Daniel was a eunuch and that the so-called Tomb of Daniel lies in Susa, Iran, are later traditions and are not stated directly in the text.

In Korean Churches

• In Korean churches, the words "Daniel purposed in his heart" (Daniel 1:8) are frequently cited in sermons addressed to students and young adults to emphasize a faith that does not compromise with the world.
• The account of Daniel kneeling "upon his knees three times a day... as he did aforetime" (Daniel 6:10) is held up as a model of a consistent life of prayer, and prayer gatherings known as "Daniel Prayer Meetings" are also held.
• In Daniel 10:2-3, Daniel ate no pleasant bread, meat, or wine for three full weeks (21 days). On the basis of this account, some Korean church members observe a "Daniel fast," abstaining from certain foods for a set period.
• In Sunday school, the account of the vegetable diet and the story of the lions' den are standard lesson topics.