Daniel 1:1-6, 8-20
Chapter 1
HISTORY OF DANIEL
Daniel in the Court of Babylon
In the third year of Jehoiakim’s reign as king of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieged Jerusalem.The Lord handed King Jehoiakim of Judah over to him, along with some of the vessels from God’s temple. These he took to the land of Shinar and placed them in the treasure house of his god.
King Nebuchadnezzar ordered his chief eunuch Ashpenaz to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and nobility:
young men without physical defects, handsome, intelligent, and wise; well-informed, quick to learn and understand; and suitable for service in the king’s palace. They were to be taught the language and literature of the Chaldeans.
They were given a daily portion of food and wine from the king’s table and trained for three years, after which they would enter the king’s service.
Among these were young men from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
As Daniel was determined not to defile himself with the king’s food or wine, he pleaded with the chief eunuch to spare him from this.
By the grace of God, the chief eunuch was sympathetic to Daniel.
However, he was afraid of the king, so he said: “If the king, who has assigned your food and drink, sees that you look more emaciated than the other young men, he may think poorly of me. It could put my life in danger to grant your request.”
Daniel then turned to the steward whom the chief eunuch had put in charge of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:
Please test your servants for ten days. Give us only vegetables to eat and water to drink,
and see how we look in comparison with the young men who eat food from the king’s table. Then treat us based on what you observe.
The steward agreed and tested them for ten days,
at the end of that period, they looked healthier and better fed than any of the young men who ate the king’s food.
So the steward continued to give them vegetables instead of the regular food and wine.
To these four youths, God granted wisdom and skill in literature, and to Daniel, the gift of interpreting visions and dreams.
At the end of the period set by the king for the youths’ training, the chief eunuch presented them to Nebuchadnezzar.
The king talked with them and found none to match Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. These four became members of the king’s court.
In any matter of wisdom and discernment, the king consulted them on, and he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.
Commentaries
Daniel in the Court of Babylon.
The book of Daniel has a long and complex history of composition. It is written in three languages: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, and it covers the rule of four empires: Babylon in the 7th century B.C., Persia, the Ptolemaic Dynasty that ruled in Hellenistic Egypt between 305 and 30 B.C., and finally the Seleucid kings of Syria in the 2nd century B.C. The recurring and central message of the book relates to the challenge of remaining faithful to the God of the Covenant amid political oppression by foreign kings. The hostility intensifies when Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 B.C.) restricts the religious freedom of the people.
Many experts believe that most of the book was written during this later period, when it was finally compiled. In fact, the resolution of Daniel and his companions not to defile themselves (8) reflects Antiochus IV’s attempt to force the Israelites to eat forbidden food (1 Mac 1:62-63; 2 Mac 6:18; 7:1). The opening verses of this book set the scene at the start of the Babylonian exile, when King Nebuchadnezzar chooses the most talented young men of Judah, including Daniel, to serve in his palace. The wisdom of these young men is far greater than that of the magicians and enchanters of the Chaldean king (19-20).