Daniel · Esther
Daniel and Esther
Far from Jerusalem, at the court of the most powerful kings of their day, a young exile and an orphan girl stay faithful to their God. A lions’ den, a blazing furnace, a golden sceptre, and a God who is at work, even when no one speaks his name.
Far from home
From Jerusalem to Babylon, from Babylon to Susa, and seventy years later home again. Follow the road on the map.
Carried off
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieges Jerusalem. People are carried off in three waves: first young men from the leading families, Daniel among them; then King Jehoiachin and the craftsmen; in 586 the rest, when the city and the temple are burned.
The army of Babylon came. Daniel and his friends had to go with them to a faraway land.
Daniel in Babylon
Daniel serves three kings, and bows to none of them when it comes to his God.
Step 1 of 6: Vegetables and water
Vegetables and water
Daniel and his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah are given Babylonian names and trained for service at court. Daniel does not want to defile himself with the king’s food and asks for ten days of vegetables to eat and water to drink. After that they look healthier than all the others.
Daniel did not want the king’s food. He ate vegetables for ten days, and became stronger than everyone!
The statue from the dream
Gold, silver, bronze, iron and clay: kingdoms that come and go. Choose a part of the statue.
Head of gold
‘You are that head of gold,’ Daniel says to Nebuchadnezzar: the kingdom of Babylon.
Daniel 2:37–38The traditional reading is Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome; then the stone is seen as the kingdom of Christ. Many modern interpreters read Babylon, Media, Persia and Greece. About the stone Christians agree: God’s kingdom remains.
Esther at the court of Persia
A queen who keeps her background hidden, an official who wants to wipe out a whole people, and a sleepless night that turns everything around.
Step 1 of 6: An orphan becomes queen
An orphan becomes queen
King Xerxes is looking for a new queen. Esther, a Jewish orphan girl brought up by her cousin Mordecai, wins his heart. On Mordecai’s advice she does not say that she is Jewish.
Esther had no father or mother any more. Her cousin Mordecai looked after her. Then she became queen!
Do you remember?
Six questions about Daniel and Esther.
6 questions about the story. Each answer shows where you can read it.
Questions people ask
Honest, also where Christians think differently.
When was the book of Daniel written?
Volgens de traditie door Daniël zelf, in de 6e eeuw voor Christus. Veel geleerden denken aan de 2e eeuw voor Christus, in de tijd van Antiochus IV, omdat de visioenen die tijd zo precies beschrijven. Christenen die de vroege datering aanhouden, zien juist daarin voorzegging. Het boek is deels in het Hebreeuws en deels in het Aramees geschreven.
Who was Darius the Mede?
Buiten de Bijbel kennen we geen koning met die naam vlak na de val van Babel. Sommigen denken aan een andere naam voor Kores zelf of voor zijn landvoogd Gubaru; anderen zien het als een literaire figuur. De val van Babel in 539 voor Christus is wel goed bekend.
Did Esther really happen?
Ahasveros is vrijwel zeker de Perzische koning Xerxes I (486–465 voor Christus), en veel details van het hof in Susa kloppen. Ester en Mordechai zelf zijn buiten de Bijbel niet bekend; een tablet uit die tijd noemt wel een ambtenaar Marduka. Sommigen lezen het boek als geschiedenis, anderen als een historische vertelling.
Why is God’s name not in Esther?
Dat is uniek in de Bijbel. Misschien bewust: in een vreemd land werkt God verborgen, door ‘toevallige’ gebeurtenissen en de moed van mensen. De Griekse versie voegde later gebeden van Ester en Mordechai toe.