Daniel in the City of Susa
Daniel’s vision in Daniel 8 is set in a distant city, Susa. Susa was in Babylonian territory, but on the very eastern edge. It was about 225 miles from where Daniel most likely had the vision, Babylon. Although some believe Daniel may have actually been in Susa at the time of the vision, the text allows that he may have only been there in his vision. “And I looked in the vision, and it came about while I was looking, that I was in the citadel of Susa, which is in the......
A Den of Lions in Babylon?
In a previous post we argued that the most likely location for the events of Daniel 6 was Babylon, the place where Daniel had spent nearly his entire life. So what kind of den might have been located in Babylon? Lions do not naturally live in caves or dens. Their natural habitat is open grassland or open forest. Clearly the place where Daniel was to be executed was the place where captive lions were held. No such place has been found in Babylon (or elsewhere in the ancient Near East), but there......
Where Was Daniel’s Den of Lions?
The author of Daniel does not state where the events of Daniel 6 (Daniel in the lions’ den) took place. There are several possibilities, all shown on the map above, but one appears most likely. The answer to this question affects how we envision the den of lions. Ecbatana was the historical capital of the Median empire. Ecbatana is located about 250 miles to the northeast of Babylon, across some pretty rough and mountainous ground. If Darius the Mede ruled from the old Median capital, Ecbatana would be the logical location for......
Elijah, Daniel, and Miracles
Malachi ends his book with the pronouncement that Elijah the prophet would come before the great and terrible day of the Lord (Mal 4:5-6). This prophecy stumped the disciples of Jesus who were at the transfiguration. They saw Jesus in blazing white, flanked by Moses and Elijah (Mat 17:1-12). Afterward, they were puzzled at the appearance of Elijah, realizing that he was prophesied to return. They had just seen him, but then he had disappeared again, and Jesus begun to talk of his own death. The angel who announced the birth of......
Was Daniel a Eunuch?
It is suggested from time to time that Daniel and his friends may have served as eunuchs in the court of Nebuchadnezzar. This idea is illustrated, for example, in the 14th century illuminated manuscript shown above, which depicts the Hebrew captives being castrated. Where does this idea come from, and how reliable is it? The best case to be made for supposing that Daniel was a eunuch hangs on an implication and the translation of a Hebrew word. If you read the KJV (or ESV), you will find 7 references in Daniel......
Life and Times of Daniel
As we start out a new Sunday School series on the book of Daniel it may be helpful to see Daniel in the midst of the events that were going on in his day. Daniel was born when the ruthless Assyrian empire still ruled the north. Egypt was still an independent nation to the south, and would remain independent until conquered by the Persian king Cambyses in 525 BC. We don’t know when Daniel was born, but perhaps it was around 620 BC. We do know that he was deported as a......
