How old were Daniel and his friends when Nebuchadnezzar took them captive to Babylon?
At the time of the Babylonian captivity, Daniel and his friends were just young lads, probably early teenagers. Daniel is described as a young Hebrew lad when he was brought captive to Babylon, and the king later prepared these sharp young Jewish men for government service.
Les teaches that when Nebuchadnezzar besieged and overran Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, and took the Jews captive, Daniel and his friends were just young lads, probably early teenagers. He calls Daniel a young Hebrew lad when he was brought captive to Babylon. Les also explains that Daniel learned Aramaic there through the king’s instruction, which prepared Daniel and other sharp young Jewish men for service in his government. This helps answer the scoffers who argue an imposter wrote Daniel later; Les says the shift from Aramaic to Hebrew is not a problem but a point of inspirational truth, similar to a young teenager sent to Russia learning Russian. Daniel is also prophecy dealing with Gentile empires in their contact with Israel.