Daniel 10:3

3 I ate not desirable bread (I did not eat tasty bread), and flesh, and wine entered not into my mouth, but neither I was anointed with ointment, till the days of three weeks were [ful]filled.

Daniel 10:3 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 10:3

I ate no pleasant bread
Or, "bread of desires" ^F4; such as was made of the finest of the wheat, and was eaten in the courts of princes where Daniel was: according to some Jewish Rabbins in Ben Melech, hot bread is meant; but in general it means the best of bread, such as had good qualities to make it desirable; and this Daniel refrained from, while he was humbling and afflicting himself on this sorrowful occasion, but ate coarse bread, black and grainy: neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth;
not delicate meat, as of fish, fowl, deer, and the like, as Saadiah observes; but contented himself with meaner fare; nor did he drink generous wine, as he had used to do, living in a king's court, and which his old age made necessary for him, since he could come at it; but he abstained from it, and other lawful pleasures of nature, the more to give himself up to acts of devotion and contemplation: neither did I anoint myself at all, until three whole weeks were
fulfilled;
which was wont to be frequently done by the Jews, especially at feasts; and by the Persians every day, among whom he now was; but this he refrained from, as was usual in times of fasting and humiliation; see ( Matthew 6:17 ) .

---

FOOTNOTES:

F4 (twdmx Mxl) "panem desideriorum", Pagninus, Montanus; "desiderabilium", Junius & Tremellius; "desiderabilem", V. L. Vatablus, Piscator.

Daniel 10:3 In-Context

1 In the third year of the realm of Cyrus, king of Persians, a word was showed to Daniel, Belteshazzar by name; and a true word, and (of) great strength, and he understood the word; for why understanding is needful in vision. (In the third year of the reign of Cyrus, the king of Persia, a word was showed to Daniel, who was also called Belteshazzar; and it was a true word, and of great strength, and he understood the word; because understanding is needed to interpret a vision.)

2 In those days I, Daniel, mourned by the days of three weeks; (In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks;)

3 I ate not desirable bread (I did not eat tasty bread), and flesh, and wine entered not into my mouth, but neither I was anointed with ointment, till the days of three weeks were [ful]filled.

4 Forsooth in the four and twentieth day of the first month, I was beside the great flood, which is Tigris. (And on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, I was standing on the bank of the great Tigris River.)

5 And I raised mine eyes, and I saw, and lo! one man was clothed with linen clothes, and his reins were girded with shining gold; (And I raised up my eyes, and I saw, and lo! a man who was clothed in linen clothes, and he had on his waist a belt made of the gold of Uphaz, or of Ophir;)