Daniel

In the third year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and surrounded the city with his army.

1In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.

NoteJudah was the small southern kingdom left after the older kingdom of Israel split in two; Jerusalem was its capital. Babylon was the dominant empire of the day, centered in what is now Iraq. Dating events by the regnal year of a king was the normal calendar of the ancient Near East: this is roughly 605 BC. Jeremiah 25:1 dates the same period to Jehoiakim's fourth year, probably because the two writers count a king's first partial year differently, one system counts it, the other starts counting from the first full year.

2The Lord handed Jehoiakim king of Judah over to him, along with some of the objects used in God's house. Nebuchadnezzar carried them to the land of Shinar, to the temple of his own god, and put them in that god's treasure room.

2And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.

Note"Shinar" is an old-fashioned, archaic name for Babylonia, the same region as "Babylon," used here in a deliberately antique way. The "vessels" are the bowls, basins and utensils used in the Jerusalem temple's rituals. Carrying a defeated nation's sacred objects home and storing them in your own god's temple treasury was standard practice for a victorious ancient king: it displayed publicly whose god had won.

3The king told Ashpenaz, the head of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites, including men from the royal family and from the leading families.

3And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes;

Note"Eunuchs" translates a Hebrew word (saris) that had come to mean a high court official generally; some such men were castrated, as was common for those with access to a royal household, but the word does not by itself say so. "The king's seed" means members of the royal family. Deporting the sons of a conquered country's leading families served two purposes: they were hostages guaranteeing good behavior at home, and they were trained into useful imperial administrators.

4They were to be young men with no physical flaw, good-looking, skilled in every kind of wisdom, well informed, quick to learn, and able to serve in the king's palace. They were to be taught the writing and the language of the Chaldeans.

4Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.

Note"Children" in the King James Version regularly means young people rather than small children; these are adolescents or young men. "No blemish" means no physical defect or disfigurement (physical perfection was a normal requirement for palace service. "Science" in 1611 English meant knowledge in general, not the natural sciences. The "Chaldeans" were originally a people of southern Babylonia who supplied Babylon's ruling dynasty; later in this book the word also names a professional class of scholars and diviners. Their "learning and tongue" means the Akkadian language written in cuneiform, along with the vast technical literature) omens, astronomy, medicine, law, that a Babylonian scribe had to master.

5The king set aside for them a daily share of his own food and of the wine he drank. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they would serve the king.

5And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king’s meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king.

Note"Meat" in the King James Version means food of any kind, not flesh specifically. "Stand before the king" is a court idiom for entering the king's personal service as an attendant or adviser.

6Among them were these men from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

6Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:

NoteThe names are all Hebrew and all contain a name for Israel's God: Daniel ("God is my judge"), Hananiah ("the LORD has been gracious"), Mishael ("who is what God is?"), Azariah ("the LORD has helped").

7The head official gave them new names. He named Daniel Belteshazzar, Hananiah Shadrach, Mishael Meshach, and Azariah Abednego.

7Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego.

NoteThe new names replace the Hebrew god-elements with Babylonian ones: Belteshazzar is connected with Bel (a title of the god Marduk), Abednego is probably an altered form of "servant of Nabu." The meanings of Shadrach and Meshach are uncertain. Renaming a person was an assertion of ownership and authority by the one who did the renaming.

8But Daniel decided firmly that he would not make himself unclean with the king's food or with the wine the king drank. So he asked the head official for permission not to make himself unclean.

8But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.

Note"Defile himself" refers to becoming ritually unclean under Jewish food law. The text does not say what the specific problem was, and readers have long suggested several possibilities: the meat might be from forbidden animals, or not drained of blood, or food and wine from a royal table may have been formally offered to Babylonian gods before serving. The narrative leaves the reason unstated.

9Now God had made the head official kind toward Daniel and caused him to care about him.

9Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.

10But the official said to Daniel, "I am afraid of my lord the king. He decided what you are to eat and drink. Why should he see you looking thinner than the other young men your age? You would put my head at risk with the king."

10And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king.

Note"Worse liking" is old English for looking less well fed. "Of your sort" means of your own age group or class. "Endanger my head" is not a figure of speech: an official who let the king's orders be quietly disobeyed could be executed for it.

11Then Daniel spoke to the steward whom the head official had put in charge of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

11Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,

Note"Melzar" is treated in the King James Version as a personal name, but the Hebrew word carries the definite article, "the melzar", so it is more likely a job title, something like steward, guardian, or overseer of provisions. Its exact meaning is uncertain.

12"Please test us, your servants, for ten days," he said. "Give us only vegetables to eat and water to drink."

12Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.

Note"Pulse" is an old English word for food grown from seed, vegetables, grains and especially beans and lentils. The Hebrew word means literally "things sown." The point of asking for it is that plant food raised no questions of ritual purity. Ten days is a short trial period, long enough to show an effect but short enough that the steward risks little.

13"Then look at how we look, and at how the young men look who eat the king's food, and treat us, your servants, according to what you see."

13Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king’s meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants.

Note"Countenances" means faces, and by extension general appearance or condition.

14So he agreed to what they asked and tested them for ten days.

14So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days.

15At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better fed than all the young men who were eating the king's food.

15And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat.

Note"Fairer and fatter in flesh" is not an insult: in a world where food was often short, being visibly well fleshed was the ordinary sign of health and prosperity.

16So the steward took away the rich food and the wine they were supposed to drink, and gave them vegetables instead.

16Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse.

17God gave these four young men knowledge and skill in every kind of writing and learning, and Daniel could also understand visions and dreams of every kind.

17As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.

NoteIn Babylon the interpretation of dreams and omens was a recognized professional discipline with its own reference literature, practiced by trained specialists attached to the court, which is why this skill matters for Daniel's career.

18At the end of the time the king had set for bringing them in, the head official brought them before Nebuchadnezzar.

18Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.

19The king talked with them, and among all of them no one was found equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they entered the king's service.

19And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king.

20In every question of wisdom and understanding that the king asked them about, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and the enchanters in his whole kingdom.

20And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.

Note"Magicians" and "astrologers" translate two Hebrew words for distinct classes of Babylonian court specialists: hartummim, experts in sacred writings, dreams and ritual texts, and ashshaphim, reciters of incantations. Both were respected scholarly professions, not street fortune-tellers. "Ten times better" is an idiom meaning far better, not a measured ratio.

21And Daniel stayed there until the first year of King Cyrus.

21And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus.

NoteCyrus, king of Persia, captured Babylon in 539 BC and in his first year as its ruler allowed deported peoples, including the Judeans, to return home. The verse therefore notes that Daniel, taken as a youth about sixty-six years earlier, was still at court when the empire that deported him fell. It does not say he died then, chapter 10 places him alive in the third year of Cyrus.