Daniel 1:2

Part of the vessels. Nebuchadnezzar doubtless took the most valuable and finest Temple vessels for use in the service of his god Marduk. He naturally left no more than were absolutely necessary to carry on the daily ritual in the Temple at Jerusalem. There were three occasions on which the Chaldeans carried away sacred vessels to Babylon: (1) in the campaign recorded in this passage, (2) when Jerusalem was taken at the close of Jehoiachin’s reign in 597 B.C. (2 Kings 24:13), and (3) at the end of the reign of Zedekiah, when, in 586 B.C. after a long siege, Jerusalem was taken and destroyed (2 Kings 25:8-15). The spoiling of Jerusalem’s treasures by the Babylonian forces was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy pronounced almost a century earlier (Isa. 39:6). On the fate of the ark see on Jer. 37:10.

Land of Shinar. Earlier commentators identified this term with mat Sumeri, “the land of Sumer,” or southern Babylonia, but this interpretation has now been generally discarded. In most of the OT references Shinar is simply a term for Babylonia. The origin of the word “Shinar” is still obscure (see on Gen. 10:10). However, in Gen. 14:1, 9, Shinar seems to be the name of an area in northern Mesopotamia called Sanhar in cuneiform texts. As in Gen. 11:2, Isa. 11:11, and Zech. 5:11, the Shinar mentioned in Daniel is definitely Babylonia.

His god. The chief god of the Babylonians was Marduk, who, since the time of the First Dynasty, more than a thousand years earlier, had popularly been called Bel, “lord.” His main temple, called Esagila, in the court of which stood the great temple tower, Etemenanki, was in the heart of Babylon.

Treasure house. Babylonian cuneiform documents frequently mention the treasures of Esagila, the great temple of Marduk. Which of the many auxiliary buildings belonging to that temple complex might have housed these treasures is not known. However, a treasure house of a secular nature has been excavated within the palace compound. Excavators have called this building the Palace Museum because they found there many sculptures and inscriptions collected from conquered cities. As in a modern museum, objects from different parts of the empire were also exhibited. Though the building was open to the public, admission was prohibited to “evil people,” according to a contemporary inscription. It is not impossible that many treasures from Jerusalem, especially such as came from the royal treasury, were housed in this Palace Museum and were viewed by many visitors.