Daniel 1:7-10

1:7 But the overseer of the court officials renamed them. He gave ¹  Daniel the name Belteshazzar, Hananiah he named Shadrach, Mishael he named Meshach, and Azariah he named Abednego. ² 

1:8 But Daniel made up his mind ³  that he would not defile ⁴  himself with the royal delicacies or the royal wine. ⁵  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. ⁶  1:10 But he ⁷  responded to Daniel, “I fear my master the king. He is the one who has decided ⁸  your food and drink. What would happen if he saw that you looked malnourished in comparison to the other young men your age? ⁹  If that happened, ¹⁰  you would endanger my life ¹¹  with the king!”

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

[1:7]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “placed on his heart.”

[1:8]  ⁴ tn Or “would not make himself ceremonially unclean”; TEV “become ritually unclean.”

[1:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “with the delicacies of the king and with the wine of his drinking.”

[1:9]  ⁵ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “The overseer of the court officials.” The subject has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “assigned.” See v. 5.

[1:10]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn The words “if that happened” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

[1:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “my head.” Presumably this is an implicit reference to capital punishment (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT), although this is not entirely clear.