Who Was Darius the Mede?

[@tbjpersonal]

Man, the production value on your videos is always right where it needs to be. You don't over-do it with unnecessary visuals, you don't under-inform with them either. The custom goofy music brings a fun element into the video with little effort demanded of the viewer. Your videos are sick man, keep it up.

[@MattWhitmanTMBH]

Straight up, this is one of my favorite comments I've ever heard from anyone in the seven years I've been doing this. I've put a lot of thought into how fancy I want my videos to look, and there is a specific thing I'm going for, and you just nailed it. Thanks for watching with care, and for the insightful comment.

[@jamessv5020]

@@MattWhitmanTMBH -- I am a very new viewer, but what TBJ Media said, except for the goofy music thing; not a fan, but I can live with it. In Bob Ross' words, "it's your channel, that music can exist wherever you want....wherever you want!"

[@IamGrimalkin]

I also really like the goofy music; but then I also liked the old goofy *bang*bang*bang*bang*s and pop culture references in your old videos too and was sad to see them go. I guess this way of doing it is more appealing to people who like a 'polished' video style though.

[@colmwhateveryoulike3240]

Yeah it's funny as an ex-atheist who reviewed all the problems I thought the Bible had after encountering God, I spent the whole video thinking exactly what you said at the end. Jericho, Pilate's office, lots of seeming inconsistencies made much of by skeptics have been proven in favour of the Biblical narrative as more evidence is uncovered, while none has gone against it. That trend is impossibly unlikely if the authors weren't reporting in good faith.

[@Mavors1099]

The moder archeological knowledge about Jericho is still against the Bible.

[@The-Mstr-Pook]

@@Mavors1099 only because secular chronological dating is based of Egyptian hieroglyphs and is 200-300years out of date. So when looking for evidence of biblical events, they are being searched for in the wrong century strata. Check out the work of Egyptologist Professor Rohl. He did a documentary on KZbin, from Eden to Exile. (I've also watched his BBC series and read 2 of his books.) He's documented the discovery of Joseph Tomb in Egypt, as well as the patriarchal family home and graves. The real walls of Jericho with massive destruction and king David's Palace construction.

[@suzannehartmann946]

@@Mavors1099 NOPE. At a minimum it was NOT attacked by an army. The huge wall would have been pushed inwards, NOT outwards or straight down. The archeology for an entire generation and at least THREE digs proves NOT an army, definitely the walls fell down and inward. (different sections). Not a simple earthquake either. Catch up.

[@Mavors1099]

@@suzannehartmann946 You must be an expert archeologist who spent many years studying the ruins of Jericho... Right?

[@Mavors1099]

@@The-Mstr-Pook Secular chronology? You mean the chronology accepted by most experts. You hold on marginal and controversial theories only because they apparently back up your religious beliefs.

[@joejackson6205]

I have always found Daniel to be a companion book to John's Revelations. I found understanding Revelations a lot easier after reading Daniel. Both books are more prewriting history. Together they give God's arc of history. So, if nonbelievers scoff because of lack of archeological evidence, they are missing the point of the book. It is to give calm and confidence to the faithful that these things are going to happen, but God is in control. Still hoping you do a video on Modern Day Eucharistic Miracles. Love you Matt.

[@christiankalafut5572]

Ezekiel is, Daniel has a more minor role in Revelation.

[@joejackson6205]

@@christiankalafut5572 i agree Ezekiel is part of the foretelling of human history, i always look at Ezekiel as the book between Daniel, and Revelations. However, I still think reading Daniel first gives more insight into both Ezekiel, and Revelations. The bigger part of all three books though, is God has a plan, and He is control, though these things must come to pass.

[@jakeschwartz2514]

Except, why should one believe that Daniel didn’t actually get taken to Babylon? Why doubt the inherency of the Scripture?

[@joejackson6205]

@@jakeschwartz2514 no doubts here. Think that was the point of the video :).

[@nickcariglia1988]

Agreed. I did a deep study of Revelation and it helped me understand Daniel and vice versa.

[@deli_fresh04]

What a guy- this is just about as close to perfect as it can get. Information transmission is hard, but you do it right

[@ByzantineCalvinist]

I especially appreciated your conclusion at the end. The fact that a biblical figure cannot be found in surviving records outside the Bible does not mean he didn't exist. Coincidentally, I am currently reading through Daniel at evening prayer, having completed Ezekiel several days ago. So this came at the right time. Thanks.

[@toferg.8264]

Right time for me also.

[@danharris6358]

I like the Air Bud theory at the end. I checked the rules and nothing says a dog can’t be in power over Babylon

[@ewhitmo1]

🤣

[@casualology.]

I mean, Nebuchadnezzar was basically a cow for a while, so....

[@rockandsandapologetics7254]

Daniel called him "Darius the Mede" while the others referred to him as King Darius. I believe Daniel was making a point here. If we remember the dream of Nebuchadnezzar about the statue whose head was of gold, arms of silver, etc. we realize Daniel is referring to the divided kingdom that would defeat Babylon. Cyrus is mentioned by name as the Persian king who would allow the Jews to go home and rebuild the Temple, but Daniel does not refer to Darius as a king, but as a Mede.

[@bwevemuzk]

Daniel 6:21. Daniel calls him king.

[@rockandsandapologetics7254]

@@bwevemuzk Correct, but only after coming out of the lion's den. Perhaps God commanded him to respect his authority, even though he would not be king of Babylon. Still, Darius held the place of the king until Cyrus was able to take over.

[@thegreenknight8423]

@@rockandsandapologetics7254 Wow... What are the chances I'd run into you again after just finding this channel? God is great! I should of known you made videos from you name, I'll be checking them out. It's nice to see you again Friend of Narnia.

[@rockandsandapologetics7254]

@@thegreenknight8423 I don't always give the best presence, but since I work at a library and my daughter and I became Doctor Who fans for a while, I call myself The Library Doctor. That video is a little different from my others. I'd like to put stuff up about Narnia or the Lord of the Rings, but the books are far better than the movies. Maybe I can do a Bible study series based on the Lord of the Rings, but no accompanying video. Pray for me Friend of Narnia.

[@sherrybielma1934]

Good job 👍

[@The_True_]

King Cyrus the Persian and King Darius the Mede are mentioned simultaneously as well as the law of the Medes and the law of the Persians, so it seems Darius is a King of the Medes put in place by his alliance with King Cyrus of Persia. Not an uncommon thing in history. Two different kingdoms, with Persia possibly as the head kingdom in the alliance.

[@mrkennam]

Agreed. 👍✅

[@Steve-wg3cr]

I read the same thing in a Old Testament Survey textbook I have. It proposed that Darius was a subordinate king under Cyrus.

[@The_True_]

@@Steve-wg3cr It just makes logical sense in the biblical and historical context. I don't like to complicate things more than they are. Lol.

[@Mandarintoenail1]

Daniel 6:28 KJV [28] So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

[@The_True_]

@@Mandarintoenail1 yes, he prospered under the rule of both Darius the Mede, and Cyrus the Persian. Cyrus came to where Daniel was later on, so my statement was that Darius was a proxy King over Babylon for a time, and that being of the Medes was placed there by Cyrus to rule in his stead for however long Cyrus decreed it. The details are lost to time, but the overall picture seems clear enough.

[@kittykuddi]

I absolutely love this kind of stuff. Looking forward to more historical deep dives in the future!

[@notthefbi7932]

Just watched an interesting press conference yesterday on this channel about how the lions finally lost, and the victim survived 😃

[@justjasmine79]

I believe that Darius the Mede is Darius the Mede. There are so many people who have perished as unknowns but used mightily by God. If this man is only recorded in this one instance for the sake of OUR faith thousands of years later then this is consistent with the God I know. I think this man would be honored by this ONE significant mention in history.

[@toferg.8264]

Amen!

[@SnrMusic-nb6lj]

You are correct. וּבְמַלְכ֖וּת is conjunctive and not concurrent. Darius the Mede was a real person. We don't need to know much of his back story. All we need to know is that he "received" the kingdom for a short time - so short that no one deemed it necessary to record his name on a clay pot or we haven't dug up the evidence yet like Belshazzar.

[@njoroge_mn]

Why do I like the TMBH channel ,simply coz I always learn something new . Today i learnt about the "Daniel Double chiasm" .

[@edavidson38]

I remember reading a few years ago that there was a thought that Darius the Mede was actually either the Father-in-Law or Brother-in-Law of Cyrus and if I remember correctly, the evidence for this had to do with the ambush and killing of Cyrus by the Medes and that those who led him to his death were related to him through one of his wives. What's interesting is that these were two different studies that came together to put forward this idea. I do remember that the murder of Cyrus (death by ambush) was a discussion in one of my history classes years ago and then years later I came across this hypothesis concerning Darius the Mede that actually used that incident that had started the debate in my history class. WIll try to find it, I know it's around here somewhere because I had asked my pastor what he thought.

[@isaacwhitman7327]

Great work as usual Matt! I always especially appreciate your videos on the historical topics. You do a great job breaking down theories and reasonings in an approachable way but your research and study shows! Thanks!! P.S. I love Jeff’s work, I’ve definitely had “who was Darius the Mede” stuck in my head since I watched this yesterday.

[@benjaminperez1149]

Great insight. I’m reading Daniel right now. ❤

[@TiciaM]

Ha ha ha, that final image. My husband started watching this, and he was listening to the music and said, "I don't think that's a real song," and I thought to myself with a superior thought, "Ahhhh, he doesn't know there is custom made music for the episodes," and enjoyed my superior knowledge rather than sharing it and being a nice wife. Great video, thoroughly enjoyed the research and the ideas as per usual.

[@PhoenixSong412]

This is awesome, I love these deep dives into history. Keep it up!

[@timmynichols9790]

Thankyou Matt. I'm so blown away by your knowledge & program.

[@var1ables854]

Here's a potential solution that ties in to #4. We don't know all the satraps, governors or kings of the regions in the area at the time. Darius the mede could've been like a cousin of Cyrus or uncle(like claimed by Josephus) that was trusted enough by Cyrus to rule Babylon but no threat politically to attempt a coup. The reason we don't know him from external sources is because they're usually incomplete and sometimes they disagree with one another(See 'secret histories' vs 'wars of Justinian' and those are written by the same guy).

[@jesseparker2656]

Would Cambyses the 2nd be one of those region kings and maybe had former title of Daruis the Mede? The Persians tried to cover up about his army losing a battle in an Egyptian desert as being lost in a sandstorm.

[@Mandarintoenail1]

@@jesseparker2656 many rulers of the region and time had appellatives like Caesar. So the overlapping of some of the names is quite likely

[@jesseparker2656]

@@Mandarintoenail1 , interesting, i like the name, "Cambyses"

[@FailedAragorn]

Really interesting interpretations here. Persia was at one point a region within the Median Empire, which Cyrus overthrew when the Achaemenids (the Persian Empire) was formed. As you've said they were ethnically and linguistically related, and given the Achaemenid policy of Satrapies (sub-kings that ruled a region of the empire with the Shahanshah's blessing), it's quite possible for this "Mede" to have been an administrator or satrap within that system.

[@Mavors1099]

It's possible? Yes, everything is possible... Is it probable? No, it's not... What's most probable? That the guy who wrote Daniel simply made a mistake.

[@markhorton3994]

​@dux657 The Persian Empire was huge, and Babylon was not the capital. The Medes and Persians were separate peoples in what became the Persian Empire. Each province and each major city had its own ruler as part of the greater empire. Most of those regional and local authorities are not now known. The most probable is that the ruler of Babylon as part of the Persian Empire was a Mede named Darius.

[@CruceibleProductions]

Thank you so much Matt! Me and some friends are from church are doing a Bible study in Daniel right now. Great resource!

[@ghostsquare884]

These historical videos are fantastic! I feel like I remember you mentioning something about the Sea Peoples in passing once (maybe in an old NDQ) and I've been dying to hear more about that if you are ever running low on historical video ideas.

[@caladen182]

I'm so glad Jeff is contributing to the videos now too!

[@realmless4193]

Cyaxares II is definitely my preferred theory for Darius the Mede. However, there is enough evidence for a medo-persian civil war shortly before the war with Lydia that I find it fairly probable that there was some sort of falling out between Cyrus and Artaxerxes, and that this would result in a war where Darius would choose the side of Cyrus, against his father, possibly because there was a dispute between Darius and a potential second heir of Artaxerxes that was lost to history because he died in the war. Essentially, Cyrus & Darius vs. Artaxerxes and the heir apparent of the medes.

[@johngleich1379]

Just got done listening to Hardcore History talk about this period (from several years ago) and I wondered what Matt's thoughts would be. Wow! Thanks for reading my mind, Mr. Whitman!

[@voidremoved]

Dude that little intro song was very funny. You made my day.

[@Knight-Of-YAH-WEH]

Love the channel. Love the vibe. There aren't a lot of people that I connect with but your topps Brother. If this was a class..... I'd pull up a chair, oh wait, I kinda did. Thanks! Can't wait for the next one. May The LORD bless you and yours! JESUS is King!

[@folvenson]

I personally find the forgotten person theory the most compelling. There are a lot of times in history where records are lost either through negligence or intentional destruction. If Darius the Persian was worried about rebellions based on historical genealogy it would make sense for him to order the destruction of those records.

[@excellenceadigun9093]

YES!! I have been searching into this for A YEAR! Oh man! I’m so grateful for this video. I’m still 2 minutes in, but I’m looking forward to what you say. I kinda concluded that “Darius the Mede” was most likely a governor under Cyrus, who came to claim the conquest of his campaign a year/two years later ..but idk, ima listen to what you say 🙌🏾 *EDIT:* Thank you for this episode. It was amazing 🙌🏾 From my own searching, everything you said is accurate. I kinda surmised that “Darius the Mede” was “Gobryas”(maybe a mede name) who was also nicknamed “Cyraxes”(more persian). My issue with this is that I didn’t find a lot of stuff on “Cyraxes” that didn’t contradict each other or “Gobryas” in someway (i admit, i was biased to gobryas). Also the Medes probably assimilated into the Persian upper class; they didn’t have as many conquests as the Persians, they were a smaller and already “less significant” group than the Persians. Maybe they disappeared into the Persians. One thing seems sure - there is an abundance of people to fill this “Darius the Mede”-sized hole, even though it doesn’t much matter who exactly he was as long as he was. Thank you soo much!! I love episodes like this. Man, I love your content! Hope all is well for you and I am onboard for seeing better communication amongst the Church at large (even if complete unification doesn’t occur) *PS:* Is there a video on identifying Joseph or Moses’ pharaohs coming down the line? 👀

[@codyclay88]

Thanks for gettin’ nerdy with us, Matt!

[@DJones1812]

The audio segments are incredible. The video is incredibly thought provoking, but the music gives a certain 90’s punk curiosity that ought to be included with every bible in order to remind everyone that this is a journey, and sanctification is a relevant word because none of us are finished products so far

[@paws271]

I llllike it! Nice show/format. Great attitude!

[@MuhammadsMohel]

7:26 Ted Nugent/ Meatloaf song Writing on the Wall contains evidence why, love him or hate him like Henry Rollins does, you cant deny the influences are in the culture.

[@mrkennam]

It was called the Medo Persian empire. And the great statue/image prophecy says the head is Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, and the following kingdom is the upperbody with 2 arms. 2 arms due to the fact Medo Persian empire had Cyrus as the greater king and Darius as a lower status king. The animal prophecy also says the following kingdom is liken to a bear, which is raised up on one side, meaning two kingdoms but one of the kings have greater power than the other. That would be Cyrus... So the prophecy is very consistent. Even more remarkable about Daniel is the 70. Weeks prophecy, how it ties together with Jesus coming. After the decree of Antaxerxes. Read the book The Coming Prince by fmr Scotland Yard chief Sir Robert Anderson. Amazing knowledge. ✅✅👍

[@skydivingcomrade1648]

I would love to see a list of historical/archeological arguments against the Bible and our now found to be true, as well as questions not yet answered?

[@suzannehartmann946]

I know of none AGAINST the Bible found to be TRUE. For example most of the archeology supports the Bible on questions where the Bible was ACCUSED of being false. Some of the recent ones being infants killed by swords in the right time frame for Herod to have been trying to kill Jesus. The first two digs were in Jerusalem and Bethlehem and found hundreds. Then a later set of digs found thousands all the way to the coast. The Muslims forbid digging under the Dome of the Rock so accurate archeology about both temple time periods is difficult. But they themselves trashed the area digging underneath with bulldozers disturbing the layers and taking out the rubble. So a project is underway to sift through that rubble. It is out of layering sequence but still yields valuable items. For example temple coins with Tiberius CAESER on one side instead of the menorah and the shew bread on the other. Fortunately coins have dates. Jesus day. And older find was for YEARS BAR insisted nothing was found to verify King David. Then they were all excited at a dig to find his seal. An outpost. Now of course archeologists have found the CITY of David.

[@serpotter]

let me suggest a book called kingdom of priests, by Eugene Merrill. it's a history textbook of old testament Israel, that correlates the biblical narrative with every other known extra biblical source of history. it goes through all solved issued and still problematic issues and gives possible solutions while always taking the OT narrative as a source of historic information. it's a very good book.

[@sorenpx]

@Gabriel Solorzano Thanks for that recommendation. I'm sure I'll order that. $45 though, yikes!

[@pillowcrate2308]

New TMB upload. The world rejoices🥺

[@madeleine5803]

Awesome video! Thank you for all the time you invest in this. But also, we are still waiting for another Ironwood Rhino episode!

[@mikecatherine3224]

Totaly agree with the wait-and-see approach. There is a massive trend of new discoveries proving the Bible accurate time and time again. Take for example the lead curse tablet recently discovered and announced that now offers proof the Israelites were in the land of Cannan when the Bible says, were worshipping Yahweh at the time, had a written language and the curse tablet was located where the Bible says the curses were proclaimed.

[@pipinfresh]

People didn't think the Hittites existed, now they are one of the most known about cultures of the ancient world.

[@jasonpratt5126]

I ran over this most recently guest-teaching a Sunday School class (one of Lifeway's ss books last quarter combined Daniel and Ezekiel), and after poking around my resources at the house in several places I decided the textual evidence adds up best for Darius being an economic supervisor over a large region of the still-developing Medo-Persian empire. He's impressed by Daniel (there's an extra part of Daniel bridging the arrival of Darius whom Daniel takes on a tour, and the lion's den, which isn't regarded as canonical by most branches of Christianity, which has some chronological problems, too, but which sets up the socio-political situation in more detail), makes Daniel at first one of the 120ish economic managers of the area, then one of the top three; but Darius himself is the temporary administrator of the area including Babylon and its dependencies -- a military governor in charge of transitioning the region into Persian governance. Since he did his job well and wasn't otherwise important, keeping his head down like a good functionary who definitely IS NOT trying to secede his area in rebellion against Cyrus (who was currently shifting into rulership himself through inheritance from his Dad), he's only mentioned by Daniel in ancient sources.

[@stephenrankin8916]

The point is always more important than the detail. The point is always harder to undertstand if detail is your goal. Its like seeing the trees instead of the forest.

[@Althea-M]

I really really love these teachings. Very engaging 🙏🏾 I agree with the last theory

[@seanfalconer7182]

The bit with the Lion Pit operator was priceless! 🤣 I mean how can we have a society without a Lion Pit!! Right?? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@thedyslexicengineer7308]

Hey Matt, thank you so much for all the content you put out, I listen to your podcast every day! One thing that I think would be really beneficial is a second podcast where your episodes are condensed into hour long episode. This would help people who are trying to catch up to present day by removing the intro/outro music and the summaries. I would love to help you out with a project like this for free. Hit me up if you would like to try out a sample episode.

[@kerimurphy4240]

Hi from Pennsylvania. Love your videos

[@AChippendale]

Great video, thought provoking and fair... But the best parts were the musical intros to each section.... Epic 😍

[@amolinguas]

I particularly hold to Cyaxerxes II after reading Dr. Stephen Anderson's thesis of DTS (Dallas Theological School)

[@bruderbro907]

Loved the video and the OST 🙂

[@justingoble4980]

As always, the intro music is perfect

[@Pre23sident]

I always thought Darius the Mede wasn’t a universal ruler but more just a ruler of the city Daniel was in, sort of like a governor I suppose.

[@storieswithinstories9442]

That is definitely food for thought. I have often been impressed by the Bible's ability to prove itself ever-increasingly reliable in light of progressive archaeological discoveries. Love your approach to history. Have you thought of doing an analysis of Antigonus II Mattathias? I find it difficult to tell if it's important historical background to the illegitimacy of the Herodian dynasty or whether it's just a part of the Maccabean era, when God's will became too ambiguous to discern in the progress of the history of ancient Israel.

[@adventurousones2260]

Also I remember a time when King David was problematic, there was no independent verification of him, until the sands shifted and Egypt had written documentation about a Pharaoh that slayed a king from the house of David. Yep. Waiting for the sands to shift sounds good to me

[@LHJC10]

Was the character pictures from Civilisation?

[@MattWhitmanTMBH]

Absolutely.

[@LHJC10]

@@MattWhitmanTMBH #notnerds

[@fineartbyjosh9651]

Just curious, would anyone other than the Supreme ruler be able to write The law according to the Medes and Persians? Was that authority given to subordinates? Since that's what Darius did he obviously had that authority...

[@Zeppelin0731]

It could also be a name for a ruler that was used by a particular culture, but not by another. Or, it could be a replacement name. Perhaps some of the people that did follow under this leader would be upset about the content of a book being written about him, so the name was just changed to another name. There are lots of reasons why this may not add up logically. It is fun to think about though. Very well done.

[@jedisentinal353]

Really awesome video! I love the history dives. Thanks Matt. #ndq #tmbhpodcast

[@sherrybielma1934]

Really fun! I read a biography of Cyrus when I was much younger and God kept me much in the book of Daniel, Nehemiah, and Ezra. Always fascinating, the prophesies and realizations under our holy God. Thanks, this was great❤

[@erikamohrmann7986]

Lord of Spirits podcast is a really cool biblical/historical/spiritual beings podcast that talks about Daniel and Revelation in a few episodes which i found absolutely fascinating. The one on Apocalypse talks about them I think. Anyway, it's two Orthodox priests discussing all these cool things, and Fr. Stephen knows like 3 or four ancient languages and everything (it seems) about the historical context of a lot of scripture that is not often talked about. I think you may like it, though they are a bit mean (good-spiritedly) sometimes towards other denominations. take it in good faith though, and it's a really good podcast overall!

[@bigJovialJon]

As a variation on you last suggestion: is it possible that leaders who came after him expunged his name from history? It happened to at least one Egyptian Pharaoh. Could the same thing have happened in Persia?

[@rhondahoskins]

MATT, YOU ARE AWESOME!

[@jasonpratt5126]

Meanwhile, there's a pretty cool story about Cyrus, in purportedly his autobiography (not sure if that doc is lost now, much less how legit it is, but it's cited by other ancient authors including some Church Fathers, where I found it), where he's touring Babylon as a diplomatic scouting operation before coming back to conquer it, and he runs across a stele or pillar memorializing Nebuchadnezzar's declaration about God Most High turning him temporarily into a beast of the field to cure his hubris; Cyrus thinks he isn't reading the inscription correctly so has his host and guide translate it for him. Cyrus is very impressed with Neb for memorializing such a humiliating incident.

[@spacemanspiff9773]

Love the bumper music! 🎤🎸

[@PinkPanther918eR]

I was just reading Daniel and I noticed the transition was to this Darius. I read a few more lines and paused. I said to myself, this isn't a Babylonian name. So I said, did a Persian take over? Had to investigate, because I really didn't know for sure if he was a Mede. Excellent video. 💥✌️🫡

[@michaelhughes7068]

Thanks Matt! I really enjoy your videos. It seems to me that James Ussuer had information about this in his Annals of the World. He quoted Xenophon and was solid on the Cyaxarus II being the solution. If I remember correctly Ussuer claimed Darius was Cyrus's father-in-law.

[@michaelhughes7068]

Ok, I grabbed my ten pound copy of Annals of the World and looked it up. According to Ussuer, Cyaxarus II, King of the Medes, was Darius the king over the provence of Baylon. He gave his daughter (his only hieress) to Cyrus as a wife. He also gave Cyrus a dowry, the whole kingdom of the Medes. I am not sure if he is right but I found it to be the most compelling explanation.

[@JohnCobia]

Great job! I would like to know more about why you and other historians say Belshazzar was the son of Nabonidus not Nebuchadnezzar as indicated in Daniel (5:11; 5:18)

[@jasonpratt5126]

On the topic of different people going by different names according to their jobs and/or their shifts in location: Daniel himself is a super-famous example. Not only his three friends, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego" have different names depending on their context, but Daniel himself was named Belshazzar by Nebuchadnezzar (whose original name only kind of sounded like that, by the way) -- except since that would be a pagan name honoring Bel/Baal, there's a pun with an extra 't' sound, Beltshazzar. So Neb's grandson Belshazzar calls upon Bel(t)shazzar to interpret the writing on the wall! -- a very different name from "Daniel". (Who himself shared a near-name Dan'el, with a famous wise man in Syro-Phoenicia around this time.)

[@reamus9102]

Hi Matt. I propose, for ourselves and our future generations, that you absolutely MUST start writing a commentary of the scriptures; you articulate and package your thoughts on the bible (and its constituent parts) so well that it just makes so much sense, even if someone doesn't fully land where you land in your conclusions. I'm sitting here watching your video, and I'm honestly thinking of my kids and future grandkids, and wondering if they will be able to have someone like you who can help them work out the scriptures for themselves in a reasonable way (rather than have their guide to the scriptures being some roommate in college).

[@BradArcher]

Love the history around the Bible stuff.

[@willblasingame6441]

Wait, Daniel was in circulation before the Maccabean revolt? I had always heard it was written around that time and I would love to learn more about that if you have any links! Love the video!

[@jacobsabastian3871]

Scholarly consensus says that it was written around the time of the revolt, while some more conservative leaders maintain a 5th century date.

[@farmercraig6080]

Yeah that's right, its usually dated in the 2nd century, mainly because of the amazingly accurate prophecy. But nothing in the Hebrew Bible in from the 400 years of silence, such as the apocrypha books. Daniel isn’t among them. Also the Septuagint was made around 250 B.C. including Daniel. The fact that Daniel is found in the dead sea scrolls gives an earlier date that 165 BC. The book of Ezekiel mentions Daniel by name 3 times. (Ezekiel 14:14)” even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in that land, by their own righteousness they could only save themselves,” says the Lord GOD…. EZEKIEL 28:3 “Behold, you are [imagining yourself] wiser than Daniel”) The language itself argues for a date earlier than the second century. Linguistic evidence from the dead sea scrolls, demonstrates Hebrew and Aramaic chapters of Daniel must have been composed centuries earlier. Some of the terms appearing in chapter 3 were already obsolete by the second century B.C, that the translators of the Septuagint translated them incorrectly.

[@farmercraig6080]

The first-century A.D historian Josephus wrote that when Alexander the Great swept into Judea (circa 329 B.C), he was met by a procession of Jewish priests. When the high priest came before the famed conqueror, he showed him from the book of Daniel where his conquests were directly prophesied. This amazed Alexander. He was moved by the revelation and gave the Jews tremendous favor (The Antiquities of the Jews, 11.8.4-5). This account is also told in the Talmud(circa 500 A.D). If this account is accurate, it means the book of Daniel was written before Alexander’s time (333 B.C).

[@willblasingame6441]

Thanks for the great replies!

[@farmercraig6080]

@@willblasingame6441 no worries

[@chicken_punk_pie]

7:54 is that where that phrase comes from?

[@carlycharlesworth1497]

I agree with you Matt. Wait for the truth to come to the surface. Time will tell. The bible IS the truth. I don't need to understand every word of why this or that was written in this or that style in order to know that what is written is fact. It's funny how to those who wish to believe, no proof is required, whereas, to those who doubt, no proof is sufficeient. I really enjoyed this video Matt. I have never heard the book of Daniel spoken of like that before, and I found it rivetting. Sadly I am a simple soul and much of what you said went over my head, but that which I understood was enlightening and fascinating. Now I am going to watch the video again. I have subbed to the channel. Thank you for posting this video. God bless you and yours.

[@armmkm]

Check out Behistun, Iran at Mount Behistun in the Kermanshah Province of Iran, near the city of Kermanshah in western Iran, established by Darius the Great (r. 522-486 BC).

[@adammalzahn7238]

Thank you God for your word.

[@gwenweyen1061]

Glad you cleared that up about the " 62 yr. old dude" Thanks😉

[@janetwhite9219]

Is the chiastic diagram available to print?

[@livingpurgatory3]

Thank you. I enjoyed your analysis.

[@benpatricksheets]

Thank you for taking the time to break this down! PS AirBud ?!? 😂

[@DaleBoyce2012]

Without any expertise in history or the cultural makeup of the Persian Empire, I favor the provisional-temporary approach. It might help explain why Daniel's accusers had such power over Darius. Namely, they could go over his head if he didn't follow the program.

[@5BBassist4Christ]

Perhaps Darius the Mede was the choice alcoholic drink of the time. On a serious note, the passage about Daniel thriving "under Darius and Cyrus", it is possible in linguistics to say the same thing twice, -especially common in Hebrew. In fact, the end of the Hatikvah (Israeli National Anthem) there is a line, "Our hope is not dead, it is two thousand years old: to be a people free in Zion and Jerusalem." We know that Zion and Jerusalem are just two separate names for the same city, but this passage says they want to be free in "Zion and Jerusalem." This is not them saying they want to be free in both cities, but one city given two names. So Daniel thriving "under Darius and Cyrus" could be the same thing. P.S. I have not done any deep study on the historicity of Daniel and am not making an argument for the Cyrus the Great. That was just something I noticed in the video.

[@adventurousones2260]

I live in Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 which is one of the home countries that make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is a tiny "self governing" nation of 3 million. I bet no one outside of the UK has heard of Rhodri Morgan. He was the First Minister of Wales at the time of devolution. History won't know who he is, because to the World, London and the Queen and Boris Johnson or current British Prime Minister are the seat of Power. I bet most people heard of Tony Blair. Who was ruling at the time of Devolution. So I get it why some tiny guy like Darius the Meade can dissappear from history.

[@nickcariglia1988]

Great video. Thank you for presenting this. I did a deep study of Daniel and I concluded that Darius the Mede was probably the Persian or Hebrew name for Cyaxares II, the last King of the Medes. In Daniel 10:1,2 it states that it was the 3rd year of Cyrus and Daniel had been in mourning for 3 weeks. My question was "what happened to Darius the Mede?" and I wonder if that was who Daniel was mourning for which would explain the use of Cyrus as ruler. It's speculative, but think it has merit. Thoughts?

[@mikelomeli1054]

Epic sound track bro! Where can get it??

[@JohnDoe-wt9ek]

1) Most historical documents of the early antiquity empires, prior to Rome and Greece, are incredibly sketchy at best. Especially considering that, if anyone knows anything about the Assyrians in Biblical History, they're quite literally a footnote. Their biggest contribution is their being YHWH's judgement on the Northern Kingdom (Israel) after nearly 700 years of open rebellion, refusal to repent and turn to YHWH, and waging war against the Prophets and the Southern Kingdom (Judah). The bits we do have, are an incredible treasure of a find. Like the "Holy Grail" of historical documentation. 2) Darius the Mede may very well be a sub-commander or second in command under Cyrus the Persian. Which may be an immense contribution as to why he's not noted in contemporary, secular history like that of Cyrus. More so, being that it is governorship (under Cyrus), and his age, it may be that Babylonia, and the Empire that once resided in that land, was a gift for honorable servitude, friendship, and excellence of command, upon successful conquest. Darius the Mede may be an unsung "Mighty Man" to Cyrus the Persian, like Uriah the Hittite was to King David of Israel. Or as David, son of Jesse, was to King Saul. 3) History has a bad habit of overshadowing a lot of the lower leadership in favor of the Big Wigs. And it even shows with that of WW2 as a GREAT example of how history can get watered down for ease of palatable consumption. Everyone knows General Dwight D. Eisenhower, McArthur, Patton, Bradley and Montgomery. But hardly anyone knows of Lieutenant General Taylor of the 101st Airborne Division, or that of Brigadier General MacAuliffe, 101st Airborne Division Artillery (DivArty), who had his 15 minutes of fame in the Defense of Bastogne 16th-26th December 1944. Or General Gavin of the 82nd Airborne Division. Even people like 1st Lieutenant Audie Murphy, the most decorated American Soldier in US history, is overshadowed by men who commanded in their tens of thousands, whereas Murphy led platoons and companies of men into war at the sharpest point of the spear. So, in three ways, there's a good reason why Darius the Mede may not be a well-known historical figure: A) Insufficient discovery of historical documentation/artifacts due to the procession of time (as time tends to make it harder to figure the truth and fiction of history) B) He's not a King, but a Mighty Man and Governor by merit and reward for service, under the sovereign that was Cyrus the Persian. C) What history we might discover about him will have him in footnote pages and side notaries of who he was and his importance to the grand schemes under Cyrus the Persian, who will be the "Big Wig" attracting the historical attention.

[@tonyroberts7481]

What if Darius was an appointed by the conquering Persians after the fall of Babylon? And they keep regional officers in their positions as opposed to replacing them. As well as the three overseers that included Daniel?

[@IamGrimalkin]

Here's one thing about Darius the Mede that is worth pondering: if he was a vassal king as many of your theories suggest, was he deposed early in his reign? He did declare himself as the one and only God over Babylon in Daniel, and although it seems like he reversed that, I don't think Cyrus would have been terribly happy regardless. In doing that, he would have been undermining Cyrus himself. And I think we see some biblical evidence his reign was short. We hear of the "first year of Darius" then skip to the "third year of Cyrus" (even while looking back to the "first year of Darius" again), implying by year 3 Darius was no longer in control. There is the question why Daniel wouldn't include Darius being deposed if his decree lead to that; but I don't know enough about what Daniel was trying to accomplish to know if that detail would have fit well into his broader narrative.

[@willgillean9755]

Great study!

[@Jazzbeu55]

I like the way you do your videos with good academic content combined with faith and a down-home style of narration. I am inclined to support the Gobryas theory. He was was a general and satrap governor for the Babylonians prior to employment by Cyrus. Babylon fell in a single night. That miracle of God is much easier to explain if the former Babylonian general had an insiders understanding of how the defenses were set up. Gobryas would have been important enough to deserve a mention, even if by another name.

[@dougtibbetts857]

Darius… a title like pharaoh. Darius the Mede was astyages… husband of Esther and father of Cyrus ( Dan 5:31 6:1-28 9:1 11:1)

[@theproceedings4050]

Wait, is there a reason why the internet refers to a Astyages (grandfather of Cyrus the great) as the last king of the Medes? Is this because he was also known by multiple names?

[@MartinFALLS-j4d]

1st Base from histroy is that the name "Darius" was certainly associated with the various leadership families involved from the history of the time of Alexander the Great. 2nd base is understanding the way the leadership families used names at various times in their lives. This is well documented across many cultures. So .... we are still discovering lots about the ancient world year by year, and repeatedly as it is discovered it supports the biblical account. Even in our own courts today, silence is not evidence. We cannot argue that ' x ' didnt happen just because we dont haveany evidence. When in fact we do have evidence, that is clear and precise. The issue is some people do notwant to accept it because it is the biblical history. We call that "Bias" not a lack of evidence.

[@MiscMitz]

Thank you sir

[@dustinpaulson1123]

Deep cuts up in here with the Redemption trading card game picture of Darius. NERRRRRRRRRRRRRRD

[@MattWhitmanTMBH]

I deserved that.

[@rosieE121]

Could it be like a Saul-Paul analogy with name? (May be agreeable with #2?) I like #5 too.

[@snookiedoo]

I would like to hear the whole song. 😄

[@MaximusLight]

Well I think to simplify the problem: Either there is a Darius the Mede and we don't have a clear record of him or he didn't exist. Interestingly I found some interesting links in wikipedia not by Darius but by the mention of his father Ahasuerus to not just Daniel but also to Ester, Ezra, and Tobit. While these would all be different Ahasuerus' I think this is an interesting link as all of these books both deal with that Persian empire and, except for Ezra, all have deuterocanonical edits (or in Tobit's case in entirely deuterocanonical). I think it's worth noting that while Darius the Mede is apparently noted as fictional there seems to be more support for evidence or at least links to identifying his father so maybe that'd an avenue to look at in the future that could help identify Darius if he exists.

[@suzannehartmann946]

Another thought is that confusion reigns sometimes because of naming conventions. We use LAST names for family names. Sometimes in the past it was "first names" So Herod the Great, Herod the grandson of Herod the Great. The Herods alone as a dynasty are difficult to parse. Which is why some people get confused trying to date Jesus' birth if they do not take ALL of the clues into account such as Quirinius being governor, the census which was a rare event.

[@Ooku87]

I think you might have actually explained it pretty well. We are used to thinking, in our centralized country structures, that it was always like that - one ruler to rule over everything. While in fact the empires of old were more of a patchwork of nations and leaders. There was this central ruler but underneath that guy were many other people ruling over their parts of empire or even their nations. Thus, this Darius of the Mead people might have been one of the rulers under Cyrus and he was ruling Babylon after conquering it, since he might have been promised that position if he succeeded. So, lastly, we might be thinking Darius, the ruler of the Empire, while we should be thinking Darius one of the rulers in the Empire.

[@luisoncpp]

Ok, I haven't seen the whole video, but I'm going to write my theory right away before forgetting it. The emperor Nebuchadnezzar that is described in the book of Daniel is an amalgamation of many babilonian emperors from that time (Nebuchadnezzar himself was no longer alive). Having that in mind, it's natural to think that Darius the Mede was also an amalgamation of many persian emperors. Probably Cyrus, Cambyses and Darius I the Great. Btw, Cyrus was from a dinasty of kings of Media, I guess that's where "the Mede" comes from in the title "Darius the Mede". EDIT: ok, I watched the whole video, and my understanding shifted a little bit. I kind of remembered that the book of Daniel impplies that Darius the Mede was the persian emperor, but if there is a room for being a lower authority, then I think it matchs better the whole picture (not just because I _want_ te scripture to be as precise as possible, but also because the Book of Daniel refers to Cyrus by name later). Btw, Cyrus conquered Media (the Medians previously dominated Persia), so I wouldn't describe the relationship between Media and Persia as an alliance.

[@marylamb2130]

Loved this. (Not sure why Air Bud showed up in the closing credits🤔😂)

[@99kylies15]

Man, I want a bookshelf tour xD

[@JonStallings]

Fascinating topic Matt. I will stick with Darius the Mede