DAN 1:3 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility,

UST Then Nebuchadnezzar commanded Ashpenaz, the chief official in his palace, to bring to him some of the Israeli men whom they had brought to Babylon. He wanted men who belonged to important families, including the family of the king of Judah.

OEB No OEB DAN book available

WEBBE The 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[fn] and of the nobles:

1:3 or, seed

WMBB (Same as above including footnotes)

NET The king commanded Ashpenaz, who was in charge of his court officials, to choose some of the Israelites who were of royal and noble descent –

LSV And the king says, to Ashpenaz master of his eunuchs, to bring in out of the sons of Israel (even of the royal seed, and of the chiefs),

FBV Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch,[fn] to take charge of some of the captured Israelites from the royal and noble families,

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.

T4T Then Nebuchadnezzar commanded Ashpenaz, the chief official in his palace, to bring to him some of the Israeli men whom they had brought to Babylon. He wanted men who belonged to important families, including the family of the King of Judah.

LEB And the king _⌊ordered_⌋[fn] Ashpenaz, the commander of his court officials, to bring _⌊some of the Israelites_⌋[fn] from _⌊the royal family_⌋[fn] and from the lords,[fn]

1:3 Literally “said to”

1:3 Literally “from the sons/children of Israel”

1:3 Literally “from the seed of the kingship”

1:3 Or “nobles”

BBE And the king gave orders to Ashpenaz, the captain of his unsexed servants, to take in some of the children of Israel, certain of the king's family, and those of high birth;

Moff The king told Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs to introduce into the palace some of the Israelites who belonged to the royal family and the nobility,

JPS And the king spoke unto Ashpenaz his chief officer, that he should bring in certain of the children of Israel, and of the seed royal, and of the nobles,

ASV And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring in certain of the children of Israel, even of the seed royal and of the nobles;

DRA And the king spoke to Asphenez the master of the eunuchs, that he should bring in some of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed and of the princes,

YLT And the king saith, to Ashpenaz master of his eunuchs, to bring in out of the sons of Israel, (even of the royal seed, and of the chiefs,)

Drby And the king spoke unto Ashpenaz the chief of his eunuchs, that he should bring of the children of Israel, both of the royal seed and of the nobles,

RV And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring in certain of the children of Israel, even of the seed royal and of the nobles;

SLT And the king will say to Ashpenaz the leader of his eunuchs to bring from the sons of Israel and from the seed royal, and from the nobles;

Wbstr And the king spoke to Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes;

KJB-1769 ¶ And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes;

KJB-1611 ¶ And the king spake vnto Ashpenaz the master of his Eunuches, that he should bring certaine of the children of Israel, and of the kings seed, and of the Princes:
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation)

Bshps And the king spake vnto Asphenaz the chiefe chamberlaine, that he should bring him certaine of the children of Israel, of the kinges seede, and of the princes,
(And the king spake unto Asphenaz the chief chamberlaine, that he should bring him certain of the children of Israel, of the kings seed, and of the princes,)

Gnva And the King spake vnto Ashpenaz the master of his Eunuches, that he shoulde bring certeine of the children of Israel, of the Kings seede, and of the princes:
(And the King spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his Eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, of the Kings seed, and of the princes: )

Cvdl And the kynge spake vnto Asphenes ye chefe chamberlayne, that he shulde brynge him certayne of the children of Israel, that were come of the kynges sede and of prynces,
(And the king spake unto Asphenes ye/you_all chief chamberlayne, that he should bring him certain of the children of Israel, that were come of the kings seed and of princes,)

Wycl And the kyng seide to Asphaneth, souereyn of his onest seruauntis and chast, that he schulde brynge yn of the sones of Israel, and of the kyngis seed, and the children of tirauntis, in whiche weren no wem,
(And the king said to Asphaneth, sovereign of his onest servants and chast, that he should bring in of the sons of Israel, and of the kings seed, and the children of tirauntis, in which were no spot/blemish,)

Luth Und der König sprach zu Aspenas, seinem obersten Kämmerer, er sollte aus den Kindern Israel vom königlichen Stamm und Herrenkindern wählen
(And the/of_the king spoke to/for Aspenas, his top Kämmerer, he should out_of the children Israel from_the royal tribe and gentlemenkindern choose)

ClVg Et ait rex Asphenez præposito eunuchorum ut introduceret de filiis Israël, et de semine regio et tyrannorum,
(And he_said king Asphenez beforeposito eunuchorum as to_introducet from/about to_the_children Israel, and from/about with_seed region and tyrannorum, )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 1:1–21: Daniel and his friends began to serve King Nebuchadnezzar

This section forms the introduction to the first division and to the book of Daniel as a whole. It tells how some Hebrew boys came to live in Babylon and serve the Babylonian king.

God allowed the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, to defeat the king of Judah. King Nebuchadnezzar ordered his chief official to choose some boys from Judah and to train them to work in the government of Babylon. Daniel and his three friends were among these boys. They excelled in their studies and the king was pleased with the wise advice they gave.

The phrase “the Lord delivered” (“Adonay gave” in Hebrew) occurs in 1:2, the phrase “God had granted” (“Elohim had given” in Hebrew) occurs in 1:9, and the phrase “God gave” (“Elohim gave” in Hebrew) occurs in 1:17. (1:2a, 1:9, 1:17a). The author used these phrases to emphasize that the Lord is sovereign over the events of history and the lives of his people. God has authority over what happens to Gentile nations and also what happens to his people. This is the theme of this chapter.

Paragraph 1:3–5

King Nebuchadnezzar decided to train some of the Israelite captives to serve him in his royal court.

1:3a

Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials,

¶ The head of the palace staff was a man named Ashpenaz. Nebuchadnezzar commanded him
¶ After this the king gave orders to his head servant Ashpenaz:
¶ Then the king said to Ashpenaz, his chief minister,

Then: The common Hebrew conjunction that the BSB translates as Then here introduces some additional information. Introduce this information in a way that is natural in your language. Some translations, such as the GNT, do not include a connector here.

the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials: This clause introduces Ashpenaz, a new character in the story. In some languages it may be natural to introduce him in a separate sentence. For example:

The chief of the royal officials was Ashpenaz. The king ordered him…

the king: This refers to King Nebuchadnezzar. The text has previously mentioned two kings, so in some languages it may be necessary to say explicitly:

the Babylonian king

Nebuchadnezzar

the chief of his court officials: The Hebrew phrase that the BSB translates as the chief of his court officials refers to a high official in the king’s court. The word for court officials originally referred to eunuchs (men who cannot have sexual relations). The Babylonian kings employed eunuchs to work in the palace, especially around the women of the court. But the word came to refer to any court official, and this is probably how it is used here. Other ways to translate this include:

his chief official (GNT)

the chief of staff (GW)

who was in charge of his palace officials (NLT)

1:3b

to bring in some Israelites from the royal family and the nobility—

to choose for his service some of the Israelite youths from the king's family and the other noble/leading families.
“Select^(sing) some of the captives from Israel to serve me. They should/must be members of the ruling family or of other important families of Judah.
“I want some of the members of the best families of Israel to work for me—men belonging to the king’s family and the ruling clans. Choose/Find^(sing) some men for me,

to bring in some Israelites: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as to bring in is more literally “to cause to come.”This is the same verb used in 1:2c where it describes bringing the vessels to Babylon. The king wanted his chief official to choose some Israelite men to come to his court and serve him in the government. The Hebrew text does not explicitly state where Ashpenaz was to bring the men. In some languages it may be necessary to specify a place. If that is true in your language, you may refer to the king’s palace or court. Here is another way to translate this:

to bring some of the Israelite men into his palace (NCV) Other versions specify the purpose for which the king ordered them to be brought in. For example:

to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites (NIV)

Other ways to translate this verse part include:

to select from among the Israelite exiles some young men (GNT)

to choose some of the Israelites (NET)

some Israelites: The text literally says “from the sons of Israel.” The king wanted Ashpenaz to choose a certain number of males from any of the twelve tribes of Israel. The age of these “sons of Israel” is not stated here, but the context indicates they were to be young, probably teenagers. In some languages it may be natural to specify that these Israelites were to be males. For example:

some of the Israelite men (NCV)

From the Israelites…a certain number of boys (NJB)

The text does not explicitly say if these young men were still in Jerusalem or if they were already exiles in Babylon. There are two views:

Ashpenaz was to select young men from among the exiles whom the army had already brought to Babylon. Some English versions add this implied information. For example:
to select from among the Israelite exiles (GNT)
to bring to the palace some of the young men of Judah’s royal family…who had been brought to Babylon as captives (NLT) (GNT, NLT, REB)
The king told Ashpenaz to take these young men from their homeland to the palace in Babylon. (RSV, NRSV, KJV, GW, and NCV allow for this interpretation.)

Both interpretations are acceptable. If it is natural in your language, leave it ambiguous. If you must make a choice, it is recommended that you choose interpretation (1).

from the royal family and the nobility: This phrase describes the kind of Israelites the king wanted Ashpenaz to bring to the king’s palace. The king told Ashpenaz to take young men from two groups: from the royal family of Judah and from the other important families. Other ways to translate this include:

of the royal family and of the noble families (GNT)

who were of royal and noble descent (NET)

In some languages the royal family may be considered part of the nobility. In those languages you may need to say something like:

from important families, including the family of the king of Judah (NCV)

of Judah’s royal family and other noble families (NLT)

the royal family: Ashpenaz was to choose young men who were members of the royal family of Judah. That is, he was to choose those who were closely related to the king of Judah. Some versions make it explicit that the reference is to the royal family of Judah. For example:

from the royal family of Judah (CEV)

the nobility: This refers to families of high status among the people of Judah. Other ways to translate this include:

leading Jewish families (CEV)

important families (NCV)

the clans of the elders

General Comment on 1:3

In some languages it may be natural to translate the king’s command as direct speech. For example:

Then the king gave orders to Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials. “Bring to me some of the Israelite youths from the royal family and the other important families,” he said.

BMM BibleMapper.com Maps:

Map

Judah Is Exiled to Babylon

Daniel 1; 2 Kings 24-25; 2 Chronicles 36; Jeremiah 39; 52

One of the most significant events in the story of the Old Testament is the exile of Judah to Babylon in 586 B.C. This event–actually the third in a series of exiles to Babylon (the others occurring in 605 B.C. and 597 B.C.)–precipitated several crises in the nation and in Judaism. The northern kingdom of Israel had already been exiled to Assyria over a century earlier in 722 B.C. (2 Kings 15:29; 17:1-6; 1 Chronicles 5:26; see also “Israelites Are Exiled to Assyria” map), and in some ways that exile was even more devastating. Nevertheless, the Temple of the Lord remained intact in Jerusalem as a place where the faithful could continue to offer their sacrifices. With the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple of the Lord at the hands of the Babylonians, however, sacrifices could no longer be offered at the Tabernacle or Temple of the Lord (Leviticus 17:2-4; Deuteronomy 12:5-7), and the Lord’s promise to provide a land for his people and a descendant on the throne of David no doubt seemed abandoned. At the same time, however, the Judean exiles were allowed to maintain their religious traditions in Babylon, and many even began to thrive there, including Daniel and his friends, who served at the royal court (Daniel 1; see also “The Land of Exile” map). One of the last kings of Babylon expanded Babylonia further by capturing the desert oases of Dumah, Tema, Dedan, and Yathrib (see “Oases of the Arabian Desert” map), but eventually the Median Empire to the north merged with the Persian Empire to the southeast and conquered the Babylonian Empire. King Cyrus of Persia then decreed that the exiled Judeans, now called “Jews,” could return to their homeland if they desired (2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1-2; see also “Jews Return from Exile” map).

Parallel DAN 1:3

Section 1:1–21: Daniel and his friends began to serve King Nebuchadnezzar

Paragraph 1:3–5

1:3a

1:3b

General Comment on 1:3

Judah Is Exiled to Babylon