In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. 3 Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, 4 youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. 5 The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. 6 Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. 7 And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.
Daniel's Faithfulness
8 But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. 9 And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, 10 and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.” 11 Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12 “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” 14 So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. 15 At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king's food. 16 So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.
17 As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 18 At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. 20 And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. 21 And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus. Daniel 1 ESV
Daniel 1: 1-6
The reign of Jehoiakim - The token ruler in Judah at the time of Babylon's take over. He was a vassal king under one of the Egyptian pharaohs, Pharaoh Necho, who killed Josiah. Necho actually chose him to be king in Judah and changed his name from Eliakim to Jehoiakim. Fascinating that here it is stated as the third year, and in Jeremiah the fourth year, which provides background to the place where Daniel writes this from, since the Babylonians do not count the year of a kings ascension. One may not just have the title, but he must hold it I suppose. From the Jewish perspective it would be the fourth year of Jehoiakim's reign.
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon - Son of Nabopolassar, who was the king of Babylon still in 605 B.C. He was sent by his father to take out the Assyrian empire at the Battle of Carchemish, where the rule of the major part of the known world switched to Babylon. The name Nebuchadnezzar has an approximate meaning of "Nebo, protect my frontier."
605 BC June-August - Wiseman writes that at this time "The effect (of Nebuchadnezzar's victory over Assyria and Egypt) on Judah was that King Jehoiakim, a vassal of Necho (Egyptian King), submitted voluntarily to Nebuchadnezzar, and some Jews, including the prophet Daniel, were taken as captives for hostages to Babylon" Around this time General Nebuchadnezzar learned of his father Nabopolassar's death, which prompted his return to Babylon to be crowned king. - Precept Austin
And the Lord gave - God is sovereign in this and has called Babylon to pass judgment on Judah, yet you will see that Nebuchadnezzar is not initially aware of this, but God, Who is rich in mercy, will bring him to understand it. Israel was warned by her prophets for centuries that this hour was coming. The northern kingdom had already been taken into exile by Assyria, and Judah had all these warnings, even from Moses, the law, Isaiah, Jeremiah and others, even during the Assyrian invasions Judah had lost some 200,000 of her citizens to captivity. Jerusalem was preserved under the good king Hezekiah and the prayers and ministries of Isaiah. Yet, under Manasseh she rebelled, aborting her children to the god, Molech, worshiping idols, committing the sins for which the Canaanites were driven from the land. I recommend reading all of Deuteronomy 4, the words of Moses that came hundreds of years before this. God raises up kingdoms to do His will.
“You will live in the country a long time. You will have children and grandchildren there. After all that time, be sure that you do not then ruin your lives by making any kind of idol! That is something the Lord your God considers evil, and it would make him very angry! 26 So I am warning you now. Heaven and earth are my witnesses! If you do such an evil thing, you will quickly be destroyed! You are crossing the Jordan River now to take that land. But if you make any idols, you will not live there very long. No, you will be destroyed completely! 27 The Lord will scatter you among the nations. And only a few of you will be left alive to go to the countries where the Lord will send you. 28 There you will serve gods made by men—things made of wood and stone that cannot see or hear or eat or smell! 29 But there in these other lands you will look for the Lord your God. And if you look for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him. 30 When you are in trouble—when all these things happen to you—then you will come back to the Lord your God and obey him. 31 The Lord your God is a merciful God! He will not leave you there or destroy you completely. He will not forget the agreement that he made with your ancestors. Deuteronomy 4: 25-31
5“Look at the nations and observe—be utterly astounded! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe even if someone told you. 6For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans— that ruthless and impetuous nation which marches through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own. 7They are dreaded and feared; from themselves they derive justice and sovereignty.… Habakkuk 1: 5-7
…8Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Because you have not obeyed My words, 9behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation. 10Moreover, I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp.… Jeremiah 25: 8-10
With some of the vessels of the house of God - Now, in Nebuchadnezzar's mind, being able to not only take the nation of Judah, but also enter the house of their God, Jehovah, and take the sacred vessels of the sanctuary, would by his pagan rational be all the proof to him that his god was the greater.
To the land of Shinar - This is an ancient name for Babylon, which is also called Babel. She is the mother of harlots, meaning false religions, they come from Babel in the land of the Chaldeans, the home of the Ziggurat, known as the tower of Babel. This is where a first world ruler arose, a political head, tyrant, who against God's mandate to spread out and fill the earth, decided to bring all the peoples together under his rule.
Bring some of the people of Israel - These were the children of leaders, noble families, the learned, yet young and teachable. It is estimated that Daniel and his young friends were between the ages of 14-19. This is not a practice strictly related to Babylon; the Greeks, Romans and Persians also did this. The Greek's method was referred to as Hellenization, wherein you make everyone a Greek. The communist have always started with the young and taking over the education system, the desire being to have the child grow up looking to the state as the parent. The Greek Hellenizers and Romans often referred to the Jews and later Christians as atheist, since they only believed in the God of the Bible, and the Greeks were polytheist who never met a god they wouldn't add to their list. It's like the Unity and Coexist movements of our day, very liberal except towards those who don't agree with them, the Greeks were so fervent in their inclusiveness that they even had a tomb to the unknown god, in case they missed one.
22Then Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious. 23For as I walked around and examined your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore what you worship as something unknown, I now proclaim to you. 24The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands.… Acts 17: 22-24
Without blemish, of good appearance - Much the same way men would always pick, finding a model person, easy on the eyes, and then molding and grooming them to represent your brand. I have worked for corporations for a long time, and they have members that climb the ladder, vps and ceos, who read books about dressing for success, what to say, when to say it, and even hiring life coaches to help polish their presentation. Sadly, it all lacks sincerity and leads to a lot of knee jerking and wetting one's finger, holding it up in the air of the culture to find out what you believe today, and what you will be feeding the masses. Babylon beat them in battle, so might makes right, right? I mean if they won, then all their ways are better and they hold the power, so these Jewish children just need to assimilate and do what they are told. When they do that then it will be a guide for the Jewish captives to follow suit and do the same. The taking of these young men as captives to be raised up in Babylon was predicted long before by Isaiah.
…16Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD: 17The time will surely come when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. 18And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, will be taken away to be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”… 2 Kings 20: 1618
Among these were - Part of the process of becoming Babylonians was to give the boys new names. They were also given the kings food and wine, wined and dined so to speak, which would be counted by most as a privilege. As you can see, the change of names also had religious connotations, to make the boys comfortable with the gods of Babylon. No matter what people claim, everyone has a religion, whether polytheists like the Babylonians, Monotheists like those true practicing Jews and Christians, or atheist who practice some brand of humanism, everyone believes something, but hardly anyone lives to the fullest implication of their belief.
Daniel = “God is my judge” > Belteshazzar = “Bel Protect the King.” (Isa 46:1; Jer 50:2; 51:44). Every time His name was called it was a good thing reminder that one day he would stand before a holy God (cp 2Co 5:10-note) . Most of don't possess the name "Daniel" but we need to conduct ourselves as if that were our name!
Hananiah = “Jehovah is Gracious” > Shadrach = “Command of Aku (Babylonian idolatrous god)."
Mishael = “Who is like God?” > Meshach = “Who is what Aku (Babylonian idolatrous god) Is?”
Azariah = “Jehovah is my Helper” > Abed-nego = “Servant of Nego (Babylonian idolatrous god)” also called Nebo, a god of vegetation (cf. Isa 46:1).
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