Nebuchadnezzar

The first section of Daniel (chs. 2-6) is a collection of quasi-independent court tales. Once they were combined into the book of Daniel in its current form, the story of Daniel interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, which parallels Pharaoh’s dream in the Joseph story, was revised. It was further supplemented with Daniel’s prayer which creates a contrast between the power of God and that of Antiochus IV.

Eleven years before Judah was destroyed, King Jehoiachin and a select group of Judeans were sent into exile, and Zedekiah was left to rule Judah. The Babylonian and Judean populations split not only in terms of geography, but also in their views of whether Jehoiachin was the “once and future king” or whether God had utterly rejected him.