Facts About Daniel
—A simple list

The Prophet Daniel

• A prophet in Babylon at the time of the overthrow of Judah by the Babylonians (Chaldeans).
• As a boy he was among the first exiles taken to Babylon, and served God during the seventy-year captivity.
• In Babylonia, Daniel was like Joseph had been in Egypt. He interpreted the king’s dreams and was promoted to the highest rank.
• Daniel's Chaldean name was Belteshazzar.
• His companions in the court were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego (their Chaldean names).
• Daniel was contemporary with the vassal kings of Judah named Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin (Coniah), and Zedekiah who reigned in Jerusalem.
• In visions, Daniel foresaw the entire period from the Babylonian captivity until the Messiah came and established his kingdom throughout the world. This was represented symbolically as seventy weeks.
• Daniel dreamed of four beasts representing four successive empires, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome (Daniel 7).
• Daniel also interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a great image which also represented the four successive kingdoms (Daniel 2).
• Daniel was informed about the more distant future also. Daniel chapter 12 predicts the resurrection of the dead at the end of the world.
• The angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel and conversed with him (Daniel 9).
• Daniel refused to worship an image, and refused to stop praying to God. He was cast into a den of lions to be killed, but he survived without a scratch (Daniel 6).
• Daniel was a man of great wisdom and insight because he allowed himself to be enlightened by God. With this light in him, he had hope as an anchor for his own soul and he set an example in word and deed that encouraged others to obey God.