Sárospataki Füzetek 20. (2016)
2016 / 2. szám - MISCELLANEOUS / SONSTIGES - Imre Tokics: Daniel's Worship int he City of Babylon
Imre Tokios ruler” called Danii, from the ancient city of Ugarit.12 It is therefore important to note that the Babylonian names given to the young men are also theophoric. Unlike Hebrew names, which spoke of the true God, the Babylonian names contain names of Babylon’s pagan gods. No information is given about the families from which the four Hebrew young men came. Of our protagonist Daniel, no ancestry is noted,13 and contrary to the usual Hebrew custom, no patronymics are given. Daniel’s new name as given by Ashpenaz was most likely Belshazzar — the same name as the later king, and a name that was common in Babylon. Daniel and his friends believed it was Yahweh and not the god Bel who could protect the life of the pagan kings. Babylonian soldiers regularly ate pork and horse meat while in service for the king. And the original Hebrew word that is translated as defile is associated with blood defilement in the Bible Isa. 59:3; 63:3; Lam. 4:14. The eating of any kind of animal, clean or unclean, that hadn’t been slaughtered in a particular way and draining its blood would defile a Hebrew person Lev. 17:10- 17. In Babylon, the blood was not drained when an animal was slaughtered for consumption, so defilement by blood was virtually unavoidable. The presence on the menu of pork together with meat defiled by blood posed a serious problem for the Hebrew young men. In many places in the ancient world, food and drink were sacrificed to the gods before the meal. A secular slaughtering of animals for consumption was rare.14 Meat was usually served from animals offered as a sacrifice to a god. In the Bible, the very act of eating had strong religious influence. Even Jesus Christ said: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me” Rev. 3:20. In Daniel’s time, the city of Babylon was an important religious center, the food and drink available there would have come from the temple, where we may assume that some kind of pagan sacrificial ritual was carried out before and even after each meal.15 The Jewish slaves’ choice of a diet consisting of vegetables — literally “seeds” - and water showed their pledge of loyalty to the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Only the Judean youth knew the truth; in worship they understood what it means to: “fear God”. “Fear God” are the first words from the Three Angels Messages, proclaimed by the first angel. The biblical notion of “fear” should not be understood as “to be 12 DAY, John: The Daniel of Ugarit and Ezekiel and the Hero of the Book of Daniel, Vetus Testamentum 30. 1980, 361-365, and DRESSLER, P. H. H.: The Identification of the Ugaritic Dnil with the Daniel and Ezekiel, Vetus Testamentum 29.1979,152-161. 13 BERRIGAN, Daniel: Daniel: Under the Siege of the Divine, Farmington, PA, The Plough, 1998, 5. 14 PÉTER-CONTESSE, René - ELLINGTON, John: A Handbook on the Book of Daniel, New York, United Bible Societies, 1993,18. 15 STEFANOVIC, Zdravko: Ibid 64. 90 Sárospataki Füzetek 20. évfolyam 2016-2
