Daniel
Daniel ( Hebrew name: דָּנִיּאֵל in Persian دانيال, Daniyal or Danial, Dani, داني; Arabic: دانيال, Danyal ) is a person of the Hebrew Bible and the protagonist of the Book of Daniel. Judaism considers Daniel in contrast to Christianity, not as a prophet. The name " Daniel" means something like " Directed by El (God )" ( root דון [ dun ] = " align ", " right to create ").
At a young age Daniel was brought to Babylon, where he was trained as a servant of the King's Palace. He was known for being able to interpret dreams, and he was one of the most important personalities in the king's court. He lived until the time of the Persian conquest in, kept there, his high position and took influence on the decision to return the Jews to their homeland.
Life
In the fifth year of the reign of King Jehoiakim ( 605 BC), Daniel was along with some other wealthy Israelite young men ( including Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, also called Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego ) were deported to Babylon. Daniel and his three Jewish friends were then chosen because of their wisdom and beauty to be trained as Chaldeans, who occupied many senior posts at the Babylonian court. ( Dan 1 ELB )
Daniel was engaged as servants of the Babylonian king and got - according to the fashion - the Chaldean name of Belteshazzar ( " Fresh Prince of Bel ," or " Bel protect the king "). Most likely he has also lived in the palace of King Nebuchadnezzar II. Despite that Daniel and his three companions of their cultural and religious background remained resolutely loyal - a conviction that was bound to lead to problems with the Babylonian paganism at the royal court sooner or later.
Daniels Training ( Dan 1.4 ELB ) should qualify him for the service of the Babylonian Empire. Daniel distinguished himself during this time by his piety and his strict focus on the Torah from ( 1.8 to 16 Dan ELB ), and thus gained the confidence and esteem of those who stood about him.
At the end of the three -year training at the royal court, Daniel was distinguished by his skills and knowledge regarding the pagan rituals of his day, as he was known to the public. One of his skills was to be able to interpret dreams ( Dan 1:17 NIV; 2:14 ff ELB ) and so he went on to governor over the whole province of Babylon and chief of all the " ways " of the country after he passed a test of the King had, of Daniel 's life could have easily cost.
After the Persian conquest of Babylon, Daniel was the first of the " three administrators " of the empire under the reign of Darius the Mede - so he was in a sense responsible for handling matters of state and was to influence the fate of the captive Jews in a position ( Dan 9 ELB ) which could eventually return to their home country. He himself, however, did not decrease, but remained in Babylon.
Daniel's fidelity to his God made him repeatedly from the persecution by jealous rivals within the government of the king. The fact that he had interpreted the dream of the ruler, took care of his promotion, and also for his companions. He was untouchable as a " favorite " of the king. His friends were the charges, they refused the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar to worship as God, the mercy and were sentenced to death in the fiery furnace, but miraculously saved. Years later, Daniel is sentenced for the continuous exercise of his faith and eventually thrown into a den of lions - but the predators not attacked him. Then prompted King Cyrus that the " God of Daniel " should be worshiped in all his realm. ( Dan 6:26 NIV )
Daniel's activity as a prophet began late in his life. His early exploits were well known, and his reputation as a pious and God-fearing man, they formed the basis for his prophets activity. The recognition for his prophetic message is the same of other prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel whose origin was the basis for their message.
Both time and circumstances of Daniel's death have not been recorded. After Dan 10.1 ELB he was still alive in the third year of King Cyrus; he must have been by this time almost 90 years old when he was about 70 years earlier as a young man deported to Babylon. Maybe he died at Susa in Iran, according to tradition, is his grave at Susa, at a place called Shush -e Daniyal. However, there are other places where Daniel is said to be buried, such as Kirkuk in Iraq, Babylon, Egypt, Tarsus or Samarkand.
Prophet
In the context of the books of the Bible Christians Daniel regarded as one of the four " major prophets ". The book of Daniel is found in most Christian editions of the Old Testament according to the other three " great prophets " ( Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel (Prophet ) ). Dreams, visions and revelations are sometimes placed in the Bible prophecy in context, as Joel 2.28 to 32 ELB clarified.
In modern Judaism Daniel is not counted among the prophets, but there are two reasons:
- Rashi shows in his Talmud commentary that a prophet to be recognized as such, must the messages it receives distribute. Daniel's prophecies are forward-looking, as they say hidden that will happen in the future. His messages were not common among the population, as the text itself implies.
Ezekiel
The prophet Ezekiel, who was a contemporary of Daniels, describes a Daniel as an example of righteousness ( Ezek 14:14 NIV ) and wisdom (Ezekiel 28.3 ELB ).
Some researchers have identified this person with Daniel from the book of Daniel, while others see him as a different person who was forgotten over time. Some see the Daniel in Ezekiel Daniel as a person who is known from Ugaritic literature.
The Hebrew spelling itself speaks for someone else than the prophet Daniel. Was probably the original reading " Danel " because Vokalisierungspunkte were added to the Hebrew consonantal text later, and so the vocalization with "i " was born. In the Book of Daniel, the name has been handed down with an additional consonant in the middle of the "i" in the name implies - this letter is missing in the spelling in Ezekiel. Thus, it is possible, reference is made to another person.
Habakkuk
In the apocryphal portion of Daniel known as Bel and the Dragon, the prophet Habakkuk is miraculously brought by an angel to Daniel in the lion's den to eat with him. In response, Daniel prays, "Thou hast thought of me, O God; you leave not those who seek you and love you! ".
Daniel in the liturgy
In the liturgical calendar of the Orthodox Church fall the days on which commemorates both Daniel and the three men in the fiery furnace, on the 17th of December and on the Sunday of the Holy Ancestors ( the Sunday which falls between 11 and 17 December ) .. Daniel's prophecy that predicts the " Destroy the image" ( Dan 2:24-25 NIV ) is in orthodox songs often understood as a metaphor for the incarnation of Christ: The broken loose stone as a symbol of the Logos (Christ), and since he " without hands " was broken out, this is symbolically interpreted as the virgin birth. Therefore, the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) in songs is called " Unbroken mountain".
In the Roman Catholic Church Daniels is commemorated on July 21.
The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod and the Armenian Church on 17 December to remember Daniel, the Coptic Church on March 19.
Daniel in Islam
Although Daniel is not found in the Koran, but he is described in several hadiths of Prophet Muhammad and others, that a person who finds the corpse of this prophet and buried, will enter Paradise. In the teaching of Islam, the bodies of the prophets not pass away, but stay until the last day to receive. According to later sources, the body at the time of the second Caliph of the Muslims was found and buried in the period from 634-644 of Abu Musa al- Ash'ari in Susa in Persia today. The body was said to be unharmed and have been wearing a ring with a man and two lions.
Literature & Resources
- James B. Jordan: Daniel: Historical & Chronological Comments (II). In: Biblical Chronology. 7, No. 1, 1995.
- Francis E. Gigot: Daniel. In: Catholic Encyclopedia on CD -ROM. New Advent, 1889.
- Matthias Albani: Daniel. Dream interpreter and end time prophet. Evangelical publishing house, Leipzig, 2010. ISBN 978-3-374-02717-0.