Daniel 1:1-17

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.

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^[a] 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.^[b]

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.

6 Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.

7 The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.

8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.

9 Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel,

10 but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your^[c] food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”

11 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah,

12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink.

13 Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.”

14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.

15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.

16 So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.

17 To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.

Daniel 1:1-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DANIEL

This book is called, in the Vulgate Latin version, "the Prophecy of Daniel"; and in the Syriac and Arabic versions "the Prophecy of Daniel the Prophet". This Daniel was of the children of Judah, that were carried captive into Babylon with Jehoiakim; and was of princely blood, if not of the royal seed, as appears from, Da 1:3,5. Josephus {a} is express for it, that he was of the kindred and family of Zedekiah: and Saadiah Gaon {b} says he was of the seed of Hezekiah, and so fulfilled the prophecy in 2Ki 20:18. As to what the author of the "Lives of the Prophets", ascribed to Epiphanius, says {c}, that he was born in upper Bethabara, not far from Jerusalem, it is not to be depended on; or that his father's name was Sabaam, according to a tradition mentioned by the true Epiphanius {d}. The Jews {e} would have it that this book was not written by Daniel himself, but by the men of the great synagogue; though it is evident, from the book itself, that Daniel is the writer of it, as from \Da 7:1,2,28 8:1,15,27 9:2 10:2 12:5\. That he wrote books, which were received, read, and believed by the Jews as of God, is affirmed by Josephus {f}; and the Jews in general acknowledge that this book was written by the influence of the Holy Spirit, but not by prophecy; they, without any foundation, distinguishing between the Holy Spirit and prophecy. And so Maimonides says {g}, it is the general consent of their nation, that this book is among the holy writings, but not among the Prophets; nor will they allow Daniel to be a prophet: the reasons they give are frivolous; what seems to have induced them to degrade him is the manifest prophecy of the time of the Messiah's coming in this book, which sometimes they are obliged to own is fixed in it. They tell us a story of Jonathan ben Uzziel, that having finished his paraphrase of the Prophets, thought to have wrote one on the Hagiographa, or holy writings, among which they place the book of Daniel; but was forbid by "Bath Kol", or a voice from heaven, giving this as a reason, because that in it is contained the end of the Messiah {h}, the precise time of his coming; and the gloss on the passage adds, by way of explanation,

``in the book of Daniel;''

though elsewhere they would have it, that after it was made known to Daniel, it was taken away from him. For so, they say {i}, there are two men to whom the end was revealed, and afterwards it was hidden from them; and these are they, Jacob and Daniel: from Daniel, according to Da 12:4, "but thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book &c.", from Jacob, Ge 49:1, "that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days". Yet the prophecy of Daniel was so clear, with respect to the time of the Messiah's coming, that one of their Rabbins, who lived about fifty years before the coming of Christ, asserted that the time of the Messiah, as signified by Daniel, could not be deferred longer than those fifty years {k}; and a most glaring prophecy it is, and sufficient to denominate Daniel a prophet, as well as many more contained in this book. And, after all, Maimonides himself owns, that he, and the other writers of the Hagiographa, or holy writings, may be called prophets in general. And Aben Ezra observes of Daniel, in his preface, that he delivered out prophecies of things now past, and of things to come; yea, he expressly calls him a prophet on Da 1:17. And Jacchiades, another of their commentators on this book, says that he attained to the highest degree of prophecy. To which may be added the testimony of Josephus {l}, who says he was one of the greatest prophets, and to be preferred to others; since he not only predicted things future, but fixed the time when they should come to pass. And, above all, and what should satisfy us Christians, he is expressly called a prophet by our Lord, Mt 24:15. There are no other authentic writings of Daniel, which bear his name; the stories of Susannah, and of Bel and the Dragon, which make the "thirteenth" and "fourteenth" chapters in the Greek of Theodotion, and in the Vulgate Latin version, are apocryphal and spurious. The Oriental writers make Daniel the author of a volume, entitled, "Principles relating to the Explanation of Dreams". And there is another book in the king of France's library, with this title, "Odmath-al-mantoul n Daniel al-nabi"; which contains predictions of the Prophet Daniel, received by tradition from him. This is a book which abounds with falsities, forged by the Mahometans, and founded on the real prophecies of Daniel {m}. This book, written by him, is partly historical, relating facts in which he was concerned; and partly prophetic, of things that should happen from his time to the end of the world, and especially of the Messiah and his kingdom; and it is written partly in Hebrew, and partly in Chaldee. This great man, as he was both in nature and grace, in religion and politics, lived throughout the captivity, but does not seem ever to have returned into Judea; but continued in the courts of the kings of the Medes and Persians, to take care of the affairs of his people the Jews. Where he died, and was buried, is not certain. Some say in Babylon; and others, which is more likely, at Susa on the Tigris, where he was in the third year of Cyrus, Da 10:1,4. So says Abulfeda {n}; with which agrees the account of Benjamin of Tudela {o}.

{a} Antiqu. l. 10. c. 10. sect. 1. {b} Comment. in Dan. i. 5. {c} Pseudo-Epiphan, de Vit. Prophet. c. 10. {d} Contra Haeres. haeres. 55. {e} T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 15. 1. {f} Antiqu. l. 10. c. 10. sect. 7. {g} Moreh Nevochim, par. 2. c. 45. {h} T. Bab. Megillah, fol. 3. 1. {i} Bereshit Rabba, sect. 98. fol. 84. 4. {l} Ibid. ( Antiqu. l. 10. c. 10. sect. 7.) ut supra. {m} Calmet's Dictionary, in the word "Daniel". {n} Apud Schickard. Not. in Purim. {o} Itinerar. p. 86.

\\INTRODUCTION TO DANIEL 1\\.

This chapter begins with an account of the first captivity of the Jews, in the times of Jehoiakim; of which captivity Daniel was one, and it is mentioned on his account, Da 1:1,2, who, with others, were selected by the order of the king of Babylon, to be educated in the learning of the Chaldeans, and to be maintained at his expense, in order to be his ministers, Da 1:3-7, but Daniel and his three companions refused the king's meat and wine, lest they should be defiled; in which they were indulged by their governor, after trial being made, that they were fairer and fatter for it, Da 1:8-16, and, at the end of the time appointed, they appeared to have a large share of knowledge, wisdom, and learning; upon which they were taken into the king's court and service, Da 1:17-20, and the chapter is concluded with observing the long continuation of Daniel here, even to the first year of Cyrus, Da 1:21

Cross References

• 1. S Jeremiah 46:2
• 2. S 2 Kings 24:1; S Jeremiah 28:14
• 3. Jeremiah 50:1
• 4. 2 Kings 24:1; S 2 Chronicles 36:6; Jeremiah 35:11
• 5. S 2 Kings 24:13
• 6. S 2 Chronicles 36:7; Jeremiah 27:19-20; Zechariah 5:5-11
• 7. S 2 Kings 20:18; S 2 Kings 24:15; Isaiah 39:7
• 8. S Genesis 39:6
• 9. ver 17
• 10. S Ezra 4:7
• 11. ver 8,10
• 12. S Esther 2:9
• 13. ver 18
• 14. ver 19; S Esther 2:5-6
• 15. S Ezekiel 14:14
• 16. Daniel 2:17,25
• 17. Daniel 2:26; Daniel 4:8; Daniel 5:12; Daniel 10:1
• 18. S Isaiah 39:7; Daniel 2:49; Daniel 3:12
• 19. S Ezekiel 4:13-14
• 20. S Genesis 39:21; S Proverbs 16:7
• 21. S 1 Kings 8:50; Psalms 106:46
• 22. ver 5
• 23. Revelation 2:10
• 24. ver 16
• 25. Revelation 2:10
• 26. Exodus 23:25
• 27. ver 12-13
• 28. S Job 12:13; 1 Kings 3:12
• 29. Daniel 2:23; Colossians 1:9; James 1:5
• 30. Daniel 2:19,30; Daniel 5:11; Daniel 7:1; Daniel 8:1

Footnotes

• [a] Hebrew "Shinar"
• [b] Or "Chaldeans"
• [c] The Hebrew for "your" and "you" in this verse is plural.