^1:3The king commanded¹³ Ashpenaz,¹⁴ who was in charge of his court officials,¹⁵ to choose¹⁶ some of the Israelites who were of royal and noble descent¹⁷—^1:4young men in whom there was no physical defect and who were handsome,¹⁸ well versed in all kinds of wisdom, well educated¹⁹ and having keen insight,²⁰ and who were capable²¹ of entering the king’s royal service²²—and to teach them the literature and language²³ of the Babylonians.²⁴^1:5So the king assigned them a daily ration²⁵ from his royal delicacies²⁶ and from the wine he himself drank. They were to be trained²⁷ for the next three years. At the end of that time they were to enter the king’s service.²⁸^1:6As it turned out,²⁹ among these young men³⁰ were some from Judah:³¹ Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.³²^1:7But 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

^1:8But Daniel made up his mind³⁵ that he would not defile³⁶ himself with the royal delicacies or the royal wine.³⁷ He therefore asked the overseer of the court officials for permission not to defile himself. ^1:9Then God made the overseer of the court officials sympathetic to Daniel.³⁸^1:10But he³⁹ responded to Daniel, “I fear my master the king. He is the one who has decided⁴⁰ your food and drink. What would happen if he saw that you looked malnourished in comparison to the other young men your age?⁴¹ If that happened,⁴² you would endanger my life⁴³ with the king!” ^1:11Daniel then spoke to the warden⁴⁴ whom the overseer of the court officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: ^1:12“Please test your servants for ten days by providing us with some vegetables to eat and water to drink. ^1:13Then compare our appearance⁴⁵ with that of⁴⁶ the young men who are eating the royal delicacies;⁴⁷ deal with us⁴⁸ in light of what you see.” ^1:14So the warden⁴⁹ agreed to their proposal⁵⁰ and tested them for ten⁵¹ days.

^1:15At the end of the ten days their appearance was better and their bodies were healthier⁵² than all the young men who had been eating the royal delicacies. ^1:16So the warden removed the delicacies and the wine⁵³ from their diet⁵⁴ and gave them a diet of vegetables instead.

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Footnotes

13 Or “gave orders to.” Heb “said to.”
14 It is possible that the word Ashpenaz is not a proper name at all, but a general term for “innkeeper.” See J. J. Collins, Daniel (Hermeneia), , n. 9. However, the ancient versions understand the term to be a name, and the present translation (along with most English versions) understands the word in this way.
15 The word court official (Hebrew saris) need not mean “eunuch” in a technical sense (see Gen 37:36, where the term refers to Potiphar, who had a wife), although in the case of the book of Daniel there was in Jewish literature a common tradition to that effect. On the OT usage of this word see סָרֹיס.
16 Heb “bring.”
17 Heb “and from the seed of royalty and from the nobles.”
18 Heb “good of appearance.”
19 Heb “knowers of knowledge.”
20 Heb “understanders of knowledge.”
21 Heb “who had strength.”
22 Heb “to stand in the palace of the king.” Cf. vv. 5, 19.
23 The language of the Chaldeans referred to here is Akkadian, an East Semitic cuneiform language.
24 Heb “Chaldeans” (so , , , ). This is an ancient name for the Babylonians.
25 Heb “a thing of a day in its day.”
26 Heb “from the delicacies of the king.”
27 Or “educated.” See I גדל.
28 Heb “stand before the king.”
29 Heb “and it happened that.”
30 Heb “among them”; the referent (the young men taken captive from Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
31 Heb “the sons of Judah.”
32 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 The and lack the verb here.
34 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 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.
35 Heb “placed on his heart.”
36 Or “would not make himself ceremonially unclean”; “become ritually unclean.” Various reasons have been suggested as to why such food would defile Daniel. Perhaps it had to do with violations of Mosaic law with regard to unclean foods, or perhaps it had to do with such food having been offered to idols. Daniel’s practice in this regard is strikingly different from that of Esther, who was able successfully to conceal her Jewish identity.
37 Heb “with the delicacies of the king and with the wine of his drinking.”
38 Heb “Then God granted Daniel loyal love and compassion before the overseer of the court officials.” The expression “loyal love and compassion” is a hendiadys; the two words combine to express one idea.
39 Heb “The overseer of the court officials.” The subject has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.
40 Heb “assigned.” See v. 5.
41 Heb “Why should he see your faces thin from the young men who are according to your age?” The term translated “thin” occurs only here and in Gen 40:6, where it appears to refer to a dejected facial expression. The word is related to an Arabic root meaning “be weak.” See II זעף.
42 The words “if that happened” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.
43 Heb “my head.” Presumably this is an implicit reference to capital punishment (cf. , , , ), although this is not entirely clear.
44 Having failed to convince the overseer, Daniel sought the favor of the warden whom the overseer had appointed to care for the young men.
45 Heb “let our appearance be seen before you.”
46 Heb “the appearance of.”
47 Heb “delicacies of the king.” So also in v. 15.
48 Heb “your servants.”
49 Heb “he”; the referent (the warden mentioned in v. 11) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
50 Heb “listened to them with regard to this matter.”
51 The number ten is sometimes used in the OT as an ideal number of completeness. Cf. v. 20; Zech 8:23; Rev 2:10.
52 Heb “fat of flesh”; , “fatter in flesh”; , “fatter” (although this is no longer a sign of health in Western culture).
53 Heb “the wine of their drinking.”
54 The words “from their diet” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.