Daniel 1 Azariah, who were given new names (Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah became Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, while Daniel's Babylonian name was Belteshazzar) and allocated rations of food and wine. But Daniel resolved not to defile himself, and refused the royal food and wine, thriving instead on vegetables and water. God gave them knowledge and skill, and to Daniel he gave insight into visions and dreams, and when the three years of training were completed none were found to compare with them in wisdom and understanding. The Book of Daniel originated as a collection of folktales among the Jewish community in Babylon
Old Testament as the Pentateuch and Deuteronomistic history and probably date from the 4th century BC. Chronicles, and Ezra–Nehemiah, were probably finished during the 3rd century BC. Catholic and Orthodox Old Testaments contain two (Catholic Old Testament) to four (Orthodox) Books of Maccabees, written in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. These history books make up around half the total content of the Old Testament. Of the remainder, the books of the various prophets – Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the twelve "minor prophets" – were written between the 8th and 6th centuries BC, with the exceptions of Jonah and Daniel, which were