
The Book of Ezra (8:2) mentions a priest named Daniel who went from Babylon to Jerusalem with Ezra.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 Ezekiel (14:14, 14:20 and 28:3) refers to a legendary Daniel famed for wisdom and righteousness. 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: He is considered a prophet in Christianity, and although he is not mentioned in the Quran, Muslim sources describe him as a prophet.īackground 13th-century French depiction in stained glass of Daniel interceding with Arioch, commander of the king's guard, who was ordered to execute the Babylonian wise men after they were unable to interpret Nebuchadnezzar's dream.ĭaniel's name means "God (El) is my judge". 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. Six cities claim the Tomb of Daniel, the most famous being that in Susa, in southern Iran, at a site known as Shush-e Daniyal. While some conservative scholars hold that Daniel existed and his book was written in the 6th century BCE, most scholars agree that Daniel is not a historical figure and that much of the book is a cryptic allusion to the reign of the 2nd century BCE Hellenistic king Antiochus IV Epiphanes.
According to the Hebrew Bible, Daniel was a noble Jewish 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 conqueror Cyrus, all the while remaining true to the God of Israel. Daniel ( Aramaic and Hebrew: דָּנִיֵּאל, romanized: Dānīyyēʾl, lit.'God is my Judge' Greek: Δανιήλ, romanized: Daniḗl Arabic: دانيال, romanized: Dāniyāl) is the main character of the Book of Daniel.