Daniel the Prophet and the Three Young Men

Today we remember Daniel who was thrown into lion's den as well as the three young men who were thrown into the fiery furnace. These stories are all told in the book of Daniel. They are all four carried off into exile by the Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar. The four, among others, were chosen for their intellect and beauty to be trained in the Babylonian court, and were given new names. 

Daniel, whose name means, "God is my judge" was given the Babylonian name Belteshazzar, which means "Bel protect the King" and Bel was a Babylonian god.

The three young men were commonly known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. However, their Hebrew names of Daniel's friends were Hananiah (חֲנַנְיָה‬ Ḥănanyāh), "Yah is gracious", Mishael (מִישָׁאֵל‬ Mîšā’êl), "Who is what Elis?" and Azariah (עֲזַרְיָה‬ Ǎzaryāh), "Yah has helped", but by the king’s decree they were assigned Chaldean names, so that Hananiah became Shadrach (שַׁדְרַך Šaḏraḵ), Mishael became Meshach (מֵישַׁ֖ךְ Mêšaḵ) and Azariah became Abednego (עֲבֵ֣דנְג֑וֹ ‘Ǎḇêḏ-Nəḡō) . Shadrach's name is possibly derived from Shudur Aku "Command of Aku (the moon god)", Meshach is probably a variation of Mi-sha-aku, meaning "Who is as Aku is?", and Abednego is either "Slave of the god Nebo/Nabu" or a variation of Abednergal, "Slave of the god Nergal." The Chaldean names are related to the Hebrew names, but the name of a heathen god has replaced that of Yahweh.

Three Jewish boys who refused to bow down to the King of Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzer. He then believed in God.However, the Medes and Persians overthrow Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel was then raised to high office by his royal master Darius the Mede, but jealous rivals trick Darius into issuing a decree which condemns Daniel to death.