The official in charge of the court trainees refused their request. They considered it unclean, either because it was of a kind forbidden by Jewish law, or because it represented fellowship with a heathen king and his idols (8). Also they gave them a share of the same food served to the Babylonian king (5-7).įour of the Jewish youths, led by Daniel, asked to be excused from eating the king’s food. To begin with they gave them Babylonian names (containing names of Babylonian gods) to replace their Hebrew names (which contained the name of the Hebrews’ God). The Babylonians put strong pressure on the young Jewish captives to break with their old religion and culture. Their wise men were famous for their skill in astrology, magic and ancient languages.)

(The Chaldeans were the dominant race among the Babylonian people, and the one to which Nebuchadnezzar belonged. He wanted them to be skilled in Babylonian law and wisdom, particularly Chaldean wisdom (3-4). He chose men whose good looks would add to the grace of his palace and whose intelligence would enable them to learn Babylonian ways quickly.

Nebuchadnezzar also took back to Babylon a number of Jewish young men chosen from the upper class families of Jerusalem, his purpose being to prepare them for high positions in his royal court (see ‘Background’ above). In this way Nebuchadnezzar demonstrated his belief that Babylon’s gods were superior to the God of the Jews (1:1-2). In keeping with the usual practice among conquerors in ancient times, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar plundered the temple of the conquered people, carried off its sacred objects and placed them in his own temple. 1:1-6:28 STORIES ABOUT DANIEL AND HIS FRIENDS Training for Nebuchadnezzar’s court (1:1-21)īabylon’s first attack on Jerusalem came in 605 BC, during the reign of the Judean king Jehoiakim.

The book of daniel king james version