daniel-1:4-5-nkjv,nlt

The Pulpit Commentary - Daniel 1:3-21

Training for imperial office and work. The name and the nature of a king are not always yoked together. Jehoiakim had been professedly a king, but was, in truth, a slave. Daniel and his companions, though led into exile as captives, had within them kingly qualities, which could not be degraded by strangers. As living water from the flinty rock will rise through every kind of strata, and find its way to the surface, so, through all adversities, innate nobleness will assert its imperial... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Daniel 1:5

And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. The only thing to be noticed in the LXX . Version of this verse is the fact that מָנָה is taken to mean "give a portion"—a meaning which seems to be implied in מָנוֹת ( Nehemiah 8:10 ), hence the translation δίδοσθαι … ἐκθέσιν . Further, the translator must have had חַםּ מֵ אֵת... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Daniel 1:5-21

Moral heroism. "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself" (verse 8). I. THE VARYING CONDITIONS OF IMMORTALITY . The reference is to subjective immortality, i.e. in the memories of men. The principal stable condition seems to be the possession of soul-power (see Luke 1:80 ; Luke 2:40 ). But this may develop itself: 1 . Evilly. The immortality then is one of infamy. 2 . Continuously ; e.g. Daniel, through a long life. 3 . Specially... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Daniel 1:4

Children in whom was no blemish - The word rendered “children” in this place (ילדים yelâdı̂ym) is different from that which is rendered “children” in Job 1:3 - בנים bânnı̂ym). That word denotes merely that they were “sons,” or “descendants,” of Israel, without implying anything in regard to their age; the word here used would be appropriate only to those who were at an early period of life, and makes it certain that the king meant that those who were selected should be youths. Compare Genesis... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Daniel 1:5

And the king appointed them - Calvin supposes that this arrangement was resorted to in order to render them effeminate, and, by a course of luxurious living, to induce them gradually to forget their own country, and that with the same view their names were changed. But there is no evidence that this was the object. The purpose was manifestly to train them in the manner in which it was supposed they would be best fitted, in bodily health, in personal beauty, and in intellectual attainments, to... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Daniel 1:3-4

Daniel 1:3-4 . And the king spake unto Ashpenaz, master of the eunuchs One of the chief officers of his palace; the officers that attended about the persons of the eastern kings being commonly eunuchs, (a custom still practised in the Ottoman court,) such being employed as guardians over the women which the kings kept for their pleasure. That he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and, or rather, even, of the king’s seed The conjunction copulative being often used by way... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Daniel 1:5

Daniel 1:5. The king appointed them a daily provision of the king’s meat Such as he had at his own table; wherein his humanity and bounty appeared toward them the more conspicuous, they being captives. So nourishing them, &c. The Vulgate renders it, Ut enutriti, &c.; that, being nourished three years, they might afterward stand in the presence of the king. It seems from what is here said, that the Chaldeans entertained a notion that a diet of the best sort contributed both to... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Daniel 1:1-21

1:1-6:28 STORIES ABOUT DANIEL AND HIS FRIENDSTraining for Nebuchadnezzar’s court (1:1-21)Babylon’s first attack on Jerusalem came in 605 BC, during the reign of the Judean king Jehoiakim. In keeping with the usual practice among conquerors in ancient times, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar plundered the temple of the conquered people, carried off its sacred objects and placed them in his own temple. In this way Nebuchadnezzar demonstrated his belief that Babylon’s gods were superior to the... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Daniel 1:4

Children = Youths. cunning = skilful. in the king's palace . The Inscriptions show that there was a palace school with elaborate arrangements for special education. See below on "Chaldeans", and notes on Daniel 2:2 . learning = character, or books. See Prof. Sayce's Babylonian Literature: which shows the existence of a huge literature and famous libraries, in which were arrangements for procuring books from the librarian as in our own day. These books related to all subjects, and were... read more