Kepler, here's a few thoughts from Dictionaries and Commentaries. Firstly, Dan. 1:21 uses hyh "to be," which could mean "remain" or "continue." Secondly, a lot has been written about Darius the Mede. We know for a fact, Cyrus did not take up kingship immediately, for he was involved with military campaigns in Europe. The name Darius could be a title, referring to the governor Gobrayas. It would make sense that Cyrus would reward the Medes for their loyalty by appointing one of them as governor of Babylon while he was away. Thirdly, according to the Babylonian Chronicles, Daniel and friends were deported 605 BCE, the same year that Nebuchadnezzar was officially made king. This was the first of five deportations and three sieges of Jerusalem.
hyh, to be.
2. abide, remain, continue )with word of place or time)
Ex 24:18 and Moses remainded in the mount forty days, etc., so 34:28
(both JE), Ju 17:4, 17:12, 1 S 6:1, 1 K 11:20, 2 K 11:3 = 2 Ch 22:12 +; also Lv
22:27, 25:28 )both H(, etc.; sq. `ad temp. remain
until Dt 22:2, 1 K 11:40, 2 K 15:5, 2 Ch 5:9, 26:21, Dn 1:21 etc. BDB.
to remain, live (MHb.2 bBaba bathra 15a) Jr 13
Ru 12 Da 121 (Montgomery 139). HALOT.
21. the first year of King Cyrus.
The year 538 b.c. The period of
Daniel’s activity in Babylon
is considerable (from 606 to 538) but not absolutely impossible. The author was
probably not concerned here with the fact that this period amounts to almost
seventy years, the length of time, as foretold by Jeremiah, for the Babylonian
exile, that Daniel 9 will be concerned with. For a more likely reason why this
chronological remark is made here, see Comment.
Comment
The
first chapter of the book serves primarily as an introduction; it sets the
scene for the other stories and the visions (chs. 7–12) that make up the rest of
the book. The author here brings together various strands that appear as
separate units in the other chapters of the book.
Therefore,
the author of the first chapter summarizes Daniel’s career at the imperial
court by saying that he was there from the reign of Nebuchadnezzar to the reign
of Cyrus (1:21). [It should be recalled that “the first year of King Cyrus”
(1:21), or 538 b.c., is not the
end of Daniel’s career but simply the end of his service in the Babylonian
court. Daniel experiences his final vision “in the third year of King Cyrus”
(10:1), i.e. in 536 b.c. Cf. Comment: Detailed on 10:1.][1]
21. ‘And Daniel continued [when and how he
was—colloquial Eng.,
‘remained on’] until the first year of King Cyrus.’ The implication is that he
was vouchsafed the joy of the release under Cyrus, and possibly that he like
other faithful Jews returned home upon that glorious event. Such a return was
understood by one form of Midrashic tradition, s. Hamburger, RE 1, 225. The contradiction with 10:l,
acc. to which Dan. had a vision in Cyrus’ 3d year, in the Far Orient, is
removed by the critical distinction of chapters 1–6 and 7–12 as distinct books;
s. §21, a. This removes the arguments
made by Marti (comm.), Jahn (comm.), Charles (comm.) against the originality
of the verse. The editor of the whole book, or composer of chapters 7–12, did
not observe the clash between the dates (recognized however by OG which reads
‘first year’ at 10:1). To overcome the contradiction and for the interpretation
of the vb. ‘continued’ various exegetical expedients have been devised: he
remained in honor, Aben Ezra (comm.) or, in the king’s gate, Hitzig (comm.);
or, in prophecy, Stuart (comm.); or, in Babylon,
so Jer.
at 6:8, C. B. Michaelis (comm.) holding that he was then removed or exiled to
Media. The Heb. vb. hyh ‘to be,’ in
the sense as translated here, ‘continued,’ is fully corroborated, as noted by
Hävernick (comm.) of Luther’s German Version, Moffatt,‘lived’ has the
implication that Daniel died thereupon.
21. wyhy] Despite the objection of comm., this use of hyh, ‘remained, continued,’ is found elsewhere. The present phrase
is exactly duplicated in Jer. 1:3; cf.
Ruth 1:2 sm wyhyw, ‘they remained
there.’ Cf. the translation-Greek of Test. Joseph, 11:8, ‘we were with him
three months’; and with Bertholdt (comm.) the use of ἐσμέν = ζῶμεν, Acts 17:28, while Ehrlich cft. the Talmud use of hyh = ‘live,’ e.g., Baba b. 15a. The
pesher frequently translate μένειν by hw’, e.g.,
Jn. 1:33, 40bis, 2:12.—`d]
Geier notes that this prep. does not exclude the remoter future, cft. Ps. 110:1, 112:8. —kwrs] Also mss krs and so Ezr. 1:1 f.[2]
I prefer the translation of Dan. 1:21 by John J. Collins, “Daniel continued
[at court] until the first year of King Cyrus.”
Comm.
“No special importance is attached
here to the first year of Cyrus, beyond the fact that it extends Daniel’s career
into the Persian era.”
“The Book of Daniel does not say
what happened to Daniel after the first year of Cyrus. Josephus has him finish
his career at Susa (Ant. 10.11.7 §§269-272). In
later times there was a tradition that he was buried in Susa and that his grave was marked with a
mausoleum.”[3]
[1] Hartman,
L. F., & Di Lella, A. A. (2008). The
Book of Daniel: a new translation with notes and commentary on chapters 1-9
(Vol. 23, pp. 131, 132). New Haven; London: Yale
University Press.
[2]
Montgomery, J. A. (1927). A critical and
exegetical commentary on the book of Daniel (p. 137-139). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.
[3] J. J. Collins, A
Commentary on the Book of Daniel – Hermeneia-series, pp. 129, 145.
