I. DANIEL THE INTERPRETER--Chapters 1-6
E. The Feast and the Fall of Babylon--5:1-31
1. The feast proper--vv. 1-4
a. Belshazzar the
king--v. la
(I)
The time
(A) About 539 B. C.
(B) About 70 years after the events of chapter 1
(C) This would make Daniel in his 80’s.
(D) About 23 years after the events of chapter 4
(II)
The history
(A) Death of Nebuchadnezzar--562 B. C.
(B) Succeeded by his son
(1) Evil-Nerodach
(2) Also called Amel-Marduk
(3) Killed--560 B. C.
(C) Succeeded by Neriglisser
(l) A son-in law of Nebuchadnezzar
(2) Died 556 B. C.
(D) Laborosoarchad
(1) Known also as Labashi-murduk
(2) A grandson of Nebuchadnezzar
(3) Assassinated after less than a year
(E) Neabonidus
(1) Slew Laborosoardchad
(2) Defeated 539 B. C. by the Medes
(III)
His identity
(A) Some have identified him with Evil-Neradach, son of
Nebuchadnezzar--cf. verse 2.
(B) Later evidence shows that Belshazzar was probably the son
of Neabonidus.
(1) One commentator spends 14 pages on this matter
(as if that were important).
(2) "Nabonidus could have married a widow of
Nebuchadnezzar who had a son by Nebuchadnezzar
who then could be adopted
by Nabonidus by way of strengthening his hold upon the throne.
As
Nabonidus assumed the throne
in 556 B. C., only six years after the death of Nebuchadnezzar, and
Belshazzar was probably at
least a teenager when Nebuchadnezzar dies--if he was old enough to
be coregent with Nabonidus
in 553 B. C.--it is possible that he was a genuine son of
Nebuchadnezzar and that his
mother, after Nebuchadnezzar's death, was married to Nabonidus.
This, however, is conjecture;
and probably it is more natural to consider Belshazzar a son of
Nabonidus himself." (Walvoord,
118)
(3) His precise identity will probably be debated
further.
(4) "The reference to father may be construed
as 'grandfather.' As Pusey states, 'Neither in Hebrew,
nor in Chaldee, is there any word
for "grandfather," "grandson." Forefathers are called "fathers" or
"fathers' fathers." But a
single grandfather,or forefather, is never called "father's father" but
always
"father "only'". (Pusey, Edward
B., Daniel the Prophet. New York: Funk and Wagnalls,
1885,
346; quoted in Walvoord, 118; italics
are his.)
(C) Probably he became ruler with his father
(1) About 553 B. C.
(2) When his father went to Teima
b. Belshazzar made
a great feast--v.1b
(I)
For 1000 of his lords and their wives
(II)
His wives and concubines were present also.
(III)
"That such a large feast should be held by a monarch like Belshazzar is not
at all strange. Leupold cites
the ancient historian Ktasias to the effect that Persian monarchs
frequently were known to dine daily with
15,000 people. M. E. L. Mallowan mentions the great feast
that Ashusnasirpal II gave to 69,574 guests
when he dedicated his new capital city of Calah
(Nimrud) in 879 B. C."
(IV)
"The holding of such a feast at such a time seems almost incredible
when we remember that the Persian
generals, Gobryas and Gadates, were already besieging Babylon
from without, within plain view of its
inhabitants, who should seemingly have been otherwise engaged,
than in thus giving themselves to the
Bacchanallian orgy described in the passage before us."
"Perhaps it was deliberately planned by Belshazzar in open defiance
of the besiegers and as proof to his
subjects that he was not at all concerned about the situation
in general. Babylon was supposedly
impregnable, with walls wide enough for several chariots to
race abreast, and provisions for the city
sufficient to sustain all of its inhabitants for twenty
years." (Newell, 61)
(V)
"The expression 'drunk wine before the thousand' indicates that Belshazzar
was probably on a platform
at a higher level than other guests and led them in drinking
toasts to their deities." (Walvoord, 117)
c. Belshazzar commands
the Temple vessels be brought in--vv, 2, 3.
(I)
"Under the stimulus of wine, the thought occurred to Belshazzar to
bring in the gold and silver vessels
taken from the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar almost seventy
years before. The implication in the clause
'while he tasted the wine' is that Belshazzar in his right mind
probably would not have committed this
sacrilegious act." (Ibid.)
(II)
"I'he sacred vessels taken from Jerusalem had apparently been kept in storage
without sacrilegious use
from Nebuchadnezzar's day until the occasion of this feast.
Now these holy vessels are distributed among
the crowd and used as vessels from which to drink wine." (Walvoord,
118)
(III)
Verse 2 is the command by Belshazzar whereas verse 3 is a statement of the
actual use of the vessels.
d. Belshazzar and
company praise their gods--v. 4
(I)
"This act of sacrilege was an intentioned religious gesture in praise
of the gods of Babylon mentioned in
descending order of importance as 'gods of gold,
and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of
stone.' That Belshazzar well knew the blasphemous character
of his act is evident from Daniel 5:13, 22.
He knew Daniel and knew the history of Nebuchadnezzar's
experience with God's chastening." (Ibid.)
(II)
"In the disregard of these revelations [the ones of the previous
chapters] consisted, as Daniel represents
to Belshazzar (cf. ver. 18), the dishonour done to the Lord
of heaven, although these vessels of the
sanctuary might have been profaned merely by using them as common
drinking vessels, or they might have
been used also in religious libations as vessels consecrated
to the gods, of which the text makes no
mention, although the singing of songs to the praise of
the gods along with the drinking makes the offering
of libations very probable." (Keil, 181)
(III)
There are two classes of gods as shown by the Hebrew word for
and, demonstrating the advancing
vanity of their gods.
2. The handwriting on the wall--vv. 5-9
a. The action of
the hand--v..5
(I)
In the midst of the feast while they were praising their false gods
with the vessels from God's house
(II)
"If the scene can be reconstructed, it is probable that the banquet
was illuminated by torches which not
only produced smoke, but fitful light that would only partially
illuminate the great hall. As the writing
according to Daniel was written 'over against the candlestick
upon the plaster of the wall of the king's
palace,' it may have appeared in an area of greater
illumination than the rest of the room and have
attracted more attention." (Walvoord, 120)
(III)
The king saw the hand--"That 'hand' is the terror of men, or it is
the surest proof of their defense,
security, and progress. That hand presents two distinct
aspects; we could not do without it: the bad man
needs it to frighten him into prayer; the good man needs it
often to save him from despair." (Newell, 64)
b. The terror of
the king--v. 6
(I)
Nothing would sober a man quicker than to see an unattached hand writing
upon a wall.
(II)
"The effect upon the king and his associates was immediate. According
to Daniel, his countenance
changed, that is, changed color and became pale. His thin
courage bolstered by wine drunk from vessels
which Nebuchadnezzar had plundered and were seemingly a symbol
of the power of the gods of
Babylon, now deserted him. He was instead filled with
terror to the point that 'the joints of his loins were
loosed, and his knees smote one against another.' In his excitement,
he no longer could sit down but hardly
had the strength to stand." (Walvoord, 120)
c. The cry for the
wise men--vv. 7, 8
(I)
Hardly had the din of the banquet ceased, the king cries out for the
wise men.
(II)
Three classes of wise men mentioned
(A) Four classes named previously
(B) The magicians left out
(C) "The astrologers were actually the magicians; the Chaldeans
were a broad class of scholars and
learned men in the lore of the Babylonians;
and the soothsayers corresponded more closely to the
modern concept of astrologers, although
they may have also practiced sorcery. It is possible in the
decline of the Babylonian Empire that the
number of the wise men was far more limited at this point in
history than it was under Nebuchadnezzar's reign."
(Walvoord, 121)
(III)
The reward offered for interpretation--"As soon as a suitable number of
the wise men had assembled,
the king address them, offering the reward that, if one
of them could read the writing and show the
interpretation, he would be clothed with scarlet and have a
chain of gold about his neck and become third
ruler in the kingdom. To be clothed in scarlet and to
wear a chain of gold about the neck were special
tokens of the king's favor and certainly would have been
coveted by any of the wise men." (Ibid.)
(IV)
The third ruler in the kingdom
(A) As usual, much speculation has been made over the phrase.
(B) "Scholars are not agreed as to the precise meaning of
this term, but the suggestion is made that it may
be a title for an office of honor which
did not necessarily correspond precisely to the meaning of the
word." (Ibid.)
(C) Recent scholarship has tended to confirm the KJV
rendering.
(D) Logically considered
(1) Nabonidus was the first ruler.
(2) Belshazzar was the second ruler.
(3) Thus, he could offer the interpreter the
position of third ruler.
(V)
Wise men not able to interpret.
(A) "As usual, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers
are unable to decipher the ghostly
message on the wall, and it is not until Daniel
is brought in at the queen mother's recommendation that
the dissolute king is acquainted with his fate."
(Newell, 65)
(B) "The difficulty of the wise men in reading the writing
may have been that it was written in Aramaic
script without the vowels being supplied; but
if written in cuneiform, the vowels would have been
included. Daniel does not explain the
difficulty in reading the writing on the wall, but the problem
apparently was not that it was a strange language,
but rather what the words signified prophetically."
(Walvoord, 122)
d. The terror of
the king restated--v. 9
(I)
"The inability of the wise men to decipher the writing only increased
the concern of Belshazzar. Perhaps
the full force of the wickedness in using the vessels
taken from the temple in Jerusalem had begun to dawn
upon him, of the fears suppressed concerning the presence
of the armies which surrounded Babylon may
have emerged. His concern was shared by the entire assembly."
(Ibid.)
(II)
His predicament shows the insecurity of the world rulers--"How God
holds in derision the rulers of the
world who take counsel against Him (Ps. 2:1-4): Like
Nebuchadnezzar before him, Belshazzar was soon
to experience the divine judgment but without the happy ending."
(Ibid.)
3. The call for Daniel--vv. 10-l6
a. Daniel suggested--vv.
10-12
(I)
The entrance of the queen--v.10
(A) Who is the queen?
(1) The wife of Belshazzar?
(a) The wives of the
lords and the king himself were present.
(b) Thus, it would preclude
the king's wife.
(c) "Montgomery, opposing
the idea that the queen is Belshazzar's wife, comments, 'Also the lady's
masterful
appearance on the scene betokens rather the queen-mother than the consort.'
Jeffery,
likewise,
writes, '. . . she speaks to him of his father in a way that suggests
a mother speaking to
a son rather
than a wife to a husband.'" (Montgomery, James A., A Critical and
Exegetical
Commentary
on the Book of Daniel. The International Critical Commentary.
Edinburgh: T.
& T. Clark,
1964, 258. Also Jeffery, Arthur, "The Book of Daniel, Introduction
and Exegesis."
In The
Interpreter's Bible, ed. George A, Buttrick, vol. 6. New York:
Abingdon-Cokesbury,
426; quoted
in Walvoord, 123)
(2) The wife of Nabonidus
(a) "If she were the
wife of Nabonidus who was in captivity she probably would not have
desired
to come alone.'
(Ibid.)
(b) Thus, she may not be
first king's wife.
(3) The mother of Belshazzar
(a) Keil and Leupold both
take this position.
(b) "She had not attended
the banquet. This would be understandable if she was elderly
and the
widow of
Nebuchadnezzar." (Ibid.)
(B) Her address
(1) Courteous but to the point.
(2) "Like a mother, she told her son in effect
to pull himself together because there must be some
solution to his problem.
As one holding her position was normally highly regarded and treated
with
respect, she could speak
out in a way that no other could do. Honoring of parents was
characteristic of the
Israelites (. . .). The same was true in the Gentile world, and the
dowager
queen was able to enter the
banquet hall without invitation." (Ibid.)
(II)
The suggestion of the queen--vv. 11,12
(A) She suggests that the king call Daniel.
(B) "The queen uses the very words which presumably she had
heard Nebuchadnezzar express (Dan. 4:8,
9, 18). According to the queen, Daniel
had 'the spirit of the holy gods.' In the time of
Nebuchadnezzar, to whom she refers as 'thy father,'
Daniel had been found to have the wisdom of
gods and possessing 'light,' that is, enlightenment,
'understanding' or insight, and in general wisdom
comparable to the wisdom of the gods. So
great was his genius that Nebuchadnezzar had made him
'master' or chief of his wise men, which
in itself was a remarkable position for one who was not a
Chaldean; and this honor placed upon him testified
to the confidence of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel's
abilities. (Ibid.)
(C) "Daniel's excellent qualities manifested themselves in 'an
excellent spirit,' unusual knowledge and
understanding, and the ability to interpret dreams,
difficult sentences, and 'dissolving of doubts,' that is,
solutions to problems. The word for doubts
[here he inserts the actual Hebrew word.] is actually
knots, joints, difficult
problems. Daniel had not been assembled with the other wise men
because he
probably was in semiretirement and was no longer
chief of the wise men. The queen urged, however,
that now he be brought in to solve the present
problem." (Walvoord, 123-4)
b. The call of
Daniel--vv. 13-16
(I)
The king ascertains his identity
(A) Verse 13
(B) "When Daniel was brought before the king, he addressed a
natural question to reassure himself of the
identity of Daniel. It seems clear
that Belshazzar knew something of Daniel, for his form of address
in
verse 13 goes beyond the information supplied
by his mother. He knew for instance that Daniel was of
the captivity of Judah and that he was
one of the captives which Nebuchadnezzar had brought out of
Jerusalem. It may well be that because
of awareness of his ancestry and religious convictions that
Daniel had been demoted by Belshazzar himself.
Now Belshazzar was all too eager to have the gifts of
this man exercised to interpret the writing."
(op. cit., 124)
(II)
The king repeats what the Queen said regarding Daniel--v. 14.
(III)
The king informs Daniel of the failure of the wise men to interpret
the writing.
(A) Verse 15
(B) "As in the instances in Daniel 2 and 4, the wisdom of the
world is demonstrated to be totally unable to
solve its major problems and to understand either
the present or the future Daniel as the prophet of
God is the channel through which divine revelation
would come, and Belshazzar in his extremity was
willing to listen." (Ibid.)
(C) "Too often the world, like Belshazzar, is not willing to
seek the wisdom of God until its own
bankruptcy becomes evident. Then help is
sought too late, as in the case of Belshazzar, and the
cumulative sin and unbelief which precipitated
the crisis in the first place becomes the occasion of
downfall." (Ibid.)
(V)
The king promises him a reward.
(A) Verse 16
(B) The same reward was offered to the wise men.
(C) "When Daniel was brought in before the king and offered
the rewards which were to be given the one
reading
the mysterious writing and making known the interpretation of it, we
are not surprised to find
the prophet completely contemptuous of the
earthly monarch before him. In fact, his address to
Belshazzar is of such a nature as would
undoubtedly have invited his own execution, had it not been
for the king's terror over the apparition he
had seen in his stupor." (Newell, 65)
(D) "The situation before Belshazzar had all the elements of
a great drama. Here was Daniel, an old man
well in his eighties, with the mark of godly
living evident in his bearing--in sharp contrast to the
wine-flushed faces of the crowd. In
the midst of this atmosphere of consternation, apprehension,
and
fear, Daniel's countenance alone reflected the
deep peace of God founded on confidence in God and
His divine revelation." (Walvoord, 124-5)
4. The rebuke of Belshazzar--vv.
17-23
a. Daniel refuses
the reward--v. 17
(I)
"Daniel begins by disavowing any interest in the gifts or rewards which the
king offered. This was not
prompted by disrespect nor by the evident fact that they would
be short-lived. What Daniel is saying is
that he will give an unprejudiced interpretation with no attempt
to seek favor from the king. He promises
both to read and to make known the interpretation." (Walvoord,
125)
(II)
“Daniel declines (ver. 17) the distinction and the place of honour
promised for the interpretation, not
because the former might be dangerous to him and the latter
only temporary, . . . ; for he had no reason for
such a fear, when he spoke 'as one conveying information who
had just seen the writing, and had read it
and understood its import,' for the interpretation, threatening
ruin and death to the king, could bring no
special danger to him either on the part of Belshazzar
or on that of his successor. Much rather Daniel
rejected the gift and the distinction promised, to avoid, as
a divinely enlightened seer, every appearance of
self-interest in the presence of such a king, and to show
to the king and his high officers of state that he
was not determined by a regard to earthly advantage, and would
unhesitatingly declare the truth, whether it
might be pleasing or displeasing to the king." (Keil, 187)
b. Daniel reviews
the past--vv. 18-21
(I)
No formal salutation
(A) Simply says, THOU, O KING
(B) "In addressing the king, Daniel does not begin with a formal
salutation as he does for instance in
connection with Darius in Daniel 6:21 where he
says, 'O king , live for ever.' No doubt Daniel holds
Belshazzar in contempt for his desecration of
the sacred vessels." (Walvoord, 125)
(C) Besides Daniel knew that Belshazzar did not have long to
live.
(II)
The reminder that God gave Nebuchadnezzar the kingdom.
(A)Verses 18, 19
(B) "Daniel first reminds Belshazzar that God gave Nebuchadnezzar
his great kingdom and the honor that
went with it. Daniel describes graphically
in verse 19 how Nebuchadnezzar was feared and had
absolute authority of life and death over
his people and, accordingly, was an absolute sovereign. As
Young points out, however, the very character
of this absolute authority delegated to
Nebuchadnezzar by God also made Nebuchadnezzar
responsible." (Walvoord, 126)
(III)
The reiteration of Nebuchadnezzar's insanity
(A) Verses 20, 21
(B) "Daniel . . . itemizes in detail the characteristics of
Nebuchadnezzar's insanity, how he lived with the
wild beasts, ate grass like the ox, and was wet
with the dew of heaven. All of this proved that God
was greater than Nebuchadnezzar and held him
responsible for his authority. Only when
Nebuchadnezzar was properly humbled and God restore
him to his glory and kingdom." (Ibid.)
c. Daniel rebukes
the king--vv. 22,23
(I)
"Daniel now turns to Belshazzar. The words; foreasmuch as thou,
i. e. since thou truly knowest all this,
place it beyond a doubt that Belshazzar knew these incidents
in the life of Nebuchadnezzar, and thus that
he was his son, since his grandson at that time have been so
old as that the forgetfulness of that divine
judgment could have been charged against him as a sin. In
the" [They insert the Hebrew phrase.], just
because thou knowest it, there is implied that,
notwithstanding his knowledge of the matter, he did not
avoid that which heightened his culpability." (Keil, 188;
italics are his.)
(II)
The facts in verses 18-21were pertinent to the king's
situation--"Belshazzar’s situation and his knowledge
of Nebuchadnezzar's humbling made all the more blasphemous
his taking of the vessels captured in
Jerusalem from the house of the Lord and using them to
drink wine in praising the gods of Babylon. With
what eloquent scorn Daniel declares that Belshazzar, his lords,
wives and concubines had drunk wine from
these sacred vessels and had 'praised gods of silver,
and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see
not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath
is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou
not glorified." (Walvoord, 126)
5. The interpretation of the
writing--vv. 24-28
a. The writing itself
--vv. 24, 25
(I)
The hand mentioned--"To punish Belshazzar for this wickedness, God had sent
the hand which wrote the
mysterious words." (Keil, 189)
(II)
The writing
(A) Transliteration--MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN
(B) The actual rendering of these letters is disputed,
as is usually the case among critics of the Bible.
(1) Usually considered as horizontal--NDRPU,
LQT, *NM, *NM; remember Hebrew is read from
right to left
(2) Some suggest a vertical order --P T M M R
Q N N S L * *
(3) Note the “*” represent the Hebrew
letter aleph.
(4) Some say that they were Aramaic words rather
than Hebrew, but these are, to this writer's
understanding, cognate
languages.
b. The meaning of
the writing--vv. 26-28
(I)
Some interpret differently.
(A) The words
(1) MENE--equal to MANAH
(a) A coin
(b) Ezekiel 45:12
(c) Ezra 2:69
(2) TEKEL (or TEQEL)--representing the
shekel
(3) Peres--could be read as
peras
(a) Half-maneh
(b) Identification is question
by some.
(B) The writing would thus be "a maneh, a shekel, and a
half-maneh."
(C) What does that mean?
(1) Prince says the maneh refers to
Nebuchadnezzar; the shekel, to Belshazzar; and the
half-maneh
to the Medes and Persians.
(Young, 126, refers to J. Dymeley Prince's commentary of 1899;
information is from Walvoord,
128)
(2) How strained this is!
(a) Always are the result
of not wanting to accept the text as it is.
(b) A result of ignoring
the context
(3) "Daniel's explanation, however, is far more
cogent and reasonable, and does not give any indication
that the words mean other
than he indicates." (Walvoord, 128)
(II)
The correct explanation
(A) Mene
(1) Means numbered
(2) Verse 26 shows Daniel's interpretation.
(3) "It is in keeping with the idea that man's
days are numbered, and the repetition of the word twice is
probably for emphasis.
Like the other words, it is a passive participle." (Ibid.)
(4) "The expression and its interpretation by
Daniel in Belshazzar's case indicate significantly the fact
that every moment of every
hour of every day of every year of each of our lives is
positively,
scheduled in advance and
foreknown to God in its exact quantity." (Newell, 68)
(5) Cf. Psalm 90:12
(B) Teqel
(1) Means weighed
(2) The thought is "that Belshzzar has been put
into the balances and found wanting that is, short of
true weight." (Walvoord,
op. cit.)
(3) Cf. 1 Samuel 2:3
(4) "In the scales of God's absolutely
righteous judgment, actions, motives, thoughts, words are all
weighed as to exact value.
(Newell, op. cit.)
(C) Peres
(1) The word is upharsin.
(a) The u stands for
and.
(b) Pharsin is the
plural of peres.
(2) Means divided.
(3) The.kingdom would be divided between the
Medes and the Persians.
(4) "Leupold suggests that PHARSIN could be
understood by changing the vowels to be 'Persians'
and might have a double meaning
as indicated by Daniel's explanation given to the Medes and
Persians.' A pun may
be intended on this third word, having been interpreted to mean 'divided,'
it is
also understood as a reference
to the Aramaic word for Persian, thereby hinting a Persian victory
over Babylon." (Walvoord,
op. cit.)
6. The reward of Daniel and the
fall of Babylon--vv. 29-31
a. Daniel's reward--v.
29
(I)
"Belshazzar fulfilled the promise he had made to Daniel by rewarding him
for reading and interpreting the
writing. . . . The command was then carried out: Daniel
was not only adorned with purple and with a
golden chain, but was also proclaimed as the third ruler of
the kingdom." (Keil, 190)
(II)
"All of these honors, however, were short-lived and useless, as Daniel
well knew, and typical of the
honors of this world. In its rise to power the
Babylonian empire had conquered Jerusalem, taken its
inhabitants into captivity, looted its beautiful temple, and
completely destroyed the city. Yet this empire
was to have as its last official act the honoring of one
of these captives who by divine revelation
predicted not only the downfall of Babylon but the course
of the times of the Gentiles until the Son of
man should come from heaven. Man may have the first word,
but God will have the last word."
(Walvoord, 129)
b. Belshazzar's
death
(I)
Verse 30
(II)
"Daniel himself records with graphic simplicity the fulfillment of his
prophecy in the words, 'In that night
was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.'" (Walvoord,
131)
c. Babylon's fall--v.
31
(I)
According to Nabonidus Chronicle, fall occurred on the 16th day of Tishri
(October 11, 12), 530 B. C.
(II)
"With the death of Belshazzar that very night the interpretation given
by Daniel began to be fulfilled, and
this fulfillment afforded a certainty that the remaining parts
of it would also sooner or later be
accomplished." (Keil, 191)
(III)
"The concluding verse of the chapter in English verification records
how Darius the Median became
ruler of Babylon at the age of 62 years." (Walvoord,
op. cit.)
(IV)
Important lessons
(A) "The long chapter devoted to this incident which brought
the Babylonian Empire to its close is
undoubtedly recorded in the Word of God
not only for its historic fulfillment of the prophecies relative
to the Babylonian Empire but also as an illustration
of divine dealing with a wicked world. The
downfall of Babylon is in type the downfall
of the unbelieving world." (Ibid.)
(B) A picture--"In many respects, modern civilization is like
ancient Babylon, resplendent with its
monuments of architectural triumph, as
secure as human. hands and ingenuity could make it, and yet
defenseless against the judgment of God
at the proper hour. Contemporary civilization is similar to
ancient Babylon in that it has much to foster
human pride but little to provide human security." (Ibid.)
(C) As Babylon fell, so will the world when the Day of the Lord
comes--1 Thessalonians 5:1-3
(D) "The disaster of the world, however, does not overtake the
child of God; Daniel survives the purge
and emerges triumphant as one of the presidents
of the new kingdom in chapter 6." (Ibid.)