Ezekiel 14:12

"And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, when a land sinneth against me by committing a trespass, and I stretch out my hand upon it, and break the staff of the bread thereof, and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast; though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord Jehovah."

EVEN A RIGHTEOUS REMNANT COULD NOT SAVE JERUSALEM

"When a land sinneth ... by committing a trespass ..." (Ezekiel 14:13). "`Trespass' is far too mild a word for this strong Hebrew term. The root concerns high treason and the crime of `acting treacherously.'"[14] It was no ordinary trespass, or sin, that resulted in the kind of destruction God was bringing upon Jerusalem.

"These three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job ..." (Ezekiel 14:14). Even such citizens as these, though living in Jerusalem and interceding for it, could not have averted the richly deserved punishment of Jerusalem.

WHAT DANIEL WAS THIS?

Every Bible student is made aware of the radical critic's efforts to make this mention of Daniel a reference to some alleged Daniel mentioned in the Ras Shamra tablets and who lived about 1,400 B.C.

Arguments by which critics attempt to support this view are: (1) There are two spellings of Daniel, the one in Daniel's prophecy, and the one here in Ezekiel, namely, `Daniel' and `Dan'el.'" The Ezekiel spelling matches that in the Ras Shamra tablets.[15] (2) Only the ancient Dan'el is properly placed if this list of eminent persons is chronological. If the contemporary Daniel had been meant, he would have been listed last. (3) It is very improbable that Ezekiel would have listed a contemporary.[16]

None of these arguments has any weight. (1) Variations in the spelling of names are common in scriptures; besides that both variations of the name Daniel mean exactly the same thing, "God is my judge."[17] (2) The notion that the list of these three ancient worthies was intended to be chronological is false. Both Keil and Leal declare emphatically that the arrangement of the names is "according to subject matter, and not according to chronology."[18]

"The true source of the order here derives from the fact that Noah was able to save eight persons, Daniel three persons, and Job, not even his sons and daughters."[19] As Keil noted, this inability of Job to save even his sons and daughters tallies with the repeated mention of the phrase, "save neither sons nor daughters" in the following verses.

(3) The alleged improbability of Ezekiel's mention of a contemporary is nothing at all except the biased opinion of a scholar who had already made up his mind. Canon Cook, one of the greatest scholars of a century, stated that, "The mention of Daniel here shows that by this time Daniel was a very remarkable man; and the introduction of the contemporary Daniel gives force and life to his illustration."[20]

The positive reasons that support the identification of this Daniel mentioned by Ezekiel with the author of the prophecy of Daniel are: (1) no other Daniel was known either by Ezekiel or the people who heard his prophecies. The foolish allegation that they knew all about the Ras Shamra tablets and some ancient worthy who allegedly lived in 1,400 B.C. is so unreasonable as to appear preposterous. (2) On the other hand, every Jew on earth knew all about the Daniel who was the esteemed favorite of the king of Babylon, who had survived the Lion's Den, and who had already procured countless blessings for the captive Israelites, and who was, in effect, a royal deputy of the most powerful Nebuchadnezzar. If Ezekiel had meant any other Daniel, he most certainly would have said so. (3) There's not a word about that "other Daniel" in the Old Testament, and if he had been all that famous, it is totally inexplicable how his name got left out of the Bible! (4) a number of top rank scholars have pointed out how worthless is the alleged support for the other Daniel.

There is no shadow of evidence for the view of some commentators that an older Daniel is referred to. Had there been such a person eminent enough to be classed with Noah and Job, there would have been some mention of him in the Old Testament."[21]

Also, another current scholar of very great ability gave as his conviction the following.

This reference in Ezekiel is not a reference to an older Daniel, of whom nothing is stated in the Old Testament. Daniel's fame for wisdom and piety was already widespread in Ezekiel's day.[22]

Of course, such arguments are unanswerable. How ridiculous it would have been, in the light of the fame which Daniel enjoyed, as the deputy governor of the whole world, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, a friend and helper of the Jewish nation, and no doubt as popular as any Hebrew who ever lived -how ridiculous it would have been for Ezekiel to have been referring to any other Daniel except this one! If he had been doing such a thing, would he not have explained it? Certainly.

Of course, it is remembered that in Jeremiah 15:1-4, that prophet stated that not even the intercession of such righteous persons as Moses or Samuel would be able to avert the deserved judgments against Jerusalem. This is a very similar prophecy here.