Daniel 1:1 Commentary and Bible Study

Here is the first chapter so perfectly structured, even from a literary point of view. It will introduce us to the entire book and its wonders. Verse 3 is a pivotal verse: ‘And the king’ – that is the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar – ‘spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes’ – noble youths, and he should bring them out of Jerusalem and to Babylon. So tragedy strikes a number of young men. But then in no time you find them elevated to a training course to serve in the emperor of Babylon's court. Verse 8 is another key verse: ‘But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat.’ He would take a tremendous risk, and risk humiliation and shame, and possibly even death by not going along with what was required of him. Then the next pivotal verse is down in verse 17: ‘As for these four children,’ – or ‘youths’; that would help us in our imagining of the scene – ‘God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom.’ So you can see the chapter is structured around these three key verses, and if you catch this, you see the drift of the whole narrative. ‘In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.’ Actually he wasn't king of Babylon yet, not for another year or so, but it's quite reasonable that Daniel should introduce him in this way, because this book is written after the death of Nebuchadnezzar and looks back on him as a great historic emperor king. So he is called king here by way of prolepsis, anticipating all that would follow. There is no inaccuracy in the narrative. Verse 1 goes back to 605 BC, the first of three attacks on Jerusalem, this first involving Nebuchadnezzar acting as a kind of prince regent for his father and representing his father. The attack was triggered by the rebellion of Jehoiakim after initially submitting to Nebuchadnezzar for three years (2 Kings 24:1; 2 Chronicles 36:6). Nebuchadnezzar had taken an army down towards Egypt, and now while returning home, punished Israel for her disobedience. It is not a major attack. There was a tough siege, but no battle. Some speculate that when they realised the purpose of Nebuchadnezzar they opened the doors pretty quickly and let him in, allowing him to chastise and bring to heel King Jehoiakim. He did not sack Jerusalem for another nineteen years. On this occasion Nebuchadnezzar took the treasures out of the temple and carried them off to Shinar as kind of trophies (2 Chronicles 36:7). The idea was to show the Babylonian god Marduk to be superior by looting the temple. We should understand that it was not so much that Nebuchadnezzar did this, as the Lord allowed it. This attack in 605 BC was not the final fall of Jerusalem, but only the first of three invasions. The discipline came upon Judah because the king was foolish and wicked and in a state of rebellion. God directs this attack against Jerusalem and still they don’t turn, and so there is a second and a third siege which results in the final fall of Jerusalem.