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 1:7-10

1:7 But the overseer of the court officials renamed them. He gave ⁶  Daniel the name Belteshazzar, Hananiah he named Shadrach, Mishael he named Meshach, and Azariah he named Abednego. ⁷ 

1:8 But Daniel made up his mind ⁸  that he would not defile ⁹  himself with the royal delicacies or the royal wine. ¹⁰  He therefore asked the overseer of the court officials for permission not to defile himself. 1:9 Then God made the overseer of the court officials sympathetic to Daniel. ¹¹  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 1:18

1:18 When the time appointed by the king arrived, ¹⁷  the overseer of the court officials brought them into Nebuchadnezzar’s presence.

[1:3]  ¹ tn Or “gave orders to.” Heb “said to.”

[1:3]  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.

[1:3]  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.

[1:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “bring.”

[1:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “and from the seed of royalty and from the nobles.”

[1:7]  ⁶ tc The LXX and Vulgate lack the verb here.

[1:7]  ⁷ sn The meanings of the Babylonian names are more conjectural than is the case with the Hebrew names. The probable etymologies are as follows: Belteshazzar means “protect his life,” although the MT vocalization may suggest “Belti, protect the king” (cf. Dan 4:8); Shadrach perhaps means “command of Aku”; Meshach is of uncertain meaning; Abednego means “servant of Nego.” Assigning Babylonian names to the Hebrew youths may have been an attempt to erase from their memory their Israelite heritage.

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

[1:8]  ⁹ tn Or “would not make himself ceremonially unclean”; TEV “become ritually unclean.”

[1:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “with the delicacies of the king and with the wine of his drinking.”

[1:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Then God granted Daniel loyal love and compassion before the overseer of the court officials.” The expression “loyal love and compassion” is a hendiadys; the two words combine to express one idea.

[1:10]  ¹² tn Heb “The overseer of the court officials.” The subject has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “assigned.” See v. 5.

[1:10]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn The words “if that happened” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

[1:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “my head.” Presumably this is an implicit reference to capital punishment (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT), although this is not entirely clear.

[1:18]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “at the end of the days which the king said to bring them.”