Dan'iel (Heb. and Chald. Don^eT, iK??^; also £zek. xiv, 14, 20; xxviii, 3] in the shorter form hmkV, biU'l ; see below), the name of at least three len.
1. (Sept. AaftvtfiK r, r. AakovtOf Vulg. Daniel.) Ling David's second son, ** bom unto him in Hebron,"
of AbigaU the Carmelitess" (1 Chron. iii,l), B.C. ir. 1051. In the parallel passage, 2 Sam. iii, 8, he is ailed Chilbab. For the Jewish explanation of the rigin of the two names, see Bochart, Bieratoic, ii, 55, ..663.
2. (Sept and N. T. Aavirik, Josephus AavtijXoQ,) rhe celebrated prophet and minister at the court of kbybn, whose life and prophecies are contained in he book bearing his name. The exact meaning of he name is disputed. The full form (^K^p^) is prob- ibly more correct, and in this the jfod appears to be lot merely formative, but a pronominal suffix (as in^irtH, SK*^"!*!:!), so that the sense will be God is T^ Judge (C.B. Michaelis ap. Rosenm&Uer, 8choL § 1). Others interpret the word as the Judge of God, and the ise of a yod formative is Justified by tiie parallel of ^elchizedek, etc. (Hitzig, § 2). This hiterpretation
is favored by the Chaldaan name, Belteshazzar (IXX^Jaba, i, 7, i. e. Ihc prince of Bel; Sept [Theod.] ; BaXracTOf) ; Vulg. BaUassar), which was given to Dan- iel at Babylon (Dan. i, 7), and contains a clear refer- ence to his former name. Hitzig's interpretation (" Pala tscha^ara = Emdkrer und Verzehrer'') has nothing to recommend it Such changes have been common at all times ; and for the simple assumption of a foreign name, compare Gen. xli, 45 ; £zek i, 11 ; V, 14 (Sheshbaxzar). See Name.
Daniel was descended from one of the highest fami- lies in Judah, if not even of royal blood (Dan. i, 3 ; comp. Josepbus, Ant. x, 10, 1 ; of Zedekiah, according to Epiphan. Opp, ii, 242). Jerusalem was thus proita- bly his birth-place, though the passage (Don. ix, 24) quoted in favor of tliat opinion is considered ty many commentators as not at all conclusive. He appears to have possessed considerable personal endowments (Dan. i, 4). He was taken to Babylon (while yet a boy, according to Jerome, adv. Jovin, 1, 276, ed. Yen. ; of twelve years, says Ignatius, ad Magnes. p. 56, ed. Cotel.), together with three other Hebrew youths of rank, Ananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, at the first de- portation of the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jeboiakim, B.C. 606. He and his companions were obliged to enter the service of the royal court of Bab- ylon, on which occasion he received the Chaldcean name Belteshazzar (q. v.), accordmg to Eastern custom when a change takes place in one's condition of life, and more especially if his personal liberty is thereby affected (comp. 2 Kings xxiii, 34 ; xxiv, 17 ; Esth. ii, 7 ; Ezra v, 14). In this his new career, Dan- iel received that thorough polish of education which Oriental etiquette renders indispensable in a courtier (comp. iii, 6 ; Plato, Alcib. § 37), and was more espe- cially instructed ** in the writing and speaking Chal- dfsan" (Dan. i, 4), that is, in the dialect peculiar to the ChaldsBans. See Chaldbb Lanodaob. In this dialect were composed all the writings of the ecclesi- astical order, containing the substance of all tbe wis- dom and learning of the time, and in the knowledge of which certainly but few fovored laymen were ini- tiated. That Daniel had distinguished himself, and already at an early period acquired renown for high wisdom, piety, and strict observance of the Mosaic law (comp. Ezek. xiv, 14, 20 ; xxviii, 8 ; Dan. i, a-16), is too evident from passages in the truly authentic Scriptures to requbre any additional support from the ill-warranted apocryphal stories concerning the deliv- ery of Susannah by the wisdom of the lad Daniel, etc. A proper opportunity for evincing both the acnteness of his mind and his religious notions soon presented itself in the custom of tbe Eastern courts to entertain the officers attached to them from the royal table (AtheniBus, iv, 10, p, 145, ed. Casaub.). Daniel was thus exposed to the temptation of partaking of un- clean food, and of participating in the idolatrous cere- monies attendant on heathen banquets. Like Joseph in earlier times, he gained the favor of his guardian, and was divinely supported in his resolve to abstain from the ** king's meat" for fear of defilement (Dan. i, 8-16). His prudent proceedings, wise bearing, and absolute refusal to comply with such customs, were crowned with the divine blessing, and had the most important results. Another reason of a sanitary na- ture may also be assigned for this temperance, as it is probable he was at this time undergoing the curative process after emasculation, in accordance with the bar- barons custom of Oriental courts. See Eunuch.
At the close of his three years' discipline (Dan. i, 5, 18), Daniel had an opportunity of exercising his pe- culiar gift (Dan. i, 17) of interpreting dreams (comp. Herod, i, 34; Diod. Sic. ii, 29) on the occasion of Neb- uchadnezzar's decree against the Magi (Dan. ii, 14 sq.). In consequence of his success, by the divine aid —like Joseph of old in Egypt— he rose into high fa-
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