Daniel 1:3

3 The king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials,^[a] to bring some of the Israelites from the royal family and from the nobility-

Daniel 1:3 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 1:3

And the king spake unto Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs,
&c.] That is, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon spake to this officer of his, whose name was Ashpenaz; which, according to Saadiah, signifies a man of an angry countenance; but Hillerus ^F5 derives it from the Arabic word <arabic> "schaphan", as designing one that excels in wit and understanding; for which reason he might have the command of the eunuchs, many of which the eastern princes had about them, particularly to wait upon their women, or to educate youth, as the Turks have now; though, as R. Jeshuah in Aben Ezra observes, the word signifies ministers, and may intend the king's nobles and courtiers, his ministers of state; and so this Ashpenaz may be considered as his prime minister, to whom he gave orders, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel;
whom he had taken and brought captive to Babylon, and were disposed of in some part or another of the city and country; and out of these it was his will that some should be selected and brought to his court: and of the king's seed, and of the princes:
or, "even ^F6 of the king's seed, and of the princes"; not any of the children of Israel, but such as were of the blood royal, or of the king of Judah's family, or some way related to it; or, however, that were of princely birth, the children of persons of the first rank, as the word ^F7 may signify; or of nobles and dukes, as Jarchi interprets it.

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 Onomast. Sacr. p. 752, 753.
F6 (hkwlmh erzmw) , so (w) is sometimes rendered; see Noldius. p. 276.
F7 (Mymtrp) "ex Graeca voce" (prwtov) , Grotius, Junius.

Daniel 1:3 In-Context

1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it.

2 The Lord handed Jehoiakim king of Judah over to him, along with some of the vessels from the house of God. Nebuchadnezzar carried them to the land of Babylon, to the house of his god, and put the vessels in the treasury of his god.

3 The king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials, to bring some of the Israelites from the royal family and from the nobility-

4 young men without any physical defect, good-looking, suitable for instruction in all wisdom, knowledgeable, perceptive, and capable of serving in the king's palace-and to teach them the Chaldean language and literature.

5 The king assigned them daily provisions from the royal food and from the wine that he drank. They were to be trained for three years, and at the end of that time they were to serve in the king's court.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or his eunuchs