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About Daniel
Daniel 4:8 “But at last Daniel came before me (his name is Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god; in him is the Spirit of the Holy God)”
“Bel” means “lord” and refers to a title of a god in ancient Near Eastern, particularly Babylonian, culture. The name comes from the Akkadian word “bēlu,” the Aramaic form of Baal. Bel is often associated with Marduk, the chief deity of Babylon, and is mentioned in prophetic warnings against idolatry and false gods. A word we might recognize today is Tzar (zar/sar), meaning prince. The word was used in Russian/Slavic language, derived from the Latin Caesar, meaning “emperor” or “king”. So the word Belteshazzar H1096 – ḇēlṭᵊša’ṣṣar means Bel’s prince, or “a prince whom the gods favour”.
However, Daniel’s Hebrew name H1841 – dānîyē’l/H1840 – dinîyē’l has the word El H410 – ‘ēl in, which is short for Elohim. Dan H1835 – dān means Judge, coming from the word Din H1777 – dîn meaning to plead a cause for, or to give judgement. Click here to read more on a previous post from Jeremiah 8 about Dan and Judgement, and the last time Dan is mentioned is in Ezekiel, and replaced/not mentioned in Revelation with the other tribes.
Daniel was seen even by the other prophets as one of the most Righteous prophets (mentioned also by Ezekiel 14:14), and his prophecies and visions align perfectly with the visions from John in Revelation. Yeshua directly mentions Daniel by name when referring to the “abomination that causes desolation” (Matthew 24:15, “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand)”). Yeshua also identifies himself with the “Son of Man” figure described in Daniel’s vision (Daniel 7:13), an allusion found in Matthew 24:30 (“Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven”) and other passages.
Daniel lived through the reigns of at least five kings: Nebuchadnezzar (605–562 BC), Evil-Merodach (2 Kings and Jeremiah), Belshazzar (grandson of Nebuchadnezzar), Darius (a Mede-Persian king 539 BC), and Cyrus (Persian king 550 to 530 BC).
Writing on the Wall
Daniel 5:25 “And this is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN”
- MENE H4484 – mᵊnē’ : a weight or measurement, root word MENA H4483 – mᵊnā’, meaning set, ordained, numbered, appoint
- TEKEL H8625 – tᵊqal : from the word Shekel which is a unit of weight used to make payments
- UPHARSIN H6537 – pᵊras : means to break in two, divide, tear or break up
