The Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) rulers as a whole operated with far greater wisdom than is common in governments today. Their assumptions about reality were radically different from anything in the West; they held to an entirely different epistemology.
In a royal or imperial ANE court, the most valuable servants were those whose motives were transparent. That is, the ruler could calculate in advance how his advisers would faithfully cling to their own self interest. Wise rulers knew that anything approaching altruism was a matter of someone recognizing that their own best interest was the prosperity of the ruler. Those who were transparent about their assumptions and proclivities — men with a firm self-knowledge — could be trusted to support whomever was on the throne without deception.
And anyone who ascended to a throne would have to know how to discern the hearts of the previous court advisers. They considered people their single greatest treasure. You can replace stuff, but you can’t easily replace seasoned servants. You can’t afford to toss out just everyone on the court staff; you would need someone versed in all that happened previously. And good managerial experience was frankly rare and expensive, so a new ruler was on the lookout for talented men already in service to the court who would honestly shift their loyalty to the new guy. Meanwhile, the best court servants recognized that their self-interest would require embracing the reality of who now sat on the throne.
Only the most arrogant fools would slaughter the whole palace staff and court advisers. History is littered with failed rulers who ignored this well-established precedent.
Daniel the Prophet in the courts of both Babylon and Medo-Persia was the kind of wise court adviser who was famous for not being a slavish yes-man. He faithfully sought the emperor’s welfare in all things, but from a unique perspective. And it became clear that his estimate of reality was superior to that of his opponents. Daniel was convinced his God was at work in this context, and knew that his own best interest was tied up in the truth as revealed by Jehovah. It followed that everyone else’s best interest basked in the light of the same truth. He was loyal and devoted to his imperial master from that frame of reference. While the ruler might not know how Daniel would answer particular queries, he knew that Daniel would not deceive him.
From the biblical narrative, we get the feeling a lot of other court advisers had the tendency to hide their motives on some issues. Daniel had sufficient conviction to die for his devotion to Jehovah, and would have died rather than betray the interests of his earthly master. He was transparent.
Daniel was able to cling to his identity within an alien environment. The environment was pagan to the core. Daniel’s training was a deep reading of the imperial library on all manner of highly varied pagan religions, the mythology of every competing religion encountered by the conquests of Babylon’s army. A healthy portion of the imperial revenue went to paying for the research and recording of whatever passed for mythology and legend in every place the army marched. The Babylonian library was massive, and Daniel had to become familiar with the various petty kingdoms over which Babylon ruled, so he would know how to implement imperial policy without provoking significant resistance in any of the many varied locales.
As a young man of noble/royal lineage growing up in Judah, Daniel would have been acquainted with what was then regarded as manly arts. It would include martial arts, but also something of civil engineering, administration, and most certainly the legacy of Hebrew covenant identity, both written and oral. He was one of the young men adopted by the Babylonian court, as part of the normal process of conquest — take the best of whatever resources the conquered kingdom offered, including personnel. The well fed noble and royal progeny would have been physically larger than those born in poverty, and much better educated and familiar with political power, as well.
Hint: The Babylonian image of manhood was not the trim bodybuilder common among Westerners. The ANE ideal was more burly and bulky, while still athletic — rather like a human Clydesdale. A flat tummy was a social liability in most settings (though they had use for a few lithe and fast runners as couriers and spies). This explains the issue with Daniel and his companions over the imperial rations. The court required big burly men, and Daniel and his buddies had to look like that without eating the meat ritually offered to pagan gods before serving. Once in a position of authority, they were then at liberty to maintain their own kosher meat sources.
But by the same token, Daniel and his buddies had to be so immersed in the pagan outlook that they kept total aplomb in the face of things they found abhorrent. There was no place for the dramatic shocked recoil at any of the nastiest stuff they encountered. Babylonian lore included a lot of what we would call “black magic” today, some of it thoroughly repulsive. Further, they had to know how it fit into the bigger picture of imperial administration. Secularism did not exist anywhere in the world at that time, so everything was larded with pagan ritual that everyone took quite seriously.
Of course, our modern Late Western society only gives lip service to secularism; it’s just another pagan religion in disguise. The point is that we face a lot of crap today, and we could use some of Daniel’s aplomb and self-honesty about things we cannot possibly change. But our Western habit of dramatic shocked recoil is easily the stupidest element of our social discourse. It’s actually a pagan ritual, and a very bad one. It’s an attempt to use magical power to sway others, a dishonest ploy to gain some desired outcome that benefits one’s own little tribe. Keeping that clear in your mind can help you in serving Jehovah.
It’s really sad that the world we live in necessitates deception. We have precious few people in power who actually want to discern reality. Instead, they are deeply infected with a sick lust for controlling reality and shaping it to their whims. Our culture is built on betraying trust, despite the propaganda to the contrary. Our society is fake about a lot of things — most things, in fact. A false veneer is the trademark of middle-class materialistic culture. Our world discourages introspection and transparency, and rewards duplicity.
If there’s anything we could do to improve our practice of biblical manhood, we could learn a lot from Daniel.
