Daniel 1:3

1:3 The king commanded ¹  Ashpenaz, ²  who was in charge of his court officials, ³  to choose ⁴  some of the Israelites who were of royal and noble descent ⁵  –

Daniel 1:10-11

1:10 But he ⁶  responded to Daniel, “I fear my master the king. He is the one who has decided ⁷  your food and drink. What would happen if he saw that you looked malnourished in comparison to the other young men your age? ⁸  If that happened, ⁹  you would endanger my life ¹⁰  with the king!” 1:11 Daniel then spoke to the warden ¹¹  whom the overseer of the court officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:

¹ tn Or “gave orders to.” Heb “said to.”

² sn It is possible that the word Ashpenaz is not a proper name at all, but a general term for “innkeeper.” See J. J. Collins, Daniel (Hermeneia), 127, n. 9. However, the ancient versions understand the term to be a name, and the present translation (along with most English versions) understands the word in this way.

³ sn The word court official (Hebrew saris) need not mean “eunuch” in a technical sense (see Gen 37:36, where the term refers to Potiphar, who had a wife), although in the case of the book of Daniel there was in Jewish literature a common tradition to that effect. On the OT usage of this word see HALOT 769-70 s.v. סָרֹיס.

⁴ tn Heb “bring.”

⁵ tn Heb “and from the seed of royalty and from the nobles.”

⁶ tn Heb “The overseer of the court officials.” The subject has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

⁷ tn Heb “assigned.” See v. 5.

⁸ tn Heb “Why should he see your faces thin from the young men who are according to your age?” The term translated “thin” occurs only here and in Gen 40:6, where it appears to refer to a dejected facial expression. The word is related to an Arabic root meaning “be weak.” See HALOT 277 s.v. II זעף.

⁹ tn The words “if that happened” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tn Heb “my head.” Presumably this is an implicit reference to capital punishment (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT), although this is not entirely clear.

¹¹ sn Having failed to convince the overseer, Daniel sought the favor of the warden whom the overseer had appointed to care for the young men.