Daniel 1:9-13

Daniel must have established a good relationship with the officials in direct authority over him, especially the overseer (steward, Daniel 1:11). He received a favorable response (Heb. hesed, loyal love, and rahamim, compassion) when he proposed a ten-day dietary test. But it was Yahweh who moved the overseer’s heart (cf. 1 Kings 8:50; Psalms 106:46), another indication of God’s sovereignty. Notice that Daniel did not rebel against the restrictions that his elders placed upon him. Instead he courteously requested permission to abstain, and then, having received an encouraging response, he offered a positive alternative course of action.

Daniel proposed a vegetarian diet. Omitting meat and wine from one’s diet does not normally result in obviously better health. Perhaps Daniel was relying on God to cause him and his friends to look better at the end of the test period-miraculously. Another possibility is: The youths may have been served such rich food that they could reasonably expect to look and feel better if they abstained.