Daniel (

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

and he, דָּנִיֵּאל, translit=Dānīyyēʾl, lit=God is my Judge; gr, Δανιήλ, translit=Daniḗl, translit-std=ALA-LC; ) is the main character of the Book of Daniel. According to the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' noble

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

youth of Jerusalem taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon, serving the king and his successors with loyalty and ability until the time of the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

conqueror Cyrus, all the while remaining true to the God of Israel. The consensus of most modern scholars is that Daniel is not a historical figure and that the book is a cryptic allusion to the reign of the 2nd century BCE Hellenistic king Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Six cities claim the

Tomb of Daniel The Tomb of Daniel ( Persian: آرامگاه دانیال نبی) is the traditional burial place of the biblical figure Daniel. Various locations have been named for the site, but the tomb in Susa, in Iran, is the most widely accepted site, it b ...

, the most famous being that in Susa, in southern

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, at a site known as Shush-e Daniyal. He is not a prophet in Judaism, 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. He is considered a prophet in Christianity, and although he is not mentioned in the Quran, Muslim sources describe him as a prophet.

Background

BLW Stained Glass - Scene from the Story of Daniel

Daniel's name means "God (El) is my judge". 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 The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Tanakh and one of the major prophetic books, following Isaiah and Jeremiah. According to the book itself, it records six visions of the prophet Ezekiel, exiled in Babylon, during ...

(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?" 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. # The Book of Ezra (8:2) mentions a priest named Daniel who went from Babylon to Jerusalem with Ezra. # The

First Book of Chronicles The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sect ...

(3:1) mentions a son of

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

called Daniel. Daniel (Dn'il, or

Danel Danel (), father of Aqhat, was a culture hero who appears in an incomplete Ugaritic text of the fourteenth century BCE at Ugarit (modern Ras Shamra), Syria, where the name is rendered DN'IL, " El is judge". Tale of Aqhat The text in ''Corpus T ...

) is also the name of a figure in the Aqhat legend from Ugarit. (Ugarit was a Canaanite city destroyed around 1200 BCE – the tablet containing the story is dated c. 1360 BCE.) 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. It is unlikely that Ezekiel knew the far older Canaanite legend, but it seems reasonable to suppose that some connection exists between the two. 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.

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 in the late 7th and early 6th centuries BCE, followed in turn by a set of visions in which Daniel sees the remote future of the world and of Israel. The tales in chapters 1–6 can be dated to the 3rd or early 2nd centuries BCE; it is generally accepted that these were expanded by the addition of the visions in chapters 8–12 between 167 and 164 BCE. In the third year of the reign of

Jehoiakim Jehoiakim, also sometimes spelled Jehoikim; la, Joakim was the eighteenth and antepenultimate king of Judah from 609 to 598 BC. He was the second son of king Josiah () and Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. His birth name was Eliakim.; ...

, Daniel and his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah are taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. 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 ( akk, 𒊩𒆪𒈗𒋀, Beltu-šar-uṣur, written as NIN₉.LUGAL.ŠEŠ), while his companions are given the Babylonian names

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Hebrew names Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah) are figures from the biblical Book of Daniel, primarily chapter 3. In the narrative, the three Hebrew men are thrown into a fiery furnace by Nebuchadnezzar II, King o ...

. Daniel and his friends refuse the food and wine provided by the king of Babylon to avoid becoming defiled. They receive wisdom from God and surpass "all the magicians and enchanters of the kingdom." Nebuchadnezzar dreams of a giant statue made of four metals with feet of mingled iron and clay, smashed by a stone from heaven. Only Daniel is able to interpret it: the dream signifies four kingdoms, of which Babylon is the first, but God will destroy them and replace them with his own kingdom. Nebuchadnezzar dreams of a great tree that shelters all the world and of a heavenly figure who decrees that the tree will be destroyed; again, only Daniel can interpret the dream, which concerns the sovereignty of God over the kings of the earth. When Nebuchadnezzar's son King Belshazzar uses the vessels from the Jewish temple for his feast, a hand appears and writes a mysterious message on the wall, which only Daniel can interpret; it tells the king that his kingdom will be given to the Medes and Persians, because Belshazzar, unlike Nebuchadnezzar, has not acknowledged the sovereignty of the God of Daniel. The Medes and Persians overthrow Nebuchadnezzar and the new king, Darius the Mede, appoints Daniel to high authority. Jealous rivals attempt to destroy Daniel with an accusation that he worships God instead of the king, and Daniel is thrown into a den of lions, but an angel saves him, his accusers are destroyed, and Daniel is restored to his position. In the third year of Darius, Daniel has a series of visions. In the first, four beasts come out of the sea, the last with ten horns, and an eleventh horn grows and achieves dominion over the Earth and the "Ancient of Days" (God) gives dominion to "one like a son of man". An angel interprets the vision. In the second, a ram with two horns is attacked by a goat with one horn; the one horn breaks and is replaced by four. A little horn arises and attacks the people of God and the temple, and Daniel is informed how long the little horn's dominion will endure. In the third, Daniel is troubled to read in holy scripture (the book is not named but appears to be Jeremiah) that Jerusalem would be desolate for 70 years. Daniel repents on behalf of the Jews and requests that Jerusalem and its people be restored. An angel refers to a period of 70 ''sevens'' (or weeks) of years. In the final vision, Daniel sees a period of history culminating in a struggle between the "king of the north" and the "king of the south" in which God's people suffer terribly; an angel explains that in the end the righteous will be vindicated and God's kingdom will be established on Earth.

Additional tales (Greek text)

Guido Reni - Susanna and the Elders - WGA19296

The Greek text of Daniel contains three additional tales, two of which feature Daniel (the third is an expansion of the tale of the fiery furnace). # The tale of Susanna tells how Daniel saves the reputation of a young Jewish married woman when two lecherous Jewish elders condemn her to death, supposedly for unchastity, but actually because she resisted their advances. Daniel's clever cross-examination unmasks their evil and leads to their deaths. The story is unique in that the villains are Jews instead of heathens; it may have been written as a polemic by the Pharisees against the Saducees, who, according to their opponents, were abusing their control of the courts. #

Bel and the Dragon The narrative of Bel and the Dragon is incorporated as chapter 14 of the extended Book of Daniel. The original Septuagint text in Greek survives in a single manuscript, Codex Chisianus, while the standard text is due to Theodotion, the 2nd-cent ...

consists of two episodes. In the first Daniel exposes the deceptions of the heathen priests, who have been pretending that their idols eat and drink (in fact it is the priests who have been consuming the food set out for the false gods). In the second Daniel destroys a giant serpent that Cyrus believes to be a god; the Babylonians revolt, Cyrus imprisons Daniel without food, the prophet

Habakkuk Habakkuk, who was active around 612 BC, was a prophet whose oracles and prayer are recorded in the Book of Habakkuk, the eighth of the collected twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible. He is revered by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Almost a ...

miraculously feeds him, and Cyrus repents.

Death and tomb of Daniel

The last mention of Daniel in the Book of Daniel is in the third year of Cyrus (). Rabbinic sources suppose that he was still alive during the reign of the Persian king

Ahasuerus Ahasuerus ( ; , commonly ''Achashverosh'';; fa, اخشورش, Axšoreš; fa, label= New Persian, خشایار, Xašāyār; grc, Ξέρξης, Xérxēs. grc, label= Koine Greek, Ἀσουήρος, Asouḗros, in the Septuagint; la, Assue ...

(better known as Artaxerxes – Babylonian Talmud, Megillah 15a, based on the Book of Esther 4, 5), but he was killed by Haman, the wicked prime minister of Ahasuerus (Targum Sheini on Esther, 4, 11). The 1st century Jewish writer

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...

reported that Daniel's body lay in a tower in Ecbatana in

Parthia Parthia ( peo, 𐎱𐎼𐎰𐎺 ''Parθava''; xpr, 𐭐𐭓𐭕𐭅 ''Parθaw''; pal, 𐭯𐭫𐭮𐭥𐭡𐭥 ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Med ...

, alongside the bodies of the kings of the Medes and Persians; later Jewish authorities said he was buried in Susa, and that near his house were hidden the vessels from the

Temple of Solomon Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple (, , ), was the Temple in Jerusalem between the 10th century BC and . According to the Hebrew Bible, it was commissioned by Solomon in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited by the ...

. Muslim sources reported that the Muslims had discovered his body, or possibly only a box containing his nerves and veins, together with a book, a jar of fat, and a signet ring engraved with the image of a man being licked by two lions. The corpse was reburied, and those who buried it were decapitated to prevent them from revealing the spot. Today six cities claim

Daniel's Tomb The Tomb of Daniel ( Persian: آرامگاه دانیال نبی) is the traditional burial place of the biblical figure Daniel. Various locations have been named for the site, but the tomb in Susa, in Iran, is the most widely accepted site, it b ...

: Babylon, Kirkuk and Muqdadiyah in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

, Susa and Malamir in

, and Samarkand in

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

. The most famous is that in Susa, (Shush, in southern

), at a site known as Shush-e Daniyal. According to Jewish tradition the rich and poor of the city quarreled over possession of the body, and the bier was therefore suspended from a chain over the centre of the river. A house of prayer open to all who believed in God was built nearby, and fishing was prohibited for a certain distance up and down the river; fish that swam in that section of the river had heads that glinted like gold, and ungodly persons who entered the sacred precinct would miraculously drown in the river. To this day the tomb is a popular site of pilgrimage.

Daniel in later tradition

Judaism

Daniel is not a prophet in Judaism: prophecy is reckoned to have ended with Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. In the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Dead Sea Scrolls and the additional tales of the Greek text are a testament to Daniel's popularity in ancient times. The Jewish rabbis of the first millennium CE reckoned Daniel 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 legends that had grown up around his name. His captivity was foretold by the prophet Isaiah to King

Hezekiah Hezekiah (; hbo, , Ḥīzqīyyahū), or Ezekias); grc, Ἐζεκίας 'Ezekías; la, Ezechias; also transliterated as or ; meaning "Yahweh, Yah shall strengthen" (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the 13th king of Kingdom of Jud ...

in these words, "they (Hezekiah's descendants) shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon." This misfortune was turned to a blessing when Daniel and his three companions were able to show their mutilated bodies to Nebuchadnezzar and so prove their innocence of charges of leading an unchaste life. Daniel kept the welfare of Nebuchadnezzar in mind continually, and when the king was condemned by God to live as a beast for a certain period Daniel prayed that the period of punishment should be shortened, and his prayer was granted. When Nebuchadnezzar was dying he wished to include Daniel among his heirs, but Daniel refused the honour, saying that he could not leave the inheritance of his forefathers for that of the uncircumcised. Daniel also restored the sight of king Darius, who had wrongly thrown the pious Daniel into prison on false charges, upon which many converted to Judaism.

Christianity

The

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

makes a reference to Daniel at Matthew 24:15, in reference to the

abomination of desolation Abomination may refer to: * Abomination (Bible), covering Biblical references **Abomination (Judaism) *Abomination (character) The Abomination is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The original ...

. He is commemorated in the

Coptic Church The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي� ...

on the 23rd day of the Coptic month of Baramhat. On the

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

liturgical calendar, the feast days celebrating St. Daniel the Prophet together with the Three Young Men, falls on December 17 (during the

Nativity Fast In Christianity, the Nativity Fast—or Fast of the Prophets in Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church—is a period of abstinence and penance practiced by the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church a ...

), on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers (the Sunday which falls between 11 and 17 December), and on the Sunday before Nativity. Daniel's prophecy regarding the stone which smashed the idol () is often used in Orthodox hymns as a metaphor for the Incarnation: the "stone cut out" being symbolic of the

Logos ''Logos'' (, ; grc, λόγος, lógos, lit=word, discourse, or reason) is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology and rhetoric and refers to the appeal to reason that relies on logic or reason, inductive and deductive reasoning. Ari ...

(Christ), and the fact that it was cut "without hands" being symbolic of the virgin birth. Thus the hymns will refer to the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) as the "uncut mountain". The

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

commemorates St. Daniel in the

Roman Martyrology The ''Roman Martyrology'' ( la, Martyrologium Romanum) is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approved ...

on July 21. Some local liturgical calendars of dioceses also list his feast, sometimes on July 21 and sometimes on another day. For example, the

archdiocese of Gorizia The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gorizia ( la, Archidioecesis Goritiensis) is an archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Italy. The archiepiscopal see of Gorizia ( Friulian: ''Gurizza/Gurizze''; german: Görz; sl, Gorica) wa ...

celebrates the feast of St. Daniel, prophet and confessor, on September 11. The reading of the Mass is taken from the Book of Daniel, chapter 14; the Gradual from Psalm 91; the Alleluia verse from the Epistle of James 1; and the Gospel from Matthew 24. The

Calendar of Saints The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod commemorates Daniel, together with the Three Young Men (

), on December 17.

Islam

Daniel (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

: دانيال, ''Dānyāl'') is not mentioned by name in the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

, but there are accounts of his prophet-hood in later Muslim literature, which tells how he was rescued from lions with the aid of the prophet Jeremiah (in

it is the prophet

who plays this role) and interpreted the king's dream of a statue made of four metals destroyed by a rock from heaven, as having interpreted the writing on the wall, investigation, etc. All sources, both classical and modern, describe him as a saintly and righteous man.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali Abdullah Yusuf Ali, CBE, MA, LL.M, FRSA, FRSL (; ur, عبداللہ یوسف علی‎; 14 April 1872 – 10 December 1953) was an Indian-British barrister who wrote a number of books about Islam including an exegesis of the Qur'an. A sup ...

(1872–1953) in his Qur'anic commentary says: In Kitab al-Kafi, Imam

Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn ( ar, علي بن الحسين زين العابدين), also known as al-Sajjād (, ) or simply as Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn (), , was an Imam in Shiʻi Islam after his father Husayn ibn Ali, his uncle Hasan ...

asserts that Allah revealed to Daniel that, "The most hated among my creatures are the ignorant ones who disrespect the scholars and do not follow them. The Most beloved to Me in My servants are the pious ones who work hard to become entitled for greater rewards, who always stay close to the scholars, follow the fore-bearing people and accept (the advice of) people of wisdom". Shiʾa hadith affirm Daniel as a prophet of God, and affirm the events aligning to the biblical narrative of Daniel as well.

Baháʼí

Daniel is considered a

minor prophet The Minor Prophets or Twelve Prophets ( he, שנים עשר, ''Shneim Asar''; arc, תרי עשר, ''Trei Asar'', "Twelve") ( grc, δωδεκαπρόφητον, "the Twelve Prophets"), occasionally Book of the Twelve, is a collection of propheti ...

in the teachings of the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the ...

. Some Baháʼí converts introduced the principle of reincarnation, specifically that of Daniel and John.''From Iran East and West''. vol. 2, pp. 127, 106. Juan R. I. Cole, Moojan Momen. 1984

Notes

References

Bibliography

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External links

* * {{Authority control Ancient apocalypticists Ancient Jewish writers Angelic visionaries Book of Daniel people Dragonslayers Hebrew Bible people Iranian Jews Jewish writers People whose existence is disputed Prophets in Christianity