As Isaac Newton in his Observations on the Prophecies of Daniel (1732) put it: “The Book of Daniel is a collection of papers written at several times. The Book of Daniel consists of two parts. A Book in Two Parts: Narratives and Prophecies Yet the author and the readers of the Book of Daniel could not help but associate their Daniel with his namesake in the Book of Ezekiel. No secret is kept dark from thee.” Ezekiel probably speaks of a legendary king of old, who rendered justice to the widow and the fatherless, and was celebrated in Canaanite epics. Ezekiel (28:3) scoffs at the ruler of Tyre, who considers himself as wise as a god (and thus cognizant of the future). ‘The seer Daniel is a “revealer of mysteries” (2:47) of the future to the Kings. Take a deep dive into the Book of Daniel through our five-part email series.Īt the court in Babylon, the seer Daniel again and again is in peril of life, but because of his piety he is saved miraculously just as righteousness would have delivered his namesake. The Lord says through the mouth of Ezekiel (14:4) that, “when a land sins against Me,” these three alone, Noah, Job, and Daniel, by their righteousness would be able to escape the divine anger. Yet it is probable that the name of the hero of the Book of Daniel was chosen to bring to mind the Daniel spoken of in the Book of Ezekiel. A Jewish oracle‑monger of the same name may or may not have lived in Babylon at the time of King Nebuchadnezzar. was a priest by the name of Daniel ( Nehemiah 10:6). For instance, a signer of Nehemiah’s covenant in 444 B.C.E. Persons named Daniel (“God has judged”) are mentioned in Babylonian records and in the Bible elsewhere. Read the Book of Daniel in Hebrew and English on Sefaria. The hero of the Book of Daniel (in the Ketuvim section of the Bible) is one of the Jews exiled in Babylonia, a soothsayer at the Babylonian court under Nebuchadnezzar (who died in 562 B.C.E.) and Belshazzar (who died in 539 B.C.E.), and at the Median and Persian courts in Babylon under “Darius the Mede” and Cyrus (who died in 529 B.C.E.). My Jewish Learning is a not-for-profit and relies on your help Donate

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