Daniel 1:6–7

1:6 As it turned out,29 among these young men30 were some from Judah:31 Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.32 1:7 But the overseer of the court officials renamed them. He gave33 Daniel the name Belteshazzar, Hananiah he named Shadrach, Mishael he named Meshach, and Azariah he named Abednego.34

29	tn Heb “and it happened that.”
30	tn Heb “among them”; the referent (the young men taken captive from Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
31	tn Heb “the sons of Judah.”
32	sn The names reflect a Jewish heritage. In Hebrew Daniel means “God is my judge”; Hananiah means “the Lord is gracious”; Mishael means “who is what God is?”; Azariah means “the Lord has helped.”
33	tc The LXX and Vulgate lack the verb here.
34	sn The meanings of the Babylonian names are more conjectural than is the case with the Hebrew names. The probable etymologies are as follows: Belteshazzar means “protect his life,” although the MT vocalization may suggest “Belti, protect the king” (cf. Dan 4:8); Shadrach perhaps means “command of Aku”; Meshach is of uncertain meaning; Abednego means “servant of Nego.” Assigning Babylonian names to the Hebrew youths may have been an attempt to erase from their memory their Israelite heritage.