Daniel
A Judean taken to Babylon as a youth who, according to the book that bears his name, interpreted dreams for its kings, survived the lions’ den and saw visions of the kingdoms to come.
The book of Daniel presents him as one of the young nobles of Judah brought to Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar II, trained for the court and renamed Belteshazzar (Daniel 1:3–7). He interprets the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar and the writing on the wall for Belshazzar, and is thrown to the lions for praying to his God (Daniel 2:26–28) (Daniel 5:13–17) (Daniel 6:10–23). The book says that he was still active in the third year of Cyrus (Daniel 10:1).
Later writers hold him up as an example. 1 Maccabees recalls his rescue from the lions (1 Maccabees 2:60), and in Matthew Jesus calls him “Daniel the prophet” (Matthew 24:15). When the book was written, and how far it records history, are debated; see Daniel at the Babylonian Court.
In the timeline
- about 605 BC to 536 BC, traditional dateDaniel at the Babylonian Court
The book of Daniel tells of a young Judean taken to Babylon who serves its kings and stays loyal to his God through the furnace and the lions’ den, and who sees “one like a son of man” receive an everlasting kingdom.