Daniel 1:6

1:6 As it turned out, ¹  among these young men ²  were some from Judah: ³  Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. ⁴ 

Daniel 1:3

1:3 The king commanded ⁵  Ashpenaz, ⁶  who was in charge of his court officials, ⁷  to choose ⁸  some of the Israelites who were of royal and noble descent ⁹  –

[1:6]  ¹ tn Heb “and it happened that.”

[1:6]  ² tn Heb “among them”; the referent (the young men taken captive from Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:6]  ³ tn Heb “the sons of Judah.”

[1:6]  ⁴ sn The names reflect a Jewish heritage. In Hebrew Daniel means “God is my judge”; Hananiah means “the Lord is gracious”; Mishael means “who is what God is?”; Azariah means “the Lord has helped.”

[1:3]  ⁵ tn Or “gave orders to.” Heb “said to.”

[1:3]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “bring.”

[1:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “and from the seed of royalty and from the nobles.”