Daniel lived in Jerusalem at the same time Lehi did, though there is no evidence to suggest that they knew each other. All the evidence suggests that Daniel and his three companions were taken into captivity during the first exile to Babylon (see Daniel 1:6). Later he besieged Jerusalem twice more, carrying off additional captives both times, and eventually destroying Jerusalem about 587 B.C. Sometime during this campaign, Nebuchadnezzar learned of the death of his father, and within the year he returned to Babylon to be made king (see Jeremiah 25:1). Selected members of Judah’s upper class, which included Daniel (see 2 Kings 20:14–18 Daniel 6:13), were carried captive to Babylon. At that time many of the finest vessels of the temple were taken to Babylon as tribute (see 2 Chronicles 36:7). As seen in Daniel 1:1, this drive resulted in the siege of Jerusalem in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim and in Judah’s being made a vassal to Babylon for the next three years (see 2 Kings 24:1). Nebuchadnezzar pursued the Egyptians southward and dealt them a worse defeat near Hamath in Syria (see Harry Thomas Frank, Discovering the Biblical World, p. 127), thus securing Syria and Judea for the expanded Babylonian Empire. This defeat marked the beginning of the end of the Egyptian Empire as a world power and put the known world on notice that it would now have to reckon with Babylon. when they soundly defeated the Egyptian forces at Carchemish (see Jeremiah 46:2). Most scholars agree that Nebuchadnezzar, as a Babylonian prince, was in command of his father’s troops in 605 B.C. What Was the Historical Setting of Daniel’s Captivity? Notes and Commentary on Daniel (28-2) Daniel 1:1–2. (Individual-study students should complete all of this section.) Use Notes and Commentary below to help you as you read and study the book of Daniel.Ĭomplete Points to Ponder as directed by your teacher. Though at times his life was endangered because of the jealousy of evil men, yet he lived so perfectly that the Lord continually protected and preserved him. He was made chief of the wise men, chancellor of the equivalent of a national university, ruler of all the Hebrew captives, and, as governor of the province of Babylon, one of the chief rulers in both the Babylonian and Persian Empires. He became the Lord’s minister to those rulers. This endowment soon made him an object of greater attention from the emperor, and he was raised to positions that enabled him to spend his life in service to the kings of the land.
The Lord blessed him with the gift of interpreting dreams and visions. Because of his righteousness and sensitivity to the promptings of the Spirit, he was greatly favored of God. At the time that Nebuchadnezzar first carried the Jews captive into Babylon (about 605 B.C.), Daniel was chosen as one of the choicest Jewish youths to be taken to Babylon and trained for service in the king’s court. Like many of his brethren the prophets, Daniel was prepared and raised up as a minister to kings and emperors.
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