The Davidic Identity of Daniel

The ability of Daniel to provide justice and solve riddles (especially in the deuterocanonical portions of Daniel, e.g. Susanna) points to Daniel’s “Davidic wisdom”. Also, the inability of lions to injure Daniel corresponds with David’s power over lions. For example:

And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion.” (1 Sam 17:31)

Brant Pitre mentions the vision of the beastly lion, but he doesn’t list Daniel’s most obvious connection to lions – the story of Daniel and the lion’s den. The story shows how physical lions can’t harm Daniel (just like they could not harm David). The story also shows how the metaphorical beast of the lion (i.e. Babylon) cannot “snuff out” the Messianic line and promise. The moral of the story is that lions, who are either political or animal, cannot touch the Davidic line.

Daniel is placed in the den of lions. This is an image of exile. A Jew placed in among the beastly Babylonian Gentiles. Yet Daniel comes out of the den. He comes out of exile, unscathed and so he is resurrected. This is a type of the Messianic line that went into exile through the agency of Babylon but is restored (and literally resurrected) in Christ.