What does Daniel 1:2 mean?
Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem in the third year of Jehoiakim's rule (Daniel 1:1). The Israelite king of Judah seems to have listened to Jeremiah's warning (Jeremiah 27:8) that Babylon's victory was inevitable and should not be resisted (2 Kings 24:1). This resulted in the capture of two notable assets: religious artifacts from the temple and children from noble families. The Babylonians put the Jewish religious items among other riches dedicated to their God, Bel. The children were sorted by skills and some were designated as future court advisors for their new master (Daniel 1:4–5).Daniel is careful to say that it was God—referred to as "Adōnā'y, or Adonai, meaning the ultimate authority—who arranged for this series of events. Likely, Nebuchadnezzar assumed that his strength had prevailed against Jerusalem, but it was God's will to give Jerusalem to him. "God is the King of all the earth…God reigns over the nations" (Psalm 47:7–8). The Babylonian captivity came about because the people of Israel had violated God's covenant. Deuteronomy 28 had warned that disobedience would cause this to happen.
Shinar, mentioned in Daniel 1:2, is the ancient name for Babylonia. Shinar is mentioned in Genesis 10:10; 11:2; 14:1, 9; Joshua 7:21; Isaiah 11:11; and Zechariah 5:11.