names in the book of Daniel

[MrShorty]

One interesting observation I made, albeit a very trivial one, is the names we associate with the book of Daniel -- in particular the names used for Daniel and his three Hebrew associates. These four people carry Hebrew names of Danel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Upon being taken to Babylon, they are given "Babylonian" (or would we call them Aramaic) names of Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego (Daniel 1:7). What I find interesting is that we all refer to Daniel by his Hebrew name, but we refer to his three friends mostly by their Babylonian names. Maybe it stems from the way the book of Daniel is structured in the original texts -- part being written in Hebrew (and the Hebrew names would have been preferred in this portion) and part being written in Aramaic (where the Babylonian names would be preferred). Pretty trivial, I know, and doesn't take anything away from the accounts related in the book..

[Blackmarch]

One interesting observation I made, albeit a very trivial one, is the names we associate with the book of Daniel -- in particular the names used for Daniel and his three Hebrew associates. These four people carry Hebrew names of Danel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Upon being taken to Babylon, they are given "Babylonian" (or would we call them Aramaic) names of Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego (Daniel 1:7). What I find interesting is that we all refer to Daniel by his Hebrew name, but we refer to his three friends mostly by their Babylonian names. Maybe it stems from the way the book of Daniel is structured in the original texts -- part being written in Hebrew (and the Hebrew names would have been preferred in this portion) and part being written in Aramaic (where the Babylonian names would be preferred). Pretty trivial, I know, and doesn't take anything away from the accounts related in the book..

Sounds reasonable to me. I don't know on that issue tho.