Daniel Chapter 1:
Get ready for some biblical fanfic, folks, because the Book of Daniel is kicking off with a Babylonian makeover! In this episode of Sacrilegious Discourse, Husband and Wife dive into the juicy backstory of Daniel and his hot Hebrew homies, handpicked by King Nebuchadnezzar for their brains and beauty.
Turns out, this whole chapter is like a prequel written centuries later, setting the stage for Daniel's prophetic adventures. But don't be fooled by the historical inaccuracies and questionable authorship - it's still a wild ride!
Join the hosts as they dissect the blatant cultural appropriation, the divine intervention in dietary choices (vegetables over royal feasts? God's got your back!), and the parallels to other biblical heroes (Joseph, anyone?).
It's a tale of ambition, assimilation, and a whole lot of God's favoritism. Tune in to find out how Daniel and his crew rise to the top of the Babylonian court, armed with nothing but their good looks, intelligence, and a divine veggie diet.
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Daniel Chapter 1
Wife: Husband, wife. Do you know what the hell we're doing today?
Husband: Well, this is kind of a special day. We're starting a new book of the Bible.
Wife: Indeed.
Husband: Something like that. M. so what, are we starting today?
Wife: We're starting Daniel. The book of Daniel.
Husband: Okay. All right. Not the tribe of Dan. I like the tribe of Dan. That was like, one of my favorite things in that early bit.
Wife: You know, Dan the man.
Husband: Yeah. But now we're starting the book of Danielle. Daniel. Daniel.
Wife: Not Danielle.
Husband: Yeah, no, no, no. I know. I was trying something cute and it didn't work.
Wife: So. Donny boy.
Husband: So, what did you want to say? Anything about the book before we get into this, or, where are we at with.
Wife: I have some shit to talk about when we get into it.
Husband: Okay. All right. so, Daniel. Here we go. Yeah, let's do it.
Wife: Okie dokie. All right, let's hop into the book of Daniel. before we do, though, I thought I would read a little bit about who is Daniel? What's this book? What's happening? I never heard of this guy. Except, I guess I did because I was right when I said that I thought there was something, some story about Daniel and some lions or something.
Husband: Right, right.
Wife: And, yeah, that's gonna happen.
Husband: Okay. I think. I think there's a lot of, I've heard a lot of stories, like, over the years about people putting the lion thing to the test, maybe.
Wife: I don't know what that means.
Husband: I could be wrong. But I think if it's the lion story I'm thinking of, it's like, you'll not receive any harm by being in a lion's den or something like that. And then some pastors over the years have decided to test that theory and it doesn't always go swimmingly for them.
Wife: I was gonna say, I bet that doesn't always go, wow.
Husband: Again, I don't know if this is the reference, but, like, if it is, then this has gotten some people deaded.
Wife: Whoa.
Husband: So I'm just saying unalived guys, let's not. Yeah, don't go on a lion den. That's not smart.
Wife: M so the book of Daniel was authored sometime during the second century BCE.
Husband: Okay.
Wife: The consensus of modern scholarship is that the book dates to the period of 167 to 163 BCE.
Husband: So this is significantly after the babylonian exile.
Wife: Hm. Okay, now, that's when it was written, but it takes place prior to that.
Husband: Really?
Wife: Yes.
Husband: Okay.
Wife: It is set during the 6th century BCE.
Husband: Okay.
Wife: Yeah. So this is so confused.
Husband: I am a bit confused. Because I feel like this makes the whole book retrofitted to what they want it to be.
Wife: Yes, but. And also.
Husband: Right, okay.
Wife: Because it's referenced heavily in the New Testament.
Husband: Yes.
Wife: So it's not only retrofitted, but another religion entirely retrofits their religion to Daniel, which is retrofitted. You know what I'm saying?
Husband: That's fun. Yeah. So this is more like we kind of got on this idea, in, Ezekiel, where some of the ideas were starting to change. And this is kind of like furthering some of those ideas. Maybe.
Wife: I don't know about that. We're getting back into story land. The first, few chapters. But let me just continue. We'll talk about that.
Husband: Sure. Okay. Yeah.
Wife: It's generally accepted that the book of Daniel. Daniel originated as a collection of aramaic court tales. That's particularly true of. I think the first six chapters are just stories. Aramaic stories. They were later expanded by the hebrew revelations. Okay, so they were aramaic stories, and then the Hebrews people, who are Hebrew speak Hebrew, do Hebrew. They stapled it together and were like, you're mine now.
Husband: Got it. Okay.
Wife: The court tales may have originally circulated independently, so they weren't, like, you know, stapled together.
Husband: Yeah.
Wife: Six stories. Here you go.
Husband: So some of these ideas might have come from earlier on. They just weren't put together until later. Is that okay?
Wife: Yeah, right.
Husband: I'm just trying to make sure I understood.
Wife: Yep. They circulated independently, but the edited collection was probably composed in the third or early second century BCE. Okay, so we've got this whole wide swath of, like, 400 years between when it takes place versus all the way 400 years later when it was actually written. Got it. Yeah. Okay. The author and or editor was probably an educated jewish person, knowledgeable in greek learning and of high standing in his own community.
Husband: So not Daniel.
Wife: Not Daniel, correct. And the reason that I, emphasized knowledgeable in greek learning is because there were several greek translations of these stories as well, and they don't all match up exactly the same.
Husband: Okay.
Wife: So we've got aramaic, hebrew and greek versions of these stories running around. Got it. Okay.
Husband: Yeah.
Wife: But somebody again, picked up the aramaic ones, wrote them in Hebrew, stapled them together and said, let's call it done.
Husband: Sure.
Wife: Okay.
Husband: Okay.
Wife: So it's possible that the name. Oh, wait. Yeah. It's possible that the name of Daniel was chosen for the hero of the book because of his reputation as a wise seer in hebrew tradition. Okay, so that's something.
Husband: So one of those m oral things that kind of got handed down or whatever. And this is. They're just. Okay, so it made sense to make this name, person whatever represent this book.
Wife: Essentially, yes.
Husband: But it's not necessarily. These stories are not necessarily all quote unquote Daniel. necessarily. I'm just saying because like you said, that they picked the name.
Husband: Daniel. So it doesn't sound like it's necessarily written about a guy named Daniel.
Wife: Correct. But a character named Daniel does, play the major part in the books. In the book.
Husband: Right. Because that name or that person permeated jewish culture.
Wife: Sure.
Husband: Or something.
Wife: Yeah. Okay, sorry, I wasn't quite following. So I just want to make sure.
Husband: Got it.
Wife: So we've got a person Daniel versus a character Daniel.
Husband: And I'm just saying. As opposed to, like, Ezekiel wrote Ezekiel. Right. Or Isaiah wrote isaiah.
Wife: Got it.
Husband: You know, like, not necessarily because those were also written by other people and edited by other people or something too. But essentially those books were based on a character that actually did something along those lines.
Wife: Right. There's not a Daniel. A, Daniel. A ah, Dan. Yeah, Daniel. Sorry, I'm having a hard time with his name. There's not a Daniel who sat down and wrote some stories. Got it. So this book is not written by.
Husband: Daniel, and the actions weren't necessarily taken by a person named Daniel.
Wife: Correct.
Husband: Daniel ends up representing the person that is taking the actions.
Wife: Correct.
Husband: Got it.
Wife: I think we're all clear now.
Husband: Okay.
Wife: Okay, sorry.
Husband: I just wanted to clarify that.
Wife: Yeah, yep, you're good. Daniel is one of a large number of jewish apocalypse stories.
Husband: Okay.
Wife: And all of these.
Husband: Well, like a good apocalypse story.
Wife: Well, all of these kinds of stories are pseudonymous. Good grief. Pseudonymous.
Husband: Pseudonymous. Okay.
Wife: Anonymous.
Husband: Yeah.
Wife: Pseudonym.
Husband: Pseudonym. Yeah.
Wife: Pseudonymous.
Husband: Yeah, I thought that's what it was.
Wife: Okay.
Husband: I don't know.
Wife: I'm really sorry. I'm just having so many problems. I should probably not be doing this right now, but I'm gonna just, you know, go.
Husband: Yeah, just truck on, power through.
Wife: Yeah, yeah. So, the apocalypse stories are not like. And then a nuclear bomb went off, and the story was about how mankind survived afterwards.
Husband: Okay.
Wife: the apocalypse stories are about, the end of time because God comes and smites, everything. Oh, you know what I mean? Like end of days apocalypse. Okay, does, that make sense?
Husband: I'm confused. Okay, so this. M I'm struggling here because you said that this is set. Hm, at like 600 bce.
Wife: Yes. But in those stories where it takes place, they foretell some things that are to come.
Husband: Okay, so people 400 years later, are taking some random stories from this timeframe and they're saying, look at these prophecies that are from, let's call them Daniel. And they're going, there's some bad shit that's going to happen at some point in the future based on these writings. Even though when they were written, they were written at the same time as the other babylonian exile prophets that were predicting the demise of Israel because of Babylon. But now that it's past that, we have to, like, make it mean something else, probably. So since we're 400 years later, we can make this sound really smart and about something else.
Wife: Sure.
Husband: That's how it sounds to me. That's what it sounds. You're not saying, you know, I'm just. It sounds like that's what you're telling me.
Wife: You're not far off. Okay, so the first several chapters, like one through six, remember, I told you, are like stories.
Husband: Yeah.
Wife: They are about this guy named Daniel who was a noble, exiled at Babylon. And, he was exiled there when he was a child. And it's about how he and his buddies were brought up in the Babylon court.
Husband: Okay.
Wife: Okay.
Husband: Yeah.
Wife: And that's the first six chapters. The ones after that are something different. Got it. Okay. And I'll get into that in a minute.
Husband: Okay.
Wife: Okay. Christian interpreters have always viewed the stories recorded in Daniel as predicting events in the New Testament. Okay. Cause we've got the son of God is mentioned, and the son of Mandev and Christ and the Antichrist, that kind of thing. We've got this stuff happening.
Husband: Really.
Wife: Well, keep in mind Christ is not a name.
Husband: No, I know.
Wife: It's a title.
Husband: Correct.
Wife: So, you know, it's actually supposed to be like Jesus the Christ. Not Jesus Christ.
Husband: Yeah, yeah, no, I got it.
Wife: So when they say Christ and the Antichrist, they're not like, talking about the.
Husband: Placeholder for the future, the savior of whatever.
Wife: Right. And they talk about a messiah.
Husband: Sure.
Wife: Like even, Ezekiel talked about a messiah.
Husband: Sure.
Wife: So.
Husband: But not the Christ or not specifically.
Wife: Jesus Christ, this like some messiah guy. And so this is like. I know, right? Like some messiah guy. Like he's totally a Christ. Totally.
Husband: Right.
Wife: Like, whatever that means, you know?
Husband: Yeah.
Wife: And the book's intended audience, though, we have to keep in mind, is the Jews of the second century BCE.
Husband: Sure.
Wife: Not Christians. Right. I really appreciated that note because it serves as a solid reminder that this was not written to appease a, ah, christian audience to retrofit their shit.
Husband: No, Christianity took this and ran with it, usurped it.
Wife: Yes. And made their religion fit around all of these puzzle pieces, which, you know, very clever, very well done. But stop.
Husband: I mean, if you want to create a new religion or a new group or a new sect in a religion, it definitely helps to take the old stuff and I. And use it to base your new ideas off of. And that way you can get people to believe it. Right? So if you want to break away, like, hey, this is what's happened. And now. Now we're gonna be separate over here because those people got it wrong. Yeah.
Wife: So, I don't know, whatever.
Husband: Sure. I. I'm curious about this, but this. This,
Husband: This chapter. This book. Yeah, sorry, yeah, I wanted to say chapter.
Wife: I wanted to say all of this before we get into it because to me it matters. You know what I mean? The book can be divided into two parts. Like I said, the first six chapters, ah. Are a set of six court tales, which is what I said. and they were mostly written in Aramaic, which kind of what I said. the next chapters, seven through twelve, are four apocalyptic visions, mostly written in Hebrew. Okay, so there's that. Now, having said that, the deuterocanonical books contain three additional sections.
Husband: Okay?
Wife: And I'm gonna try to get my hands on these.
Husband: The deuterocanonical, what does that mean exactly?
Wife: it just means that there were three stories running around back then that sometimes were in versions and sometimes were nothing. Got it. So for whatever reason, these were left out of the final product.
Husband: Okay.
Wife: But they were present at the same time. All right.
Husband: I'd be curious if they're still in the jewish version of whatever, if this is something that's in there or what. I don't even know if Daniel's in there for sure, but I would assume it is.
Wife: I'd have to look. I think so. But I don't fucking know. Oh, no, I do know. I, did see this. It is listed as one of the writings instead of one of the prophets.
Husband: Okay.
Wife: All right. So, because of, the time period that they were putting all this together, this one was a late comer.
Husband: Right?
Wife: And so, they stuck it in the writings also because it's stories.
Husband: And I would also imagine that this holds a lot more weight for christians and therefore, during the split between Christianity and Judaism, probably it gave this less weight with the jewish community than it did. You know what I mean? Like, they might have tried to distance themselves from this a bit.
Wife: Right? Yeah, no, no doubt. That makes total sense.
Husband: Yeah.
Wife: So, the three stories that are left out, that again, I'm really going to try to get my hands on are the prayer of Azariah and song of the three holy children. That's one. The next one is Susannah.
Husband: Yeah. Oh, Susanna. Yeah, sorry.
Wife: And the third one, this is the one I really want. Belle and the dragon.
Wife: M. Right. Yeah, we've heard reference to that before.
Husband: We have. I don't know where, but,
Wife: Somewhere in our readings.
Husband: Sure.
Wife: But, yeah, I'm. I want these.
Husband: Right.
Wife: I want to read them. And I think if we are able to find copies or translations online or something.
Husband: Right.
Wife: when we get to the end of, What is this, Daniel, I'd like to read those three as though they are part of. Because they, I think should be, you know, they were running around at the same time.
Husband: Yeah, for sure.
Wife: Okay.
Husband: Yeah.
Wife: This book is filled with monsters, angels and numerology drawn from a wide range of various sources.
Husband: Interesting.
Wife: Yeah. I mean, we've got the, you know, aramaic and all. there's some persian stuff, so.
Husband: Right, right.
Wife: Just like. Very exciting.
Husband: Yeah.
Wife: The book of Daniel is a composite text of dubious historicity. Meaning it's not telling you shit that actually happened or it's recording events that may or may not be exactly how they went down.
Husband: Right.
Wife: And, these are from various genres. And Daniel himself is a legendary figure. So he's not a real.
Husband: So this is just a. It's a fiction.
Wife: That's why it's in the writings.
Husband: Yeah.
Wife: Yeah. Okay, so let me tell you a little bit more. Oh, you know what? No, that was the end of the intro. Apologies. Then that gets into my notes.
Husband: Sounds good.
Wife: My notes.
Husband: Yeah.
Wife: So are we ready to start this chapter finally?
Husband: I'm ready.
Wife: All right, let's talk about Daniel now. Daniel, chapter one.
Husband: Daniel, chapter one.
Wife: In the third year of the reign of Wakim, king of Judah.
Husband: So we're back there. Okay.
Wife: Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged.
Husband: It sounds familiar.
Wife: And the lord delivered king of Judah into his hand along with some of the articles from the temple of God, which we recall this.
Husband: Right.
Wife: These he carried off to the temple of his God in Babylonia and put the treasure house. And put it in the treasure house of his goddess. Then the king ordered Ashpanaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king's service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility. Yeah.
Husband: okay. That's when Ezekiel went.
Wife: Young men without any physical defect. Handsome, showing, aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king's palace. Okay, so here's the thing. He wanted them, like, super handsome so that they looked great. So no ugly people.
Husband: Yeah.
Wife: Right, right. And he wanted them to be really smart so he could train him up because the Chaldeans were the main people at this point of the Babylonians.
Husband: Oh.
Wife: And remember, they were the smart, astrology guys.
Husband: Yeah.
Wife: So a lot of the babylonian people were of chaldean. either, like, that's what they were, or they were of chaldean descent. Got it. And that came straight from my notes. I'm not just pulling that out of my ass. I saw the look on your face. But that. That's why he wanted smart kids that were handsome. Got it. Okay. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king's table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that, they were to enter the king's service.
Husband: Okay.
Wife: So he's basically, like, taking kids from somewhere else, and he's like, you're my servant now, and you will learn our ways.
Husband: Got it.
Wife: Which is interesting to me. it makes me think of, in Game of Thrones, theon.
Husband: Theon.
Wife: like, he was the one that was not related to Jon Snow and the family, but they took him in, and he was actually from a different family, but they always treated him as though he was part of the family.
Husband: Yeah.
Wife: So it makes it feel like it's kind of. That kind of thing, you know? Among those who were chosen were some from Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. The chief official gave them new names to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Mashash, and to Azariah Abednego.
Husband: Okay, all right.
Wife: So they did have their, you know, jewish names, but now they have babylonian names because you're a Babylonian now.
Husband: Right?
Wife: Make peace with that.
Husband: Yeah.
Wife: But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine. And he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Now, God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, but the official told Daniel, I am afraid of my lord, the king who was assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you. He was like, I can only do so much. My God, Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, please test your servants for ten days. Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food and treat your servants in accordance with what you see. So he's like, just try it.
Husband: Sure.
Wife: So the dude agreed to this and tested them for ten days. At the end of the ten days, they looked healthier and, better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.
Husband: And I'm sure this was God's daughter.
Wife: Oh, it was. It was. Yeah. We're gonna. God's gonna play a big part in this.
Husband: Got it.
Wife: Yeah.
Husband: I can already tell that this is gonna be a sickening amount of, like, God did this for them, and God. Da da da.
Wife: It reminds me of, like, Moses and the pharaoh, right? Like, when Moses was like, I totally want to do this. And the pharaoh was like, no. And he was like, just try me. And then, you know, of course, God had Moses back, right?
Husband: Yeah.
Wife: So, anyway, so the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead. So he's like, all right, as long as you don't look like shit. Right? M I'm fine with that. Whatevs. To these four young men, God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds of. Because, of course he could. He's also Joseph, right?
Husband: No, I was about to say it sounds very similar to Joseph. Yeah.
Wife: Yes, yes. At the end of the time, set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mashael and Azariah. So they entered the king's service.
Husband: Okay.
Wife: So they are, in every matter of wisdom and understanding, about which the king questioned them. He found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.
Husband: Wow.
Wife: And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus. The end.
Husband: Oh, okay.
Wife: That's the first chapter.
Husband: Got it. So that's our introduction to Daniel, which.
Wife: Apparently the first chapter was written a lot later. And, as an intro to this, I do have a little note about that.
Husband: Okay. We can't just jump right in.
Wife: Yeah.
Husband: Give a little bit of backstory here.
Wife: Yeah. Chapter one was apparently added as an introduction to the tales when they were collected around the end of the third century bce. And this chapter talks about the three guys and Daniel. Daniel and his three guys.
Husband: I can actually appreciate that because we have actually been talking all through the Bible how there's very much a lack of character development.
Wife: Yeah.
Husband: Right. And now we finally have some character development.
Wife: Right.
Husband: Which is nice change, actually.
Wife: It is. It is. It's like, hey, remember back when this war shit was happening?
Husband: Right?
Wife: And remember when that king was stealing people? Remember? Member? And I'm like, oh, yeah. I do remember that. Thank you.
Husband: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Wife: I find it very helpful.
Husband: I will say that knowing that this is about. This is written so far after these events hypothetically took place, does take away from the magic that maybe some people that read this, that think that this. This is a real thing, might feel. So. Not that I would feel the magic either way because I don't believe in God.
Wife: Right.
Husband: But it does strike more of a. This is like a fanfic of, biblical writings or something. Yeah. Right, right. Yeah. So. But that being said, I, might be able to enjoy this book with.
Wife: you might be able to enjoy the first six chapters, which are story. Let us not forget that what comes after is something different. Right.
Husband: No, I got it. I got it. Yeah. But, this type of writing is somewhat.
Wife: It's palatable.
Husband: It's palatable.
Wife: Yeah.
Husband: Yeah. That's all I'm gonna say for now.
Wife: Yeah.
Husband: Because I don't really know much about Daniel, and I don't know much about the chapters after the first six chapters or really any of them. But, I mean, so far, so good.
Wife: So far, so good. Right?
Husband: We have a story going.
Wife: I'm really intrigued. I want to see what happens next. I'm in.
Husband: Yeah.
Wife: I mean, we're reading it. We got to read it anyway.
Husband: Sure.
Wife: I would like to be enthusiastic rather than. God damn it, I hate this fucking book.
Husband: Definitely.
Wife: So I'm in.
Husband: Definitely. Definitely. All right, well, that was, the first chapter of Daniel, sure as fuck, Washington. And, we will be back tomorrow.
Wife: With Daniel, chapter two.
Husband: All right, we'll see you then.
Wife: Bye.
