In those days, when victors integrated enslaved captives into their own culture, it was customary to change the captives’ names as a sign of ownership. The Israelites belonged to their captors now; no longer would they be known by their old names from their homeland. But these Babylonian names weren’t simply different names; these new names were meant to obliterate the Israelites’ identities. They were a mockery to their Jewish heritage. They turned truth inside out. They were idolatrous names. By comparing the original and Babylonian names of these four Hebrew young men, we get a clear
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