📖 Biblical Definition
A young Judean nobleman exiled to Babylon in the first deportation (605 BC) under Nebuchadnezzar, taken with three friends (Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah — renamed Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego) for training in the king's service. Daniel rose to chief of the wise men of Babylon, served Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius, and Cyrus. Famous for refusing the king's meat (ch. 1), interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's dream (ch. 2), reading the writing on the wall (ch. 5), surviving the lions' den (ch. 6), and receiving the seventy-weeks prophecy (ch. 9).
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
DANIEL, n.
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A scriptural proper name; the prophet-statesman of the Babylonian and Persian courts.
📖 Key Scripture
Daniel 1:8 — "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank."
Daniel 6:10 — "He kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime."
Daniel 9:3 — "And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes."
Daniel 12:13 — "Go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern Christianity wants Daniel's influence without Daniel's discipline; he prayed three times a day with his window open toward Jerusalem.
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Daniel was a Cabinet-level official in two pagan empires for over seventy years and never compromised. The discipline that produced the influence is recorded: he purposed in his heart not to defile himself (1:8); he kneeled three times a day with his window open toward Jerusalem (6:10); he set his face for prayer with fasting and sackcloth (9:3). The lions' den story is famous; the daily prayer-discipline that made it possible is less famous and more imitable.
Modern Christianity wants Daniel's influence without Daniel's discipline. The two are inseparable. The man who can stand at Belshazzar's feast and pronounce judgment to the king has been kneeling at his window for decades. Pray three times a day. Open the window toward Jerusalem. The lions' mouth gets shut by the prayer that preceded it.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew/Greek roots below.
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H1840 — Daniyyel — Daniel; God is my judge
Usage
"Modern Christianity wants Daniel's influence without Daniel's discipline."
"The man who pronounces judgment at Belshazzar's feast has kneeled at his window for decades."
"Pray three times a day; the lions' mouth gets shut by the prayer that preceded it."