Daniel and His Three Friends Avoid Defilement: Chronological notations frame the opening chapter. It begins with the third year of King Jehoiakim of Judah, at which time the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem (1:1). It ends with the first year of King Cyrus of Persia (1:21). These are roughly the parameters of the exile; apparently they are also the bookends for Daniel’s career. Nebuchadnezzar deported to Babylon the Jewish leaders, including Daniel and his friends; Cyrus conquered Babylon and later released the Jews, allowing them to return to Judah. Remarkably, the book of Daniel does not mention the return from exile. But it does record that Daniel remained in Babylon until the Persian period. Although chapter 1 mentions the first year of Cyrus (1:21), Daniel later has a …