Daniel 1

Daniel 1:1-21 . THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY BEGINS; DANIEL'S EDUCATION AT BABYLON, &C.

1. third year--compare Jeremiah 25:1 , "the fourth year; Jehoiakim came to the throne at the end of the year, which Jeremiah reckons as the first year, but which Daniel leaves out of count, being an incomplete year: thus, in Jeremiah, it is "the fourth year"; in Daniel, "the third" [JAHN]. However, Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 25:1 , 46:2 ) merely says, the fourth year of Jehoiakim coincided with the first of Nebuchadnezzar, when the latter conquered the Egyptians at Carchemish; not that the deportation of captives from Jerusalem was in the fourth year of Jehoiakim: this probably took place in the end of the third year of Jehoiakim, shortly before the battle of Carchemish [FAIRBAIRN]. Nebuchadnezzar took away the captives as hostages for the submission of the Hebrews. Historical Scripture gives no positive account of this first deportation, with which the Babylonian captivity, that is, Judah's subjection to Babylon for seventy years ( Jeremiah 29:10 ), begins. But 2 Chronicles 36:6 2 Chronicles 36:7 , states that Nebuchadnezzar had intended "to carry Jehoiakim to Babylon," and that he "carried off the vessels of the house of the Lord" thither. But Jehoiakim died at Jerusalem, before the conqueror's intention as to him was carried into effect ( Jeremiah 22:18 Jeremiah 22:19 , 36:30 ), and his dead body, as was foretold, was dragged out of the gates by the Chaldean besiegers, and left unburied. The second deportation under Jehoiachin was eight years later.

2. Shinar--the old name of Babylonia ( Genesis 11:2 , 14:1 , Isaiah 11:11 , Zechariah 5:11 ). Nebuchadnezzar took only "part of the vessels," as he did not intend wholly to overthrow the state, but to make it tributary, and to leave such vessels as were absolutely needed for the public worship of Jehovah. Subsequently all were taken away and were restored under Cyrus ( Ezra 1:7 ).
his god--Bel. His temple, as was often the case among the heathen, was made "treasure house" of the king.

3. master of . . . eunuchs--called in Turkey the kislar aga.
of the king's seed--compare the prophecy, 2 Kings 20:17 2 Kings 20:18 .

4. no blemish--A handsome form was connected, in Oriental ideas, with mental power. "Children" means youths of twelve or fourteen years old.
teach . . . tongue of . . . Chaldeans--their language and literature, the Aramaic-Babylonian. That the heathen lore was not altogether valueless appears from the Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses; the Eastern Magi who sought Jesus, and who may have drawn the tradition as to the "King of the Jews" from Daniel 9:24 , &c., written in the East. As Moses was trained in the learning of the Egyptian sages, so Daniel in that of the Chaldeans, to familiarize his mind with mysterious lore, and so develop his heaven-bestowed gift of understanding in visions ( Daniel 1:4 Daniel 1:5 Daniel 1:17 ).

5. king's meat--It is usual for an Eastern king to entertain, from the food of his table, many retainers and royal captives ( Jeremiah 52:33 Jeremiah 52:34 ). The Hebrew for "meat" implies delicacies.
stand before the king--as attendant courtiers; not as eunuchs.

6. children of Judah--the most noble tribe, being that to which the "king's seed" belonged (compare Daniel 1:3 ).