Historical Setting
The setting of the book of Daniel covers much of the Neo-Babylonian Empire and the early years of the Persian Empire. From the mid-eighth century BC, Assyria was the dominant power in the ancient Near East. By the time of Ashurbanipal’s death in 627 BC, Assyria had slipped into decline. An internal struggle for the throne after his death was exploited by Nabopolassar, a Chaldean prince from southern Mesopotamia. He marched on Babylon, defeated an Assyrian army outside the city, and captured it, declaring himself king of Babylon in 626. Assyrian attempts to oust him failed. Soon the Medes, from the east, joined the Babylonians in attacking Assyria. Egypt supported Assyria and sent an army to help. The combined armies repelled attacks by Nabopolassar in 616 and 615. In 614 the Medes captured Ashur, the ancient Assyrian capital, and in 612 Nineveh, the current capital, fell to a combined Babylonian-Median assault. The Assyrian army retreated to Harran on the Euphrates, but it was expelled from there by the Babylonians in 610. When a combined Assyrian-Egyptian army failed to retake Harran in 609, Assyrian power was finished.
Judah had been an Assyrian vassal for over a century. The decline of Assyria enabled King Josiah to institute religious reform. Since this involved removing the trappings of the worship of Assyrian gods from the temple, it amounted to a declaration of independence. Probably because he did not want to exchange Assyrian domination for Egyptian, Josiah opposed Pharaoh Necho II when he went to Assyria’s aid in 609 BC. Josiah was killed in battle at Megiddo (2 Kin. 23:29–30). The Judahites put his younger son Jehoahaz on the throne but, on his return from Harran, Necho replaced Jehoahaz with his older brother Jehoiakim (2 Kin. 23:31–35). The Egyptians tried to prevent the Babylonians from crossing the Euphrates, but in 605 they were defeated at Carchemish by an army under crown prince Nebuchadnezzar. They soon suffered another crushing defeat by him at Hamath in Syria, after which Syria and Palestine, including Judah, came under Babylonian control. Shortly after the battle Nabopolassar died and Nebuchadnezzar became king of Babylon. He left Jehoiakim on the throne of Judah but, according to Dan. 1, he took plunder and captives from Jerusalem to Babylon. Daniel and his friends were among the captives.
They were joined there by other captives from Judah during the turbulent final years of Judah’s existence, which involved two rebellions against Babylon. Both rebellions were crushed by Nebuchadnezzar, one in 597 BC and the other in 587. After the second rebellion, Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed and Judah ceased to be an independent kingdom. It was incorporated into the Babylonian Empire as a province (called “Yehud”), with a governor appointed by the Babylonians (2 Kin. 25:22).
The Neo-Babylonian Empire declined after Nebuchadnezzar’s death, weakened by court intrigues. In 556 BC Nabonidus, who was from a noble family but not the royal line, seized the throne. His devotion to Sin, the moon-god, and various religious innovations resulted in friction with the powerful priests of Marduk in Babylon, as well as the populace of the city. This may have been one reason why he moved his residence to the oasis of Tema in Arabia. He probably also wanted to control the lucrative trade along the Arabian caravan routes. During his absence crown prince Belshazzar was regent in Babylon.
The Medes annexed the northern and eastern portions of the Assyrian Empire when it collapsed. As Babylonia’s power declined, Media’s increased, and Media became a serious rival power. Early in Nabonidus’s reign, Cyrus, vassal king of Anshan in Persia, rebelled against his Median overlord, Astyages. By 550 BC he had captured the Median capital, Ecbatana, and dethroned Astyages. Cyrus rapidly extended his empire to the north and east. As the threat from Cyrus grew, Nabonidus returned to Babylon. In 539 BC Cyrus defeated a Babylonian army at Opis on the Tigris. Soon afterward his general, Gubaru, entered Babylon unopposed. When Cyrus arrived a few weeks later, many Babylonians welcomed him as a liberator. In 538 Cyrus issued a decree allowing Jews to return to Jerusalem, take back the temple vessels looted by Nebuchadnezzar, and restore their community and worship there. This was part of his general policy of respecting the customs of his subject peoples.
The Persian Empire continued for just over 200 years before collapsing under the onslaught of Alexander the Great. This event and its aftermath are the subject of the visions in Dan. 7–12 (see notes there).
Literary Setting
Daniel contains two different kinds of material. Chs. 1–6 contain stories about Daniel and his companions. The rest of the book contains accounts of visions experienced and recounted by Daniel. Both of these types of literature are paralleled in the ancient Near East.
Though the book occasionally has Daniel speaking in the first person, the narratives are largely third person. Daniel is not named as the author. While there is no reason to question the authenticity of the accounts in the book, the fact that many narrative traditions were preserved orally, perhaps even for centuries before being committed to writing, results in uncertainty concerning when and by whom the book was compiled. ◆
Key Concepts
• Daniel uses his training to develop knowledge and skills that God in turn draws on to use Daniel in His service.
• Even the most powerful and successful kings the world has known acknowledge the sovereignty of Yahweh.