Daniel 1:1

Daniel’s Training in Babylon

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

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Daniel 1:1 in Other Translations

KJV

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

ESV

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

NLT

1 During the third year of King Jehoiakim’s reign in Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

MSG

1 It was the third year of King Jehoiakim's reign in Judah when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon declared war on Jerusalem and besieged the city.

CSB

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.

Daniel 1:1 Meaning and Commentary

FOOTNOTES:

F11 R. Nehumiah apud Grotium, de Ver. Relig. Christ. I. 5. sect. 14.Daniel 1:1

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah
At the close of it, and at the beginning of the fourth, which was the first of Nebuchadnezzar, ( Jeremiah 25:1 ) . Jerusalem seems to have been taken twice in his time, and two captivities in it: the first was in the third or fourth year of his reign; when humbling himself, he was restored to his kingdom, though he became a tributary to the king of Babylon; Daniel and his companions, who were carried captive with him, were retained as hostages; but after three years he rebelled, but it was not until his eleventh year that Nebuchadnezzar came against him again, took him, and bound him, in order to carry him to Babylon, but he died by the way; see ( 2 Kings 24:1 2 Kings 24:2 ) ( 2 Chronicles 36:5 2 Chronicles 36:6 ) , some, as Jarchi and Saadiah Gaon, make this to be the third year of his rebellion, and the last of his reign; they suppose that he was conquered by the king of Babylon, and became subject to him in the fifth year of his reign; that he served him three years, and rebelled against him three years: at the end of which came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it;
with his army, and took it; and the same way it is accounted for in the Jewish chronicle ^F16 according to Bishop Usher ^F17, this was in the year of the world 3398 A.M., and before Christ 607 or 606; according to Mr. Bedford ^F18, 605.

FOOTNOTES:

F16 Seder Olam Rabba, c. 25. in principio.
F17 Annales Vet. Test. A. M. 3398.
F18 Scripture Chronology, p. 676.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Daniel 1:1 In-Context

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

2 And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god.

3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility—

4 young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians.

5 The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.