Daniel
Lions, a furnace, dreams of empires, and a young exile who wouldn't bend.
Who wrote it: Set in Babylon and Persia in the 6th century BC and told partly in Daniel's own voice. Tradition takes him as the author; many scholars date the finished book to the 2nd century BC, during Greek persecution. The stories work either way.
What it is
Daniel is a teenager from Jerusalem's elite when Babylon takes him, renames him, and trains him for the civil service. Chapter 1 is his first small refusal: he won't eat the king's food, proposes a ten-day vegetable trial, and comes out healthier. That's the pattern for the stories that follow. Not rebellion, not blending in, but a quiet line he won't cross and a willingness to take what comes.
The stories are the famous half. Nebuchadnezzar's dream statue, gold head to clay feet, smashed by a stone that becomes a mountain (2). Three friends who tell the king that God can save them from the furnace, 'but if not', they still won't bow, and walk out with a fourth figure beside them (3). A king who goes mad and eats grass until he admits heaven rules (4). Writing on the wall at a party the night Babylon falls (5). And Daniel, now old, praying at his open window as usual after it's been made illegal, and spending a night with the lions (6). He serves under four kings and two empires and never once hides who he is.
Chapters 7 to 12 are visions, and they're harder. Four beasts from the sea, a little horn that speaks big things, and 'one like a son of man' coming with the clouds to receive an everlasting kingdom (7). A ram and a goat (8). A prayer of confession and seventy 'weeks' (9). Wars between kings of the north and south in fine detail (11), which map closely onto the Greek rulers who followed Alexander and the persecution under Antiochus IV around 167 BC. Then the first clear Old Testament statement that the dead will rise, some to everlasting life (12).
Whatever the date of writing, the message is consistent: empires are beasts, they rise and fall on schedule, and the kingdom that lasts belongs to God and his people. Jesus called himself 'the Son of Man' more than anything else, and chapter 7 is why.
Verses worth keeping
- Daniel 1:8WEB
But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank. Therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
Gen Zsame meaning, your wordsBut Daniel made up his mind not to contaminate himself with the king's rich food or the wine he drank, so he asked the chief official for permission not to.
He decides first, then asks politely. The book's whole approach to living under an empire is in that order.
17If it happens, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.”
Gen Zsame meaning, your wordsIf it comes to that, the God we serve can rescue us from the blazing furnace, and he'll rescue us from your hand, king. But even if he doesn't, know this, king: we won't serve your gods or worship the gold statue you've set up.
'But if not.' Faith that doesn't depend on the outcome. They say it before they know the ending.
- Daniel 6:10WEB
When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house (now his windows were open in his room toward Jerusalem) and he kneeled on his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did before.
Gen Zsame meaning, your wordsWhen Daniel found out the document had been signed, he went home, where the windows in his upstairs room opened toward Jerusalem, and knelt down three times a day to pray and thank his God, just like he always had.
He doesn't protest or hide. He does what he did yesterday, with the window open. The habit was already there before the law changed.
21He changes the times and the seasons. He removes kings and sets up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those who have understanding. 22He reveals the deep and secret things. He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.
Gen Zsame meaning, your wordsHe changes the times and seasons. He removes kings and installs kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to people with understanding. He reveals deep, hidden things. He knows what's in the dark, and light lives with him.
Daniel's prayer after God shows him the king's dream. The book's politics in one verse: kings are temporary, and God is doing the appointing.
- Daniel 12:3WEB
Those who are wise will shine as the brightness of the expanse. Those who turn many to righteousness will shine as the stars forever and ever.
Gen Zsame meaning, your wordsThe wise will shine as bright as the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.
The verse after the Old Testament's clearest promise of resurrection. Written for people being killed for their faith, and meant to be read at funerals.
Read Daniel
The full text, every chapter, from the World English Bible, a modern public-domain translation. Pick a chapter below. The highlighted verses are the place to start if you have never read it.
Daniel 6
1It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred twenty local governors, who should be throughout the whole kingdom; 2and over them three presidents, of whom Daniel was one, that these local governors might give account to them, and that the king should suffer no loss. 3Then this Daniel was distinguished above the presidents and the local governors, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.
4Then the presidents and the local governors sought to find occasion against Daniel as touching the kingdom; but they could find no occasion or fault, because he was faithful. There wasn’t any error or fault found in him. 5Then these men said, “We won’t find any occasion against this Daniel, unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.”
6Then these presidents and local governors assembled together to the king, and said this to him, “King Darius, live forever! 7All the presidents of the kingdom, the deputies and the local governors, the counselors and the governors, have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a strong decree, that whoever asks a petition of any god or man for thirty days, except of you, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. 8Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, that it not be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which doesn’t alter.” 9Therefore King Darius signed the writing and the decree.
10When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house (now his windows were open in his room toward Jerusalem) and he kneeled on his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did before. 11Then these men assembled together, and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God. 12Then they came near, and spoke before the king concerning the king’s decree: “Haven’t you signed a decree that every man who makes a petition to any god or man within thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered, “This thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which doesn’t alter.”
13Then they answered and said before the king, “That Daniel, who is of the children of the captivity of Judah, doesn’t respect you, O king, nor the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.” 14Then the king, when he heard these words, was very displeased, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored until the going down of the sun to rescue him.
15Then these men assembled together to the king, and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians, that no decree nor statute which the king establishes may be changed.”
16Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. The king spoke and said to Daniel, “Your God whom you serve continually, he will deliver you.”
17A stone was brought, and laid on the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. 18Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting. No musical instruments were brought before him; and his sleep fled from him.
19Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste to the den of lions. 20When he came near to Daniel in the den, he cried with a troubled voice. The king spoke and said to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, is your God, whom you serve continually, able to deliver you from the lions?”
21Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! 22My God has sent his angel, and has shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not hurt me, because innocence was found in me before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.”
23Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.
24The king commanded, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions—them, their children, and their wives; and the lions mauled them, and broke all their bones in pieces before they came to the bottom of the den.
25Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages who dwell in all the earth: “Peace be multiplied to you.
26“I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. “For he is the living God, and steadfast forever. His kingdom is that which will not be destroyed. His dominion will be even to the end.
27He delivers and rescues. He works signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.”
28So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
Questions about Daniel
When was Daniel written?
The book is set in the 6th century BC and speaks in Daniel's voice. Tradition takes that as the date. Many scholars point to the Aramaic and Persian and Greek loanwords, the detailed accuracy of chapter 11 up to about 167 BC and its vagueness after, and conclude the visions were finished during the persecution by Antiochus IV. That's a real debate and honest people sit on both sides. The stories' message (be faithful, God outlasts empires) doesn't change with the date.
Who was the fourth man in the furnace?
Nebuchadnezzar says the fourth figure looks 'like a son of the gods' (3:25), and afterwards calls him God's angel. The text doesn't identify him further. Christians have often read it as Jesus before his birth; the book itself leaves it as a divine presence in the fire with them. What's certain is that the three didn't get rescued from the furnace. They got company in it, and came out without even the smell of smoke.
Are the visions about the end of the world?
Partly. The four beasts, the ram and goat, and the kings of north and south track the empires that ruled the Jews: Babylon, Media, Persia, Greece, and the chapter 11 wars fit the Greek period in detail. But chapter 7's son of man receiving an everlasting kingdom and chapter 12's resurrection reach beyond any of that, and the New Testament read them that way. Be wary of anyone who's mapped the seventy weeks onto a calendar date. People have been doing that for two thousand years and have been wrong every time.
Did Daniel really survive the lions?
The book says so, and says the king found him unharmed at dawn and threw his accusers in instead. Whether you read the stories as history or as faithful tales told to encourage persecuted people, the point of the chapter is the same: Daniel prayed with the window open, knowing the law, and left the outcome to God. That's what the book is asking of its readers. The lions are the illustration, not the lesson.