The Thematic Structure of Daniel Chapter 1

Introduction

In my previous article on the book of Daniel entitled, An Outline of the Book of Daniel, I discussed the importance of outlining and provided a proposed outline for the entire book.  As noted previously, whenever I want to really dig deep into Scripture, I start with an outline.  After completion of the outline, I like to probe the thematic structure of a passage.  Most of you who are already familiar with the study techniques I use probably know where I’m going at this point. Yes, all roads lead to chiastic structures!  For those of you who may not be familiar with the term chiastic structure, here’s a quick primer on the Bible’s most often used literary tool.

In our modern society, we typically tell a story in chronological order because we ordinarily think linearly with respect to time.  Usually, we represent time as a line.  The earliest times are on the left portion of the line, and then we progress through time as we travel rightward along the line.  Unfortunately, the prophets of old did not think linearly!  Neither did most people in the ancient world.  Although the Bible is written with chronology in mind, superimposed upon the chronological order there exists a higher and more important organizational scheme—thematic order.  The primary organizing feature of Biblical narrative revolves around the notion of telling a story so that it has thematic order, and the single most often used thematic principle is that of a chiastic structure. 

A chiastic structure is a thematic way of writing a story.  Whenever you see a story in the Bible being told chiastically, the story will have two halves.  All the themes in the first half of the story will repeat in the second half of the story in reverse order. The middle section is called the central axis, which sometimes functions as the most important highlight of the passage.  It’s like a divine highlighter saying, “This event/theme is very important.”  At other times, the central axis functions as the turning point in the story.  Whereas things may have progressed negatively in the first half, after the central axis the plot will change, and the second half will be very positive.  Please review this pattern in the example below and make sure you understand the pattern.

One of the greatest examples of chiasm is the book of Revelation.  The basic structure of the book of Revelation is shown below.

The way to analyze a chiastic structure is by comparing and contrasting the themes on each side.  For example, you should compare element A in the first half with element A’ in the second half, element B in the first half with element B’ in the second half, etc.  Notice how all the themes in the first half of the book of Revelation (themes A-E) are repeated in the second half of the book in reverse order (themes A’-E’).  Also, note the central axis, Revelation 12!  As noted earlier, many times the central axis is the most important portion of a passage, and this is certainly the case with the book of Revelation.  Revelation 12 is the most important chapter in the book of Revelation, and in order to understand the entire book of Revelation you must have a firm grip on the understanding of that one chapter.  That’s why the Holy Spirit highlighted it by making it the central axis of the entire book!  Now, there’s much more detail to the book of Revelation than what’s shown above.  There are many, many, smaller chiastic structures as well as parallelisms[1].  What you see above is simply how the book is organized overall.  For example, Revelation 1:1-27, which is a large portion of element A in the structure above for the entire book of Revelation, is itself a smaller chiasm.  Please review the structure below comparing the complimentary elements in the two halves (A to A’, B to B’, etc.), and you will see quite clearly what I meant by similar themes uniting the two halves.  The uniting themes typically consist of similar words, phrases, topics or ideas.

The Chiastic Nature of Daniel Chapter 1

This organizing principle (the chiastic structure) is true from Genesis to Revelation, so we shouldn’t be surprised if the book of Daniel has some similar type of organization. For the remainder of this article, I want to share with you the thematic structure of Daniel chapter 1 and how I was able to decipher it.

As stated in the previous article in my series on the book of Daniel, Understanding the Prophetic book of Daniel—The Outline, I began with the outline of Daniel chapter 1 shown below:

My first clue that Daniel chapter 1 may be chiastic became clear by simply comparing element A with element C in the outline above. Notice how the story starts with the theme of Jewish exiles chosen to learn the Chaldean culture and ends with the theme of those same exiles being presented to the king as those most learned in the Chaldean culture! In other words, this suggests a chiastic structure where the themes in the first half will repeat in the second half in reverse order.

My next step was to read a few verses at the beginning of Daniel 1 and a few verses at the end to determine if I could see any matching themes. Daniel 1:1-4 contained the following four themes:

1. A time frame made with reference to a king

2. Israelites brought to King Nebuchadnezzar

3. Hebrews who were gifted in wisdom

4. Hebrews who were exceptional and better than their peers

As I studied Daniel 1:17-21, I could see the same four themes. Here is the comparison:

As you can see, the themes in the first half of Daniel 1 have repeated in the second half. This is the beginnings of a chiastic structure! The next step is to move further towards the middle of the story from both ends and see if there are other matching themes. I examined Daniel 1:5-7 and found three themes:

1. The mentioning of Daniel and his friends

2. Usage of the work delicacies

3. A period of time

These three themes were also found in Daniel 1:11-16 as follows:

Next, I moved even further towards the middle of chapter 1. Looking at Daniel 1:8, I found two themes:

1. Daniel’s actions in obedience to Adonai

2. Mention of the food and drink appointed to Daniel

These two themes can also be found in Daniel 1:10:

So far, we have made three pairs of thematic connections in the two halves of Daniel chapter 1. The remaining verse, Daniel 1:9, is the central axis of our chiasm. Daniel 1:9 informs us that Adonai had given Daniel special favor. Being that Daniel 1:9 is the central axis, we know that of all the verses in this structure, the most important message Adonai is trying to convey is that He and He alone is sovereign, and that despite Daniel’s status as a slave, Adonai is able to cause him to receive favor even from his enemies. The message is clear. Even in a time of testing, Adonai is able to make favor abound to those who trust in His name. The entire chiastic structure is shown below with colors emphasizing the matching themes on either side of the central axis. I have used bold, italicized, underlined, and colored fonts to draw your attention to the matching themes in the two halves.

Major Themes in Daniel Chapter One

At this time, I’d also like to develop a list of the major themes appearing in this first chapter. This will be important as we 1) try to determine the overall structure of the entire book and 2) connect the book of Daniel to the book of Revelation.

• According to Daniel 1:2, we learn that Adonai chooses who will rule and reign on earth.

And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god.

• According to Daniel 1:2, we see that Jerusalem is under foreign domination.

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

• There are a number of verses that pertain to the physical appearance of the Hebrew slaves:

Young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans (Daniel 1:4).

And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your food and drink. For why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age? Then you would endanger my head before the king” (Daniel 1:10).

Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king’s delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants” (Daniel 1:13).

And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies (Daniel 1:15).

• There are multiple references to those gifted in wisdom, knowledge, and understanding:

Young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans (Daniel 1:4).

As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams (Daniel 1:17).

Then the king interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore, they served before the king. 20 And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and and astrologers who were in all his realm (Daniel 1:19-20).

• There are Scriptures emphasizing a period of training/testing:

And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king (Daniel 1:5).

“Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king’s delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants” (Daniel 1:12-13).

And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies (Daniel 1:15).

Then the king interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore, they served before the king. 20 And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm (Daniel 1:19-20).

• There was an emphasis on the end of a period of time of testing:

And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king (Daniel 1:5).

And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies (Daniel 1:15).

Now at the end of the days, when the king had said that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 1:18).

• The theme of protecting oneself from defilement was prominent:

But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore, he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself (Daniel 1:8).

• The theme of exaltation of slaves to positions of prominence:

Then the king interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore they served before the king. (Daniel 1:19).

• The theme of the reign of Babylon over Israel and the kingdoms of the world:

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

As you can see, most of these themes are mentioned more than once in this short chapter.  Whenever you see certain themes and phrases mentioned more than once within a short span of verses, you can rest assured that this is Adonai’s way of highlighting the theme.

Connecting Daniel Chapter One to the Book of Revelation

So, what are we to make of these themes? As I mentioned earlier, we will make use of these themes to help determine the overall thematic structure of the book of Daniel. However, I will save that task for the next article. For now, I’d like to show you how these themes connect to the book of Revelation. Remember, one of the current goals of RTM is to teach concerning the book of Revelation and those events that will usher in Messiah Yeshua at the end of the age. If we think thematically, it’s very easy to see how Daniel is thematically connected to the book of Revelation. Here are some of the connections between Daniel chapter 1 and the book of Revelation:

As you can see, these connections firmly establish that Daniel chapter one pertains to events in the book of Revelation, and that they are not just historical! In other words, the events in Daniel chapter one were specifically written to help us understand events in the book of Revelation. If I were to consider other books of the Apostolic writings that talk about the period of time known as the tribulation (other than the book of Revelation) I could provide even more evidence that the book of Daniel is connected to end-time events. For example, how is the fact that Daniel was brought before a king connected to events in the end-times? According to Luke 21:12-15, a passage specifically dedicated to end-time events, Yeshua stated that His followers would be brought before kings as a testimony to them.

12 But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and
persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake. 13 But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony. 14 Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you
will answer; 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist. (Luke 21:12-15)

Future articles will be dedicated to exploring such a notion, and we will see how understanding the book of Daniel will help elucidate passages in the book of Revelation. Furthermore, we’ll gain a greater understanding of the message John is trying to convey through his vision.

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[1] A parallelism is very similar to a chiastic structure.  However, in a parallelism, the themes of the second half match the themes of the first half in the same order instead of in reverse order.