1In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God; and he carried them into the land of Shinar to the house of his god. He brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.
3The king spoke to Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring in some of the children of Israel, even of the royal offspring and of the nobles: 4youths in whom was no defect, but well-favored, skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding science, and who had the ability to stand in the king’s palace; and that he should teach them the learning and the language of the Chaldeans. 5The king appointed for them a daily portion of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and that they should be nourished three years, that at its end they should stand before the king.
6Now among these of the children of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 7The prince of the eunuchs gave names to them: to Daniel he gave the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
8But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank. Therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. 9Now God made Daniel find kindness and compassion in the sight of the prince of the eunuchs. 10The prince of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your food and your drink. For why should he see your faces worse looking than the youths who are of your own age? Then you would endanger my head with the king.”
11Then Daniel said to the steward whom the prince of the eunuchs had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: 12“Test your servants, I beg you, ten days; and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13Then let our faces be examined before you, and the face of the youths who eat of the king’s delicacies; and as you see, deal with your servants.” 14So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days.
15At the end of ten days, their faces appeared fairer and they were fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate of the king’s delicacies. 16So the steward took away their delicacies and the wine that they were given to drink, and gave them vegetables.
17Now as for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
18At the end of the days which the king had appointed for bringing them in, the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19The king talked with them; and among them all was found no one like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore stood they before the king. 20In every matter of wisdom and understanding concerning which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters who were in all his realm.
21Daniel continued even to the first year of King Cyrus.
Daniel Chapter One: Verse-by-Verse Commentary
By James Allen Moseley
Submitted to the House Visual Study Bible
January 25, 2025
377 Words
Daniel 1:1–2
This was 605 BC after Nebuchadnezzar and the Medes defeated the Assyrians and
Egyptians at the world-altering Battle of Carchemish.
Isaiah prophesied about this first group of exiles to Babylon and of the Babylonians
carrying off the temple vessels at least 70 years before the event.
Judah’s exile in Babylon compared to Israel’s slavery in Egypt – both were places of
incubation for the Chosen People on the historical path to the Messiah. Joseph/Pharaoh and
Daniel/Nebuchadnezzar filled analogous roles.
Daniel recorded Nebuchadnezzar’s taking the sacred vessels from Jerusalem.
Belshazzar’s defiling of these same vessels would mark Babylon’s fall 66 years later (2 Kings
24:1; Isa 39:7; Dan 5).
Daniel 1:3
The word “officials” in Hebrew is saris or eunuchs. Since the boys were entrusted to the
master of eunuchs, they were probably made into eunuchs. As circumstantial support for this
theory, Daniel is unusual as a prophet in that the Bible records no wife or children of him. Isaiah
prophesied that Hezekiah’s descendants would serve among the eunuchs at Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar wanted important hostages whose presence in Babylon would keep Jerusalem
subservient.
Daniel 1:4
“Youths” in Hebrew is yeledim. A yeled is usually a child. If the youths were still
children, they were at or below 13 years old, the age when a Jewish male becomes bar mitzvah
or “one to whom the commandments apply”—that is, a man.
The Chaldeans or Kaldus were an ancient race of high culture. Their land, Shinar (Sumer
or Babylonia), was the cradle of civilization. It was here that the descendants of Cain, Tubal-
Cain, and Jubal invented metalworking and music. Here Nimrod, great-grandson of Noah,
founded Babylon, Nineveh and probably constructed the Tower of Babel.
Sumerian cuneiform was the first written language, dating from the Fourth Millennium
B.C. Its name derives from the Greek kuneos, “nail,” since its alphabet consists of nail-like
scratchings.
Daniel 1:5
Daniel, a Jewish nobleman, lived in the palace, where he was groomed to occupy a high
rank at court. Ezekiel came to Babylon later, in 597 BC, when Nebuchadnezzar took King
Jehoiachin and 10,000 Jews into exile. Ezekiel lived outside Babylon by the River Chebar
(which may have been the Royal Canal connecting the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers).
Nebuchadnezzar planned that the boys should receive a three-year education. In fact,
their training took a part of the year 605 (Nebuchadnezzar’s “Zero Year”), all of 694 BC
(Nebuchadnezzar’s First Regnal Year), and a part of the year 603 BC (Nebuchadnezzar’s Second
Regnal Year). This explains how Daniel could have trained over the course of there calendar
years and could have been fully trained and ready to interpret the king’s dream in
Nebuchadnezzar’s second year (Dan 2). Moreover, God endowed these boys with exceptional
intelligence, so they probably did master their studies with exceptional speed.
Daniel 1:6–7
Receiving Aramaic names was meant to induce the boys to forget their religion and
allegiance to their nation. Babylon worshiped four main gods:
1. Bel Marduk (Babylon’s chief god)
2. The sun god
3. The earth god, and
4. The fire god.
The four boys received names corresponding to these gods:
1. Daniel means “Judgment of God.” Belteshazzar means “Prince of Bel.” Bel or
Baal meant lord, referring to Marduk.
2. Hananiah means “Favored of God.” Shadrach means “Sun King.”
3. Mishael means “Who compares to God?” Meshach means “Who compares to
Shak (the goddess of Earth or Love)?”
4. Azariah means “Whom God helps.” Abednego means “Servant of the Shining
Fire.”
Daniel 1:8
The food and wine from Nebuchadnezzar’s table would not have been kosher, that is,
prepared according to Mosaic Law; it would have included foods forbidden to Jews; and it would
have been consecrated to the pagan gods of Babylon (Lev 11:47; Ps 141:4; Hos 9:3–4, Ezek
4:13–14).
Daniel 1:9
When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace
with him (Prov 16:7; Ps 106:46).
Daniel 1:10–14
Daniel was not making the case for vegetarianism and abstention from alcohol because in
Chapter 10, he wrote that he normally ate meat and drank wine. Daniel wanted to avoid eating
food defiled by its consecration to idols (Dan 10:3).
Daniel 1:15–16
Daniel refused to eat food from the king’s table since it was consecrated to idols. Yet
even on a diet of simple vegetables, God made Daniel and his friends appear fitter than any of
the other servants of the Crown, bringing them to Nebuchadnezzar’s notice (Exod 23:25, Prov
10:22).
Daniel 1:17
God gave wisdom to the faithful. But of the four boys, Daniel alone was a prophet, for
only to him did God give an understanding of visions and dreams (James 1:5–6).
Daniel 1:18
This was within three years of Daniel’s captivity, as indicated in Daniel 1:5 (cf. Daniel
2:1). Therefore, it was 603 BC, and Daniel was now probably 15.
Daniel 1:19
Nebuchadnezzar took the appointment of his officials seriously. He carefully interviewed
and evaluated them before admitting them to service. Daniel in Babylon fills a role comparable
to Joseph in Egypt (Gen 41:46).
Daniel 1:20
The phrase “magicians and conjurers” is “scribes and astrologers” in Hebrew. There
probably was a power struggle between Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon’s priestly class, revolving
around who held the ultimate authority in the state: the king or the priests. This rivalry was
probably sharper since Nebuchadnezzar’s brother was the Chief Priest.
Daniel 1:21
Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon in 539 BC, sixty-three years later. Daniel survived at
least into Cyrus’ third year when he was about eighty-two years old. He was between seventy-
nine and eighty when he survived the lions’ den.
Daniel laid out the timeline of his life in Babylon, from beginning to end, in this first
chapter. But he could only have known when his last year in Babylon would be sixty-three years
later. So, Daniel either wrote Chapter 1 at the end of his long life or wrote all but the last verse
and added that later.