Daniel (Biblical Figure)

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 besieged 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. Together with his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, he refused the king's food and instead ate vegetables and drank water (Daniel 1:8-16).

• Chapter 2: Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a great statue and is raised to high office. Daniel does not appear in chapter 3, in which his three friends are thrown 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 thrown into the lions' den, yet he is unharmed.
• Chapters 7–12: These chapters record visions and prayers, including the four beasts and the seventy weeks.

Daniel 1:21 states that he "continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus." Daniel 10:1 records a vision he saw 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 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, the 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 experienced and written down by Daniel himself in the sixth century BC. A majority of 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 see it as fulfilled in the work of Christ. Critical scholars take it to refer to the era of Antiochus.
• Additional stories: Catholic and Orthodox Bibles include additions to the Book of Daniel such as the story of Susanna and the story of Bel and the Dragon, and these also appear in the edition of the Korean Common Translation that includes the Apocrypha. Protestants do not regard these sections as canonical. The claim that Daniel was a eunuch and the so-called Tomb of Daniel in Susa, Iran, are later traditions and are not stated directly in the text.

In the Korean Church

• "Daniel purposed in his heart" (Daniel 1:8) is frequently cited in sermons to students and young adults to emphasize a faith that does not compromise with the world.
• "He kneeled 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. Prayer gatherings called "Daniel Prayer Meetings" are also held.
• In Daniel 10:2-3, Daniel abstained from pleasant bread, meat, and wine for three full weeks (21 days). On the basis of this account, some church members observe a "Daniel fast," giving up certain foods for a set period.
• In Sunday school, the story of the vegetable diet and the story of the lions' den are standard lesson topics.