Tag: stdanieltheprophet

Saint of the Day – 21 July – St Daniel the Prophet (Died 5th-century BC). Daniel means ‘God is my Judge. One of the four Great Prophets in the Old Testament and the Writer of the book of Sacred Scripture which bears his name. Died 5th-century BC in Babylon of natural causes. Patronage – Ledeberg, Belgium.

Daniel was a noble Jewish youth of Jerusalem taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon, serving the king and his successors with loyalty and ability until the time of the Persian conqueror Cyrus, all the while remaining true to the God of Israel. Daniel is not a Prophet in Judaism but the rabbis regard him to be the most distinguished member of the Babylonian diaspora, unsurpassed in piety and good deeds, firm in his adherence to the Law ,despite being surrounded by enemies, who sought his ruin.

The canon of Sacred Scripture contains the Book of Daniel as part of the Old Testament. In it we hear the tale of Daniel and his three companions carried off to Babylon following the capture of the city by Nebuchadnezzar. They were to be trained in the court and are given new names. In observance of Jewish dietary law, they refuse the food and wine provided by the King.

Daniel and his friends gain a reputation for great wisdom. In a number of instances Daniel is the only one who can interpret the dreams of the King, including a dream which foretells the fall of the King’s rule to the rule of the Medes and Persians. Under the new rule, Daniel is appointer to a high position; jealous rivals seek to destroy him by accusing him of worshiping God instead of the King. He is thrown into a den of lions where they assume he will be torn to pieces but he is rescued from the lions den through his trust in the Lord.​

Daniel had a number of visions and in the New Testament ,in Matthew 24:15, Jesus recognises Daniel as a Prophet of God.

The last mention of Daniel in the Book of Daniel is in the third year of Cyrus (Daniel 10:1). Rabbinic sources suppose that he was still alive during the reign of the Persian King Ahasuer,us (better known as Artaxerxes – Babylonian Talmud, Megillah 15a, based on the Book of Esther 4, 5) but he was killed by Haman, the wicked Governor of Ahasuerus (Targum Sheini on Esther, 4, 11). The 1st century Jewish writer Josephus, reported that Daniel’s body lay in a tower in Ecbatana in Parthia, alongside the bodies of the Kings of the Medes and Persians; later Jewish authorities said he was buried in Susa and that near his house were hidden the vessels from the Temple of Solomon. Muslim sources reported that the Muslims had discovered his body, or possibly only a box containing his nerves and veins, together with a book, a jar of fat and a signet ring, engraved with the image of a man being licked by two lions. The corpse was reburied, and those who buried it decapitated it, to prevent them from revealing the spot.

Today six cities claim Daniel’s Tomb – Babylon, Kirkuk and Muqdadiyah in Iraq, Susa and Malamir in Iran and Samarkand in Uzbekistan. The most famous is that in Susa, (Shush, in southern Iran), at a site known as Shush-e Daniyal. According to Jewish tradition. the rich and poor of the city quarrelled over possession of the body and the bier was, therefore, suspended from a chain over the centre of the river. A house of prayer open to all who believed in God, was built nearby and fishing was prohibited for a certain distance up and down the river. Fish that swam in that section of the river had heads that glinted like gold and ungodly persons who entered the sacred precinct, would miraculously drown in the river. To this day the tomb is a popular site of pilgrimage.

The Archangel Gabriel visited Daniel:

The Archangel St Gabriel, appears to the Prophet Daniel and explains his visions (Daniel 8:15–26, 9:21–27).
The Gospel of Luke relates the stories of the Annunciation, in which the angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah and the Virgin Mary, foretelling the births of St John the Baptist and Jesus, (Luke 1:11–38) (The Annunciation: Luke 1:26-45, 57-60).

Daniel 7:13–14

​13 “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. 14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations and languages, should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one, Which shall not be destroyed.”