Daniel and his companions are taken into the palace of the king of Babylon: they abstain from his meat and wine, and succeed better with pulse and water. Their excellence and wisdom.

¹ In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

² And the Lord delivered into his hand Jehoiakim the king of Judah and a portion of the vessels of the house of God. And he carried them away into the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasure chamber of his god.¹

1. 1:2His god: Bel or Belus, the principal idol of the Chaldeans.(Challoner)

³ And the king told Ashpenaz, the chief of the eunuchs, that he should bring in some of the sons of Israel, and some of the offspring of the king and of the sovereigns:¹

1. 1:3The word tyrannorum could also be translated as tyrants, but in this context it does not seem to refer to tyrannical leaders. The word tyrannorum probably refers to various rulers conquered and subjugated by the king, as opposed to leaders who are part of this king’s own administration. It is interesting that the term “sons” is used to refer to those of Israel, whereas “offspring” is used, perhaps in a somewhat derogatory manner, to refer to the others.(Conte)

⁴ young men, in whom there was no blemish, noble in appearance, and accomplished in all wisdom, cautious in knowledge, and well-educated, and who could stand in the palace of the king, so that he might teach them the letters and the language of the Chaldeans.

⁵ And the king appointed for them provisions for each day, from his own food and from the wine which he himself drank, so that, after being nourished for three years, they would stand in the sight of the king.

⁶ Now, among those of the sons of Judah, there were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

⁷ And the chief of the eunuchs assigned names to them: to Daniel, Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.

⁸ But Daniel resolved in his heart that he would not be polluted with the king’s meal, nor with the wine he drank, and he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not be contaminated.¹

1. 1:8Be polluted, etc: Viz., either by eating meat forbidden by the law, or which had before been offered to idols.(Challoner)

⁹ And so God gave Daniel grace and mercy in the sight of the leader of the eunuchs.¹

1. 1:9Notice that the chief of the eunuchs “præpositus eunuchorum” is different from the leader of the eunuchs “principis eunuchorum.” The leader of the eunuchs seems to be a step down from the chief of the eunuchs.(Conte)

¹⁰ And the leader of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has appointed food and drink for you, who, if he should see that your faces are leaner than those of the other youths your age, you would condemn my head to the king.”

¹¹ And Daniel said to Malasar, whom the leader of the eunuchs had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,¹

1. 1:11Malasar is sometimes replaced in translations with “steward”. He seems to be two steps down in rank, that is, one step down from the leader, and another step down from the chief eunuch. Daniel begins with one of the lowest ranks in this society, as one of the captive sons of Israel. He then moves up to a position akin to that of a student, but he still cannot approach the chief of the eunuchs directly. He must plead his case through intermediaries.(Conte)

¹² “I beg you to test us, your servants, for ten days, and let roots be given to us to eat and water to drink,¹

1. 1:12Roots: The word legumina resembles the English word legume, but is often translated more generally as vegetables. In this case, roots was chosen for the translation of legumina out of deference to the Douay-Rheims translation “let pulse be given us to eat.” Pulse refers to vegetable roots, (somewhat different from our potatoes) which must be beaten as part of their preparation. It is unlikely that these young men in training, captives from a war, having rejected the king’s own food and wine, would be given food as desirable as a variety of fresh vegetables. Rather, they received easily stored vegetables, such as roots.(Conte)

¹³ and then observe our faces, and the faces of the children who eat the king’s food, and then deal with your servants according to what you see.”

¹⁴ When he had heard these words, he tested them for ten days.

¹⁵ But, after ten days, their faces appeared better and fatter than all the children who had eaten from the king’s food.

¹⁶ Thereafter, Malasar took away their portions and their wine for drinking, and he gave them roots.

¹⁷ Yet, to these children, God gave knowledge and instruction in every book, and wisdom, but to Daniel, also the understanding of all visions and dreams.

¹⁸ And when the time was completed, after which the king had said that they would be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before the sight of Nebuchadnezzar.¹

1. 1:18The chief of the eunuchs brings them in, not the leader of the eunuchs, and not Malasar.(Conte)

¹⁹ And, when the king conversed with them, there had not been found any so great in all the world as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; and so they stood in the sight of the king.

²⁰ And in every concept of wisdom and understanding, about which the king consulted with them, he found them to be ten times better than all the seers and astrologers put together, who were in his entire kingdom.¹

1. 1:20The word magos is the same word often translated in the Gospel of Matthew as Magi. In this case, it probably refers not merely to wise men or learned men, but those specializing in interpreting the stars, i.e., astrologers.(Conte)

²¹ And so Daniel remained, even until the first year of king Cyrus.