The training of the young Hebrew men
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 gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hands, and some of the articles belonging to the house of God, which he carried away to the land of Shinar 📖 to the house of his god; and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god.1:2 2 Chron 36:5-7. Daniel was taken to Babylon in that same year, Ezekiel eight years later.⚜
3 📚And the king ordered Ashpenaz the chief of his eunuchs 📖 to bring some of the children of Israel, and of the royal family, and of the nobles, 4 📚young men without blemish, but handsome, with training in every branch of wisdom, well informed, and understanding science 📖 and who had the ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the literature and language of the Chaldeans 📖.
1:3-4 Only those regarded as the brightest and best were chosen. We should be glad that this is not God’s way of choosing – 1 Cor 1:26-29. Yet God’s good purpose was in the king’s command. God had determined to raise Daniel to the highest place in Babylon, next to the king.⚜
5 📚And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s food 📖 and of the wine which he drank, and three years training for them, so that at the end of that time they might stand before the king.
6 📚Now among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the children of Judah. 7 📚The chief of the eunuchs gave them names. He gave to Daniel the name Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, Shadrach; and to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
1:6-7 The name Daniel means “My judge is God”, Hananiah means “Jehovah is gracious” (Hebrew “Yah” = Jehovah, the LORD), Mishael means “Who is what God is?”, and Azariah means “Jehovah helps”. The new names given to them were all connected with various gods of Babylon. Belteshazzar probably means “May Bel protect his life”. Bel meant Lord in the Babylonian language and signified the god Marduk (Jer 50:2). Shadrach could mean either “the inspiration of Rach (the sun god)” or “the command of Aku (their moon god)”. Meshach could mean either “devotee of Shach (their word for the planet Venus)” or “who is like Aku?”. Abednego means “servant of Nego” (Nego = Nebo – another of the many gods of Babylon – Isa 46:1).
Why did the chief official give them these names? Possibly he considered the gods of Babylon more powerful and important than Jehovah the God of Israel, or perhaps he wanted these Hebrew youths to fit into the society of that country and thought that Babylonian names would help them in this.⚜
Daniel’s noble resolve
8 📚But Daniel determined in his heart that he would not defile himself with any portion of the king’s food or with the wine which he drank. Therefore he requested the chief of the eunuchs that he might not to defile himself.
1:8 Daniel would consider this food and wine defiling because portions of both would have been offered to false gods. Also the meat would not have been prepared according to the law God gave Israel (Lev 11:4-20; Deut 12:23-24). Daniel was a young man, far from his homeland and faced with the choice of offending God or offending the king. With great courage he chose to risk the latter. Holiness was more important to him than physical comfort or safety. Christians sometimes sin because they are afraid of offending others, or because of fear for their own safety or position. This is because the fear of God is not the controlling factor in their lives (Job 28:28; Ps 34:11-14).⚜
9 📚Now God 📖 had brought Daniel into the favour and tender affection of the chief of the eunuchs. 10 📚And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has appointed your food and your drink. For why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are of your age? Then you would make me endanger my head to the king”.
1:10 Daniel feared God, the official feared the king. This made a big difference in their behavior.⚜
11 Then Daniel said to Melzar whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12 📚“Please test your servants for ten days; let them give us vegetables to eat, and water to drink. 13 Then let our appearance be inspected in your presence, along with the appearance of the young men who eat of the appointed portion of the king’s food. Then deal with your servants according to what you see”. 14 So he gave his consent to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days.
1:11-14 Daniel began to show the wisdom for which he was later famous.⚜
The result
15 📚And at the end of ten days, in appearance they looked better and fatter than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s food.
1:15 This was God’s doing.⚜
16 📚So Melzar took away the portion of their food and the wine that they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.
1:16 God caused the guard to cooperate. So the temptation to eat of the king’s food and the danger of not doing so were overcome. Compare 1 Cor 10:13.⚜
God’s gift
17 📚As for these four young men, God gave 📖 them knowledge and skill in all branches of literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all kinds of visions and dreams.
18 📚Now at the end of the days which the king had specified for bringing them in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in to the presence of Nebuchadnezzar. 19 📚And the king talked with them, and among them all no one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they served 📖 in the king’s presence. 20 📚And in all the matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king asked them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in his whole realm.
1:20 This was God’s doing and not merely a matter of their own intellect and study.⚜
21 📚And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.
1:21 539 BC. This means that Daniel was still living when Cyrus made his proclamation that the Jews could return to Israel (2 Chron 36:22-23).⚜