Ezekiel 14:14

Noah, Daniel, and Job. These men were all examples of true righteousness of life. They were upright in their generation (see Genesis 6:9; Job 1:1; Daniel 1:8; 6:22). The fact that Daniel is named before Job does not warrant the conjecture that some earlier Daniel is meant, as is suggested by many modern scholars who think that Ezekiel refers to the Dan’el of the Ugaritic texts. These texts speak of Dan’el as a righteous king of the dim past who pleaded the case of widows and orphans. The prophet was simply not concerned with chronological order.

Significantly all three of these men had been the means of saving others. For Noah’s sake his whole family had been spared (Genesis 6:18). Daniel was the means of saving his companions (Daniel 2:18). Job averted the punishment of his friends by his intercession (Job 42:7, 8). Though effective in saving some, they had been powerless to save the generation in which they lived. Noah was unable to save the wicked race before the Flood, and Daniel, though holding high rank in the Babylonian court, had presumably not been able to influence Nebuchadnezzar to spare the people of Judah and their capital city. If the Jews were placing any hope in the position and influence of Daniel, that hope was now dashed. Compare Jeremiah 15:1.