Nebuchadnezzar Besiege Jerusalem: Daniel Chapter 1 v 1 - 7

Daniel 1:1 "In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it."

Jehoiakim began to reign after Josiah. Josiah did right in the sight of God, but Jehoiakim was evil. This is a setting of the time on the attack of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. Eliakim and Jehoiakim is the same person.

“In the third year”: This occurred in 606-605 b.c. It was the third year by Babylonian dating, which did not count a king’s initial accession year, but began with the following year. So the “third year” is in harmony with the same year labeled as “forth” by the Judean system of dating. Jehoiakim was the son of Josiah.

II Chronicles 36:5  "Jehoiakim [was] twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD his God."

Daniel 1:2 "And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god."

"Lord", in the verse above, means Adonai. LORD, means Jehovah. This is not speaking of the time later on, when Jerusalem is destroyed.  This is speaking of the overthrow of Jehoiakim. At this time, the temple is not completely ravaged, but some of the vessels of the house of God are taken. The land of Shinar was a portion of Babylon. The god, spoken of here, is the false god of Nebuchadnezzar which was called Bel or Marduk which is known as Merodach.

As a side note, to conquer another nation’s deities was thought to prove the superiority of the victor’s god.

II Chronicles 36:6-7 "Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon." "Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon."

Daniel 1:3 "And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring [certain] of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes;"

We see from this, that those young men, who were taken, were princes and seed of the king, and Israelites who were very prominent. Nebuchadnezzar wanted eunuchs for the court.

II Kings 20:18 "And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon."

Daniel 1:4 "Children in whom [was] no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as [had] ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans."

These young men, that were chosen to take back to Babylon to work in the court, had to be the well-educated. They had to be intelligent enough to learn the language, and to conduct themselves with good manners. The Chaldeans and the Babylonians are the same. The young men needed to be nice looking to represent the king well. He wanted only the best in the court of the king.

Daniel 1:5 "And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king."

They were sent to training school for 3 years to prepare them for work in the court of the king. They were fed and housed as part of their training. In fact, they were fed the same food and wine as the king. This was a time of preparation.

The king was having them schooled in the ways of Babylon. He, also, wanted them to know what was required of them in their duties. He might even use them as interpreters to communicate with the captured Hebrews.

These young men after their training would easily serve as liaisons between Babylon and Judah, or even as hostages to keep Judah’s kings submissive.

Daniel 1:6 "Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:"

The name "Daniel" means judge of God. "Hananiah" means Jah has favored. "Mishael" means who is what God is.  "Azariah" means Jah has strengthened. It appears from this verse, these 4 were of the tribe of Judah.

Daniel 1:7 "Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel [the name] of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abed-nego."

When they are called into service of the king, they must take on Babylonian names. Daniel's new name, Belteshazzar, is very similar to the name of a later king of these Babylonians, Belshazzar.

Sometimes, names were given to cut connection with old lives. Sometimes, they were named for the false gods of their captors.

This name changing was a key factor in the “brainwashing” process of the Babylonian training. This was to link the inductees to local gods rather than to support their former religious loyalty.