Daniel 1:1

Daniel Finds Favor in Babylon

1:1 In the third 1  year of the reign of King Jehoiakim of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar 2  of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem 3  and laid it under siege. 4 

Daniel 1:18

1:18 When the time appointed by the king arrived, 5  the overseer of the court officials brought them into Nebuchadnezzar’s presence.

Daniel 2:46

2:46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar bowed down with his face to the ground 6  and paid homage to Daniel. He gave orders to offer sacrifice and incense to him.

Daniel 3:13

3:13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in a fit of rage 7  demanded that they bring 8  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before him. So they brought them 9  before the king.

1 sn The third year of the reign of Jehoiakim would be ca. 605 B.C. At this time Daniel would have been a teenager. The reference to Jehoiakim’s third year poses a serious crux interpretum, since elsewhere these events are linked to his fourth year (Jer 25:1; cf. 2 Kgs 24:1; 2 Chr 36:5-8). Apparently Daniel is following an accession year chronology, whereby the first partial year of a king’s reign was reckoned as the accession year rather than as the first year of his reign. Jeremiah, on the other hand, is following a nonaccession year chronology, whereby the accession year is reckoned as the first year of the king’s reign. In that case, the conflict is only superficial. Most modern scholars, however, have concluded that Daniel is historically inaccurate here.

2 sn King Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon from ca. 605-562 B.C.

3 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

4 sn This attack culminated in the first of three major deportations of Jews to Babylon. The second one occurred in 597 B.C. and included among many other Jewish captives the prophet Ezekiel. The third deportation occurred in 586 B.C., at which time the temple and the city of Jerusalem were thoroughly destroyed.

5 tn Heb “at the end of the days which the king said to bring them.”

6 tn Aram “fell on his face.”

7 tn Aram “in anger and wrath”; NASB “in rage and anger.” The expression is a hendiadys.

8 tn The Aramaic infinitive is active.

9 tn Aram “these men.” The pronoun is used in the translation to avoid undue repetition.