Daniel 1:5

1:5 So the king assigned them a daily ration ¹  from his royal delicacies ²  and from the wine he himself drank. They were to be trained ³  for the next three years. At the end of that time they were to enter the king’s service. ⁴ 

Daniel 1:10-11

1:10 But he ⁵  responded to Daniel, “I fear my master the king. He is the one who has decided ⁶  your food and drink. What would happen if he saw that you looked malnourished in comparison to the other young men your age? ⁷  If that happened, ⁸  you would endanger my life ⁹  with the king!” 1:11 Daniel then spoke to the warden ¹⁰  whom the overseer of the court officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:

¹ tn Heb “a thing of a day in its day.”

² tn Heb “from the delicacies of the king.”

³ tn Or “educated.” See HALOT 179 s.v. I גדל.

⁴ tn Heb “stand before the king.”

⁵ tn Heb “The overseer of the court officials.” The subject has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

⁶ tn Heb “assigned.” See v. 5.

⁷ 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.

⁸ tn The words “if that happened” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

⁹ tn Heb “my head.” Presumably this is an implicit reference to capital punishment (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT), although this is not entirely clear.

⁹ 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.