Lived: Approximately 620-530 BC
While Daniel was advising Babylonian kings in what is now modern-day Iraq, the Greeks were establishing the first Olympic games and Aesop was writing his famous fables. Buddha was teaching in India during Daniel’s later years.
Daniel was a Jewish nobleman, probably a teenager, when Nebuchadnezzar’s army conquered Jerusalem and hauled him 900 miles east to Babylon – near present-day Baghdad. Instead of becoming a forgotten prisoner, he caught the king’s attention with his unusual combination of integrity and intellect. He could interpret dreams when no one else could. He told emperors hard truths they did not want to hear.
His career spanned the entire Babylonian empire and continued into Persian rule – roughly seventy years of service to foreign kings who did not share his beliefs. He survived palace coups, jealous rivals, and one memorable night with hungry lions. Through it all, he maintained a discipline of prayer so consistent that his enemies used it to trap him.
Daniel shows us what it looks like to thrive without selling out.