The Book of Daniel
The book of Daniel follows a young man from Judah who is carried off to Babylon and stays faithful to God under a series of foreign kings. It pairs court stories with visions, and its steady message is that God rules over every empire and that His kingdom will outlast them all.
In Jewish and Protestant Bibles, Daniel has twelve chapters in two halves. Chapters 1 to 6 tell stories about Daniel and his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: the royal food they refuse, Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a great statue, the blazing furnace, a proud king humbled, the writing on the wall, and the den of lions. Chapters 7 to 12 are visions told in Daniel's own voice, with four beasts, a ram and a goat, and a closing look toward the end of days. The book is also written in two languages, Hebrew and Aramaic.
Readers date the book differently. Christian tradition credits it to Daniel himself in the 500s BC, while many modern scholars date its final form to the 160s BC. Either way, it has long encouraged people of faith living under rulers who did not share it.
This study takes you through Daniel in order, starting with an overview of the book and then following the stories and visions one by one. In Your Bible App, they come as short, fun rounds that make it all stick.
Key people
Daniel
A young exile from Judah, renamed Belteshazzar, who explains the dreams of kings and receives visions of his own.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
Daniel's three friends, renamed in Babylon, who will not worship the golden statue and are thrown into the blazing furnace.
Nebuchadnezzar
The king of Babylon who besieges Jerusalem, dreams of a great statue, and is humbled until he praises the Most High.
Belshazzar
The king of Babylon whose feast is interrupted by a hand writing on the wall on the night his kingdom falls.
Darius the Mede
The ruler who is drawn into a decree against prayer and has Daniel thrown into the den of lions.
Gabriel
The angel sent to help Daniel understand his visions.
Themes
God rules over kings
Kingdoms rise and fall, but the book insists that God "removes kings and establishes them" (Daniel 2:21).
Faithfulness under pressure
Daniel and his friends serve foreign kings without giving up their loyalty to God, even when it means the furnace or the lions.
Prayer
Daniel keeps praying three times a day toward Jerusalem, even after a decree makes it a crime.
Wisdom from God
Daniel can explain dreams because, as he tells the king, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.
A kingdom that lasts
The visions look past the empires of the day to a kingdom that "will never be destroyed" (Daniel 2:44).
Key verses
He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.
If the God whom we serve exists, then He is able to deliver us from the blazing fiery furnace and from your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have set up.”
Now when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house, where the windows of his upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.
Daniel quiz: sample questions
Daniel 2:31 describes how the figure in the king's dream looked as it stood before him. Which of these is what the verse says about its appearance?
- It was a great and dazzling statue, and its form was awesome
- It was a bush burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed
- It was a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven
- It was a scroll written on the front and back with words of lamentation
- It was a child wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger
Show the answer
Answer: It was a great and dazzling statue, and its form was awesome
Why: Daniel tells the king that a great and dazzling statue stood before him, and that its form was awesome. The other options describe things seen in entirely different passages.
As you, O king, were watching, a great statue appeared. A great and dazzling statue stood before you, and its form was awesome.
According to Daniel 3:25, how many men did Nebuchadnezzar say he saw walking around in the fire?
- Four
- Two
- Seven
- Six
Show the answer
Answer: Four
Why: Three men were thrown into the furnace, but the king reports seeing four men walking around unbound and unharmed in the fire.
“Look!” he exclaimed. “I see four men, unbound and unharmed, walking around in the fire—and the fourth looks like a son of the gods!”
Answering the king from among the lions, he said that his God had sent him help. According to his reply, what had his God sent?
- His angel, who shut the mouths of the lions
- A great fish, which swallowed him
- A ram caught by its horns in the thicket
- A pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night
- A chariot of fire with horses of fire
Show the answer
Answer: His angel, who shut the mouths of the lions
Why: He tells the king that his God sent His angel, and that the angel shut the mouths of the lions so that they did not hurt him.
My God sent His angel and shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, for I was found innocent in His sight, and I have done no wrong against you, O king.”
According to Daniel 7:1, in which year of the reign of Belshazzar king of Babylon did Daniel have the dream of the four beasts?
- The eighth year
- The fifteenth year
- The first year
- The twenty-fourth year
Show the answer
Answer: The first year
Why: Daniel 7:1 places the dream of the four beasts in the first year of Belshazzar, so the vision half of the book opens before the banquet scene of Daniel 5.
In the first year of the reign of Belshazzar over Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he lay on his bed. He wrote down the dream, and this is the summary of his account.
Frequently asked questions
Who was thrown into the lions' den?
Daniel was. Royal administrators persuaded King Darius the Mede to forbid prayer to anyone but the king for thirty days, and Daniel kept praying to God. Daniel 6 tells how God sent His angel to shut the lions' mouths.
When was the book of Daniel written?
Views differ. Christian tradition holds that Daniel wrote it in the 500s BC, during and after the exile in Babylon, while many modern scholars date its final form to the 160s BC.
Who were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?
They were Daniel's three friends from Judah, first named Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (Daniel 1:6-7). When they refused to bow to Nebuchadnezzar's golden statue, they were thrown into a blazing furnace and came out unharmed (Daniel 3).
Coming soon to the App Store
Play the Daniel study in Your Bible App: short, fun rounds from the blazing furnace to the lions' den. Seriously fun. Have a question about Your Bible App? We read every e-mail.