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1 During the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, attacked Jerusalem and surrounded it. 2 The Lord allowed him to defeat King Jehoiakim,[fn] and also to remove some of the objects used in the Temple of God. He took them back to Babylon,[fn] to the house of his god,[fn] placing them in the treasury of his god.
3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch,[fn] to take charge of some of the captured Israelites from the royal and noble families, 4 “They are to be young men without any physical defect who are good-looking,” he said. “They must be well-educated, quick to learn, have good insight, and be well able to serve in the king's palace and be taught the literature and language of Babylon[fn].” 5 The king also provided them with a daily allowance of the same kind of rich food and wine he was served. At the end of their three years of education they would enter the king's service.[fn]
6 Among those chosen were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, from the tribe of Judah. 7 The chief eunuch gave them new names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.
8 However, Daniel made up his mind not to make himself impure[fn] by eating the king's rich food and wine. He asked the chief eunuch to allow him not to make himself impure. 9 God had helped Daniel to be viewed with kindness and sympathy by the chief eunuch.
10 But the chief eunuch told Daniel, “I'm afraid of what my lord the king would do to me. He's the one who decided what you should eat and drink. What if he were to see you looking pale and sickly compared to the other young men of your age. Because of you the king would have my head!”
11 Daniel then spoke with the guard that the chief eunuch had put in charge of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 12 “Please put us, your servants, to the test and just give us vegetables[fn] to eat and water to drink for ten days,” Daniel told him. 13 “After that, compare us with those young men who ate the king's rich food. Then decide on the basis of what you see.” 14 The guard agreed to the proposal they made and tested them for ten days.
15 When the ten days were up they looked healthier and better fed than all the young men who had eaten the king's rich food. 16 After that the guard didn't give them the rich food and wine, just vegetables.
17 God gave these four young men the ability to learn and understand in all areas of literature and knowledge, while Daniel was also given the gift of interpreting all kinds of visions and dreams.
18 When their time of education ordered by the king was over, the chief eunuch brought all the young men before King Nebuchadnezzar. 19 The king talked with them and none could compare with Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they entered the king's service. 20 Whatever subject the king asked them about, everything that required wisdom of understanding,[fn] he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom. 21 Daniel remained in this position until the first year of King Cyrus' reign.
1:2 “The Lord allowed him to defeat King Jehoiakim”: literally, “The Lord gave King Jehoiakim into his hand.”
1:2 Literally, “the land of Shinar.”
1:2 Or “gods.”
1:3 In other words, his chief of staff. Eunuchs were often given such positions in these times, and the term also came to mean the one in charge of the court, without necessarily meaning he had been castrated. The emphasis is on this man's position of authority.
1:4 Literally, “the Chaldeans.”
1:5 “Enter the king's service”: literally, “they would stand before the king.” This is taken to mean entering service (see Deuteronomy 10:8).
1:8 “Make himself impure”: or “unclean.” An observant Jew would have had several problems in consuming such a diet—the use of unclean meats, the animals not killed in accordance with Levitical law, portions of the meat and also the wine offered to pagan gods, the rich food and wine would not be a healthy diet etc.
1:12 The word means “from plants,” so would include cereals, beans, green plants, etc.
1:20 The Hebrew does not say “wisdom and understanding” as most versions translate it. Some argue that “wisdom of understanding” indicates a superlative, in that the highest form of wisdom is indicated. Others suggest that “understanding” qualifies the term “wisdom,” indicating that this wisdom did not include so-called Babylonian “wisdom” of astrology and divination etc.