In the book of Daniel, we read of how the King gave a strong level of
veneration to Daniel (something Daniel does not reject nor rebuke the king for
offering him):
Then the king
Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that
they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him. (Dan 2:46)
Commenting
on this text, Robert Bellarmine wrote:
Now, who would say or believe that a captive,
such as Daniel was, would be worshipped by a supreme king with civil honor? Therefore,
he adored him religiously, as a man
filled with God, nor did he adore him through an error, thinking him to be
a god, for adoring him he said in verse 47: “Truly your God is the God of gods,
and Lord of kings, and a revealer of hidden things, seeing you could discover
this secret.” But even the king of Alexandria did this to be priest Jaddo, as
Josephs writes (Antiquities lib. 11
cap. 8).
Nor it is opposed that Nebuchadnezzar
commanded sacrifice to be offered to Daniel. Scripture does not say that
sacrifice was due to God alone, for the Sacrifice proper to God is immolation
of animals, in Hebrew זבח (zebach), which is spoken of in Exodus 22:19, “Let he that immolates
to gods be killed, apart from the Lord alone.” There, the word in Hebrew זובח (Tsobeach),
but Nebuchadnezzar did not offer זבח (zebach) to Daniel but מנחה (mincha), and ניחוחין (nichochin), this is
gifts and incense, both of which are customarily offered to God and men. In 1
Kings 10:27 we read of certain Israelites that did not wish to recognize Saul
as king, nor confer gifts upon him, and the word uses there for gift is מנחה (mincha). (Robert Bellarmine, On
the Canonization and Veneration of the Saints [trans. Ryan Grant; Port
Falls, Idaho: Mediatrix Press, 2019], 119-20, italics in original [Hebrew has
been fixed])
In other
words, Daniel receives some form of religious praise from the King and such is
seen as acceptable. There are many other instances of such in the Bible,
including Solomon receiving the same worship as YHWH in 1 Chron 29:20.
For a fuller discussion, see:
