Daniel 1:12

1:12 “Please test your servants for ten days by providing us with some vegetables to eat and water to drink.

Daniel 1:16

1:16 So the warden removed the delicacies and the wine ¹  from their diet ²  and gave them a diet of vegetables instead.

Daniel 5:2

5:2 While under the influence ³  of the wine, Belshazzar issued an order to bring in the gold and silver vessels – the ones that Nebuchadnezzar his father ⁴  had confiscated ⁵  from the temple in Jerusalem ⁶  – so that the king and his nobles, together with his wives and his concubines, could drink from them. ⁷ 

Daniel 5:1

Belshazzar Sees Mysterious Handwriting on a Wall

5:1 King Belshazzar ⁸  prepared a great banquet ⁹  for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in front of ¹⁰  them all. ¹¹ 

Daniel 1:10

1:10 But he ¹²  responded to Daniel, “I fear my master the king. He is the one who has decided ¹³  your food and drink. What would happen if he saw that you looked malnourished in comparison to the other young men your age? ¹⁴  If that happened, ¹⁵  you would endanger my life ¹⁶  with the king!”

Daniel 5:23

5:23 Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. You brought before you the vessels from his temple, and you and your nobles, together with your wives and concubines, drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone – gods ¹⁷  that cannot see or hear or comprehend! But you have not glorified the God who has in his control ¹⁸  your very breath and all your ways!

Daniel 1:8

1:8 But Daniel made up his mind ¹⁹  that he would not defile ²⁰  himself with the royal delicacies or the royal wine. ²¹  He therefore asked the overseer of the court officials for permission not to defile himself.

Daniel 1:5

1:5 So the king assigned them a daily ration ²²  from his royal delicacies ²³  and from the wine he himself drank. They were to be trained ²⁴  for the next three years. At the end of that time they were to enter the king’s service. ²⁵ 

[1:16]  ¹ tn Heb “the wine of their drinking.”

[1:16]  ² tn The words “from their diet” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

[5:2]  ¹ tn Or perhaps, “when he had tasted” (cf. NASB) in the sense of officially initiating the commencement of the banquet. The translation above seems preferable, however, given the clear evidence of inebriation in the context (cf. also CEV “he got drunk and ordered”).

[5:2]  ² tn Or “ancestor”; or “predecessor” (also in vv. 11, 13, 18). The Aramaic word translated “father” can on occasion denote these other relationships.

[5:2]  ³ tn Or “taken.”

[5:2]  ⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:2]  ⁵ sn Making use of sacred temple vessels for an occasion of reveling and drunkenness such as this would have been a religious affront of shocking proportions to the Jewish captives.

[5:1]  ¹ sn As is clear from the extra-biblical records, it was actually Nabonidus (ca. 556-539 B.C.) who was king of Babylon at this time. However, Nabonidus spent long periods of time at Teima, and during those times Belshazzar his son was de facto king of Babylon. This arrangement may help to explain why later in this chapter Belshazzar promises that the successful interpreter of the handwriting on the wall will be made third ruler in the kingdom. If Belshazzar was in effect second ruler in the kingdom, this would be the highest honor he could grant.

[5:1]  ² sn This scene of a Babylonian banquet calls to mind a similar grandiose event recorded in Esth 1:3-8. Persian kings were also renowned in the ancient Near Eastern world for their lavish banquets.

[5:1]  ³ sn The king probably sat at an elevated head table.

[5:1]  ⁴ tn Aram “the thousand.”

[1:10]  ¹ tn Heb “The overseer of the court officials.” The subject has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:10]  ² tn Heb “assigned.” See v. 5.

[1:10]  ³ 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.

[1:10]  ⁴ tn The words “if that happened” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

[1:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “my head.” Presumably this is an implicit reference to capital punishment (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT), although this is not entirely clear.

[5:23]  ¹ tn Aram “which.”

[5:23]  ² tn Aram “in whose hand [are].”

[1:8]  ¹ tn Heb “placed on his heart.”

[1:8]  ² tn Or “would not make himself ceremonially unclean”; TEV “become ritually unclean.”

[1:8]  ³ tn Heb “with the delicacies of the king and with the wine of his drinking.”

[1:5]  ¹ tn Heb “a thing of a day in its day.”

[1:5]  ² tn Heb “from the delicacies of the king.”

[1:5]  ³ tn Or “educated.” See HALOT 179 s.v. I גדל.

[1:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “stand before the king.”