The third year of the reign of Jehoiakim would be 606 BCE, at which time Nebuchadnezzar was not yet king of Babylon. It was 597 BCE that Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem for the first time (without actually
destroying it). By that time Jehohiakim was dead and his son, Jehoiachin, was
ruling. 1:1
The stone became "a great mountain" that "filled the whole earth." This could only be possible on a flat, disc-shaped earth.
2:35
Daniel's tree is tall enough to be seen from "the end of all the earth." Only on a flat earth would this be possible.
4:10-11, 20
"Belshazzar the king"
Apparently, the author of Daniel knew of only two Babylonian kings during the period of the
exile: Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, who he wrongly thought was the son of Nebuchadnezzar. But
Nebuchadnezzar died in 562 BCE and was succeeded by his son, Awil-Marduk (referred to in the bible
as "Evilmerodach" [see 2 Kg 25:27 and
Jer 52:31]). In 560 BCE, Amel-Marduk was
assassinated by his brother-in-law, Nergal-shar-usur. The next and last king of Babylon was
Nabonidus who reigned from 556 to 539, when Babylon was conquered by Cyrus. It was Nabonidus, and not
Belshazzar, who was the last of the Babylonian kings. Belshazzar was a the son and viceroy of
Nabonidus. But he was not a king, and was not the son (or any other relation) of
Nebuchadnezzar. 5:1-2,11,18,22
Darius the Median is a fictitious character whom the author perhaps confused with
Darius I of Persia, who came to the throne in 521 BCE, 17 years after the fall of Babylon. The author of Daniel
incorrectly makes him the successor of Belshazzar instead of Cyrus. 5:31
To Daniel, the stars are small objects that can fall from the sky and then be "stamped upon." 8:10
