What was Daniel's situation as a captured young Jew in Babylon?
Daniel was a young Jew carried captive from Jerusalem and Judea to Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar besieged the city. In Babylon he was trained by the Babylonians for service in the king’s kingdom, and he was brought to a place of preeminence by interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream that the magicians could not recover.
Les explains that Daniel writes shortly after Nebuchadnezzar besieged and took the Jews captive out of Jerusalem and Judea back to Babylon. As a young Jew, Daniel was, you might say, trained by the Babylonians for service in the king’s kingdom. He was brought to preeminence by interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, which the king had dreamed and lost and which his magicians could not bring back. Les also notes that scoffers ridicule the book of Daniel, claiming it was written by an imposter long after the events, rather than by this young Jew writing before they happened.