Dan 1:3-6 | KingComments | STEP | Nebuchadnezzar wants to train a number of young Judean men to serve at his court and to give them an important position in his country’s government. He acts according to the principle ‘he who has the youth, has the future’. In , a profile of these young men is given. Among them are Daniel and his three friends. Daniel belongs to the Judean nobility. He was brought to Babylon at the first transportation. The prophet Isaiah prophesied the deportation of these men to Babylon: And [some] of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away, and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon” ( ). These men are chosen to increase the glory of Nebuchadnezzar. But God uses these young men from Judah to provide a testimony for Himself in Babylon with the most powerful man on earth. In order to free them completely from their own way of thinking and to introduce them into Babylon’s way of thinking, a program with three main points must be followed. In order to do good service, the first point is “to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans”. This part of the program focuses on their mind, what they should take in, in their mind and how they should pass on their knowledge in words to others. This is in contrast, to being taught in “the sacred writings” ( ) and speaking “the things which are fitting for sound doctrine” ( ). As a current application we can look at the Bible translation we use. Is it a reliable translation? We can also think of the songs we sing. The use of these means, form our spirit and our language. Therefore, it is good to ask ourselves what we read and sing.

‏ Daniel 1:3-6

Education

Nebuchadnezzar wants to train a number of young Judean men to serve at his court and to give them an important position in his country’s government. He acts according to the principle ‘he who has the youth, has the future’. In Dan 1:3-4, a profile of these young men is given. Among them are Daniel and his three friends.

Daniel belongs to the Judean nobility. He was brought to Babylon at the first transportation. The prophet Isaiah prophesied the deportation of these men to Babylon: And [some] of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away, and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon” (Isa 39:7). These men are chosen to increase the glory of Nebuchadnezzar. But God uses these young men from Judah to provide a testimony for Himself in Babylon with the most powerful man on earth.

In order to free them completely from their own way of thinking and to introduce them into Babylon’s way of thinking, a program with three main points must be followed. In order to do good service, the first point is “to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans”. This part of the program focuses on their mind, what they should take in, in their mind and how they should pass on their knowledge in words to others.

This is in contrast, to being taught in “the sacred writings” (2Tim 3:15) and speaking “the things which are fitting for sound doctrine” (Tit 2:1). As a current application we can look at the Bible translation we use. Is it a reliable translation? We can also think of the songs we sing. The use of these means, form our spirit and our language. Therefore, it is good to ask ourselves what we read and sing.

Eating and Drinking

The second point of the program concerns food. The deported princes and nobles get other food. They should eat from the royal table. The spiritual meaning is that they must find the strength for their service in the products of Babylon or the methods of Babylon. What is offered to them is attractive for their natural taste. But the trick behind it is that the Babylonian food will transform them into Babylonian people with Babylonian behavior.

The food they eat speaks of what they absorb in their minds. The result will be that their whole behavior, their whole attitude, will radiate what appeals to man without God. In the application we can say that they are trained in sales techniques and management that is intended to promote Babylon and keep it big. Drinking the king’s wine means that they must find their joy in the things in which he finds his joy. The result will be that their spiritual discernment will disappear.

Other Names

Here the names of four of the deported young men are mentioned. God’s Spirit puts the spotlight on them, because in them the characteristics of the faithful remnant are clearly visible. Nowhere it seems that they share in the judgment God had to bring over His people because of their personal crimes. But there is also no evidence that they have opposed this judgment for that reason. We just see them bowing under the judgment that affects the whole people, including themselves.

At the same time, we see how they remain faithful to the LORD and his statutes, from Whom and from which they have not departed. Their upbringing in Israel is not rejected by them in the land of their exile. Even though Daniel, it is estimated, is currently between fourteen and eighteen years old, a teenager.

The third point of the program of the re-education concerns their names. Of these four young men are mentioned both their old, Hebrew, names and the new, Babylonian, names they receive.

1. Daniel means: God is my judge,

2. Hananiah: Yahweh is Grace,

3. Mishael: Who is like God?

4. Azariah: Yahweh is help or Yahweh helps.

The new names are related to the gods of Babylon. The meaning of these names is not always clear.

1. Belteshazzar: (possible meaning) ‘prince of Bel’, the god of Babylon,

2. Shadrach: possibly derived from ‘Rach’, a sun god,

3. Meshach: (possible meaning) ‘he who belongs to the goddess Seshach’,

4. Abed-nego: ‘slave of Nego’ also a god of Babylon.

They have to accept this name change and they did. They do not defend themselves against it.

In the change of their names we can see a process of ‘brainwashing’. In their Hebrew names the name of God or of the LORD appears in each of them. This can be seen from the syllable el or yah. El means ‘God’ and Yah is ‘Yahweh’ which is translated with ‘LORD’. Any reminder of their origin must make way for their new status. If this is done consistently long enough, they will have forgotten their origin over time and fully adopted Babylon’s way of living and thinking.