Has Ugbaru/Gubaru [Gobryas] been dethroned as Daniel's "Darius"? Rodger C. Young's recent JETS article.

[Added a point of clarification on 4/13/2022]

I am in my 8th year of teaching at BCM now (how the time flies!), and every Fall I have taught "Hebrew History," a required Jr./Sr. course. I am not very well qualified for it, but it has grown on me! In my study and teaching of this topic, I have always been puzzled at the reference to "Darius" in Daniel, since the most significant "Darius" of that era, Darius the Great (Darius I) did not begin ruling until 522 BC. 

Now, if Daniel was deported at the first deportation, 605 BC, and let's say for the sake of argument he was ten years old at that time, he could in theory have lived long enough to have intersected with the reign of Darius I, but we see not hint in Scripture that Daniel lived to be what would have been a very remarkable 90+ years old. Also, Darius I seems to have gained the throne at a much younger age than the Darius of Daniel (see Dan 5:31 [6:1).

It is also possible that "Darius" was simply a different name for Cyrus the Great, and the syntax of Dan 6:28 could, in theory, allow for that, but in my opinion that would be unlikely.

Generally, what I have taught my Hebrew History students is that Darius was probably an honorary name given to Gubaru [a.k.a. Ugbaru or Gobryas], whose epic tale of betrayal and revenge is well-worth relating to the class, regardless! Still, that's pure conjecture, without any substantial evidence, and I have never been totally sold on that theory (though it fits nicely).

Enter Rodger C. Young. In his recent article "Xenophon's Cyaxares: Uncle of Cyrus, Friend of Daniel," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 64, no. 2 (June 2021): 265-285, Young builds off of the point that in Xenophane's more neutral (compared to Herodotus) account of Cyrus' career, his uncle Cyaxares II features prominently. Cyrus gave Cyaxares a palace in Babylon, and Cyaxares gave Cyrus his daughter as a wife. After an extensive review of primary/ancient sources, Young concludes that Cyaxares II would fit well with Daniel's Darius as a governor of Babylon, and "it is clear that [Cyaxares's] throne name was Darius" (Young, 277). To be clear, this is a different Cyaxares than the Cyaxares who defeated the Scythians and died in 585. Cyaxares II in Xenophon's account is the grandson of Cyaxares I. [For the argument as to the existence of this Cyaxares II, see Young's article]

Not relying on my own opinion as a NT specialist, I vetted this with two OT specialists that I admire, and both of them gave a positive review of the article. This means that this summer when I revise my Hebrew History lecture notes, I will incorporate Dr. Young's perspective into my notes (citing him appropriately!) and quiz/test questions. Kudos to Dr. Young, then, to what is probably one of the more significant JETS articles to come out in recent years.