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A study of space in Daniel 1

In Daniel 1 the Babylonian court presented a challenge to Daniel and his compatriots to continue serving the Lord as they did in Jerusalem. In the liminal phase of preparation for service in the court they created a strategy to sustain their Judean identity. This article indicates how their scheme of eating their own food was not only created from the ideological space of what Soja calls ‘Thirdspace’, but was also conceptualised in bodily terms as a theology of containment. A INTRODUCTION Space depicted in narratives, is never without ideological meaning. It is always part of the strategy followed by the narrator. Space contributes to the narrator/author’s communication of his/her/their ideology. Space not only indicates physical areas, but also has ideological meaning for those who live in it. People extend their beliefs into everyday spatial reality. This study explores the use of space in the narrative of Daniel 1. B A FOREIGN SCENE The events in Daniel 1 mainly take place at the Babylonian royal court of Nebuchadnezzar. The king decided to extend his corps of magicians and enchanters with some new blood. He explicitly decided upon boys from the Judean royal family he captured in Jerusalem. He ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials, to select candidates from the Judean exiles, train them for three years at the royal court and prepare them for eventual consideration as officials at court. This was an effective recipe for conflict. Royal Judean lads were to be trained to serve in the Babylonian court. In conflict with their upbringing and religious beliefs, they were to become magicians and enchanters at a foreign court. They were to be educated in the Babylonian culture, its specific language and its ideology of the esoteric.