Daniel (biblical figure)
| Daniel | |
|---|---|
Daniel's Answer to the King by Briton Rivière
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| Prophet (Christianity, Judaism, Islam) | |
| Venerated in | |
| Major shrine | Tomb of Daniel, Susa, Iran |
| Feast | July 21: Roman Catholicism December 17: Greek Orthodoxy |
| Attributes | Often depicted in the den of the lions |
Daniel (Hebrew: דָּנִיֵּאל, Modern Daniyyel, Tiberian Dāniyyêl; Greek: Δανιήλ, Hebrew "God is my Judge") is the hero of the Book of Daniel. A noble Jewish youth of Jerusalem, he is taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and serves 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. Some conservative scholars continue to argue that Daniel was a genuine individual and that the book that bears his name reflects real history, but the broad consensus is that Daniel never existed and that the book is a cryptic allusion to the reign of the 2nd century BCE Greek king Antiochus IV Epiphanes.
Six cities claim Daniel's Tomb, the most famous being that in Susa, in southern Iran, at a site known as Shush-e Daniyal. 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. The various branches of the Christian church do recognise him as a prophet, and although he is not mentioned in the Quran, Muslim sources describe him as a nabi, a saintly and righteous man.
Daniel's name means "God (El) is my judge". 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:
Daniel (Dn'il, or Danel) is also the name of a figure in the Aqhat legend from Ugarit. (Ugarit was a Canaanite city destroyed around 1200 BCE–the tablet containing the story is dated c.1360 BCE). This legendary Daniel is known for his righteousness and wisdom and a follower of the god El (hence his name), who made his will known through dreams and visions. It is unlikely that Ezekiel knew the far older Canaanite legend, but it seems reasonable to suppose that some connection exists between the two. The authors of the tales in the first half the Book of Daniel were likely also unaware of the Ugaritic Daniel and probably took the name of their hero from Ezekiel; the author of the visions in the second half in turn took his hero's name from the tales.
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