God’s Word for You
Daniel 1:6-7 Your new name
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Wednesday, August 20, 2025
6 Among these were some from the Children of Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 7 And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.
Giving captives new names was a practice that is sometimes “a matter of convenience,” but it would be better to say that giving a new name was a sign of entry into the special service of a ruler. We would hardly expect that every one of the exiles was given new Babylonian or Persian names. For example, in the Book of Esther, Mordecai is not given a new name, but he was not in the direct service of the king until late in the account, when he becomes “prominent in the palace” (Esther 9:4). By that time, his Hebrew name was probably so well-known that no one bothered to try to give him a different name. But much earlier, Hadassah his cousin was given the Persian name Esther (Esther 2:7). So also Nehemiah, who was cupbearer to king Artaxerxes, did not have a special Persian name (Nehemiah 1:11, 2:1). Yet we find that Joseph was given a new name as a young man in Egypt (Genesis 41:45). Eliakim son of Josiah was given a new name by Pharaoh Neco (2 Kings 23:34). Moses called his servant Hoshea by the name Joshua (Numbers 13:16), and there are other examples in the Bible of students or disciples being given new names by their teachers (2 Samuel 12:25; Mark 3:17; Luke 6:14).
Daniel’s new name was Belteshazzar, but he constantly refers to himself as Daniel. King Nebuchadnezzar’s widow also seems to prefer calling him Daniel to Belteshazzar, as we see in Daniel 5:12. Some think that this other name might be taken from Belet-sar-Usur, “O Lady, protect the king.” In that case, his name would be a prayer to a supreme goddess. However, Daniel himself tells us that Nebuchadnezzar said that he had named him after his god, not a goddess, since he says, “He is called Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and the spirit of the holy gods is in him” (Daniel 4:8). Therefore we will say with confidence that his Babylonian name was Balâtsu-Usur, which means “Bel protect his life.” Bel is not a form of Baal, but is another name for Marduk, the high god of Babylon.
Shadrach (Saduraku) probably means “Command of Aku” or “I am fearful of Aku.” This Aku was a Sumerian moon-god, related among pagan theologies to the Canaanite moon-god Sin.
Meshach (Mesaku) means either “I am of little account” or more probably “Who is like Aku?” This name is formed along the same lines as the angelic name Michael, “Who is like El (God)?”
Abednego means “Servant (or ‘Adorer’) of Nego” or “of Nebo.” Nego, also Naga, was a dragon-god known from the apocryphal book Bel and the Dragon. “There was a great dragon, which the Babylonians revered” (Bel 1:23). Dragons, reptiles, and serpents were popular figures for cult worship in the ancient world, as among voodoo and other pagan cultures today. Such are the people described by Paul, “Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal men and birds and animals and reptiles” (Romans 1:22-23). Even in Israel, people worshiped the bronze snake that Moses had made for many centuries, calling it “Nehushtan” (Bronze Snake) and praying to it until King Hezekiah finally put an end to it and broke it into pieces (2 Kings 18:4).
In all of these names, there is a twisting away from the true God. One theme that runs throughout the book is that despite this kind of attack, God will prevail. In this and many other ways, Daniel has a lot in common with Christians today.
God will prevail despite what sinners and unbelievers do. For those of us who are believers and yet sinners, we are grateful that God has overcome our sin. Jesus has prevailed over our sin, and has brought us out of the captivity of our guilt, and he has made us his own. He has also renamed each of us. We bear his name, his record, and his salvation. We are humbled and honored to be called “Christians.”
In the Large Catechism, Dr. Luther teaches us: “All who are outside the Christian church, whether heathen, Turks [Muslims], Jews, or false Christians and hypocrites, even though they believe in and worship only the one, true God, nevertheless do not know what his attitude is toward them. They cannot be confident of his love and blessing. Therefore they remain in eternal wrath and damnation, for they do not have the Lord Christ, and, besides, they are not illuminated and blessed by the gifts of the Holy Spirit.”
There might be people in your life who use the word “Christian” with a sneer, but let them say what they say. You are a Christian: you believe in Jesus, you are forgiven by Jesus, you will be raised from the dead by Jesus, and you will be brought home to heaven to live forever with Jesus. Taunts here on earth might seem to make this worse here on earth, but because they are little crosses that you bear, they will only make things better in eternity.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.