Genesis 37:36

37:36 Now ¹  in Egypt the Midianites ²  sold Joseph ³  to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard. ⁴ 

Isaiah 39:7

39:7 ‘Some of your very own descendants whom you father ⁵  will be taken away and will be made eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”

Daniel 1:3

1:3 The king commanded ⁶  Ashpenaz, ⁷  who was in charge of his court officials, ⁸  to choose ⁹  some of the Israelites who were of royal and noble descent ¹⁰  –

Daniel 1:7-10

1:7 But the overseer of the court officials renamed them. He gave ¹¹  Daniel the name Belteshazzar, Hananiah he named Shadrach, Mishael he named Meshach, and Azariah he named Abednego. ¹² 

1:8 But Daniel made up his mind ¹³  that he would not defile ¹⁴  himself with the royal delicacies or the royal wine. ¹⁵  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. ¹⁶  1:10 But he ¹⁷  responded to Daniel, “I fear my master the king. He is the one who has decided ¹⁸  your food and drink. What would happen if he saw that you looked malnourished in comparison to the other young men your age? ¹⁹  If that happened, ²⁰  you would endanger my life ²¹  with the king!”

Daniel 1:18

1:18 When the time appointed by the king arrived, ²²  the overseer of the court officials brought them into Nebuchadnezzar’s presence.

[37:36]  ¹ tn The disjunctive clause formally signals closure for this episode of Joseph’s story, which will be resumed in Gen 39.

[37:36]  ² tc The MT spells the name of the merchants as מְדָנִים (mÿdanim, “Medanites”) rather than מִדְיָנִים (midyanim, “Midianites”) as in v. 28. It is likely that the MT is corrupt at this point, with the letter yod (י) being accidentally omitted. The LXX, Vulgate, Samaritan Pentateuch, and Syriac read “Midianites” here. Some prefer to read “Medanites” both here and in v. 28, but Judg 8:24, which identifies the Midianites and Ishmaelites, favors the reading “Midianites.”

[37:36]  ³ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:36]  ⁴ sn The expression captain of the guard might indicate that Potiphar was the chief executioner.

[39:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “Some of your sons, who go out from you, whom you father.”

[1:3]  ⁶ tn Or “gave orders to.” Heb “said to.”

[1:3]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “bring.”

[1:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and from the seed of royalty and from the nobles.”

[1:7]  ¹¹ tc The LXX and Vulgate lack the verb here.

[1:7]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Heb “placed on his heart.”

[1:8]  ¹⁴ tn Or “would not make himself ceremonially unclean”; TEV “become ritually unclean.”

[1:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “with the delicacies of the king and with the wine of his drinking.”

[1:9]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “The overseer of the court officials.” The subject has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “assigned.” See v. 5.

[1:10]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn The words “if that happened” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

[1:10]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn Heb “at the end of the days which the king said to bring them.”