¹sn The third year of the reign of Jehoiakim would be ca. 605 B.C. At this time Daniel would have been a teenager. The reference to Jehoiakim’s third year poses a serious crux interpretum, since elsewhere these events are linked to his fourth year (Jer 25:1; cf. 2 Kgs 24:1; 2 Chr 36:5-8). Apparently Daniel is following an accession year chronology, whereby the first partial year of a king’s reign was reckoned as the accession year rather than as the first year of his reign. Jeremiah, on the other hand, is following a nonaccession year chronology, whereby the accession year is reckoned as the first year of the king’s reign. In that case, the conflict is only superficial. Most modern scholars, however, have concluded that Daniel is historically inaccurate here
²sn King Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon from ca. 605-562 B.C.
³map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
⁴sn This attack culminated in the first of three major deportations of Jews to Babylon. The second one occurred in 597 B.C. and included among many other Jewish captives the prophet Ezekiel. The third deportation occurred in 586 B.C., at which time the temple and the city of Jerusalem were thoroughly destroyed.
⁵tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is yn`d{a& (a&d{n`y).
⁶tn Heb “gave.”
⁷tn Heb “hand,” which is often used idiomatically for one’s power and authority. See BDB 390.
⁸tn Or “utensils”; or “articles.”
⁹tn Heb “house of God.”
¹⁰sn The land of Babylonia (Heb “the land of Shinar”) is another name for Sumer and Akkad, where Babylon was located (cf. Gen 10:10; 11:2; 14:1, 9; Josh 7:21; Isa 11:11; Zech 5:11).
¹¹tn Or “gods” (also later in this verse). The Hebrew term can be used as a numerical plural for many gods or as a plural of majesty for one particular god. Since Nebuchadnezzar was a polytheist, it is not clear if the reference here is to many gods or one particular deity. The plural of majesty, while normally used for Israel’s God, is occasionally used of foreign gods (cf. BDB 43). See Judg 11:24 (of the Moabite god Chemosh); 1 Sam 5:7 (of the Philistine god Dagon); 1 Kgs 11:33 (of the Canaanite goddess Astarte, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god Milcom); 2 Kgs 19:37 (of the Assyrian god Nisroch). Since gods normally had their own individual temples, Dan 1:2 probably refers to a particular deity, perhaps Marduk, the supreme god of Babylon, or Marduk’s son Nabu, after whom Nebuchadnezzar was named. The name Nebuchadnezzar means “Nabu has protected the son who will inherit” (HALOT 660). For a discussion of how temples functioned in Babylonian religion see H. Ringgren, Religions of the Ancient Near East (trans. J. Sturdy; Philadelphia: Westminster, 1974), 77-81.
¹²tn Heb “brought.” Though the Hebrew verb “brought” is repeated in this verse, the translation attempts to be sensitive to English style and uses “brought…put” for variety of expression.
¹³tn Or “gave orders to.” Heb “said to.”
¹⁴sn It is possible that the word Ashpenaz is not a proper name at all, but a general term for “inn-keeper.” See J. J. Collins, Daniel, 127, n. 9. However, the ancient versions understand the term to be a name, and the translation adopted above understands the word in this way.
¹⁵sn The word court official (Hebrew saris) need not mean “eunuch” specifically (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 2:769-70.
¹⁶tn Heb “bring.”
¹⁷tn Heb “and from the seed of royalty and from the nobles.”
¹⁸tn Heb “good of appearance.”
¹⁹tn Heb “knowers of knowledge.”
²⁰tn Heb “understanders of knowledge.”
²¹tn Heb “strength.”
²²tn Heb “to stand in the palace of the king.” Cf. vv. 5, 19.
²³sn The language of the Chaldeans referred to here is Akkadian, an East Semitic cuneiform language.
²⁴tn Heb “Chaldeans,” an ancient name for the Babylonians.
²⁵tn Heb “a thing of a day in its day.”
²⁶tn Heb “from the delicacies of the king.”
²⁷tn Or “educated.” See HALOT 1:179.
²⁸tn Heb “stand before the king.”
²⁹tn Heb “and it happened that.”
³⁰tn Heb “among them”; the referent (the young men taken captive from Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
³¹tn Heb “the sons of Judah.”
³²sn 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.”
³³tc The LXX and Vg lack the verb.
³⁴sn 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.
³⁵tn Heb “placed on his heart.”
³⁶sn Various reasons have been suggested as to why such food would defile Daniel. Perhaps it had to do with violations of Mosaic law with regard to unclean foods, or perhaps it had to do with such food having been offered to idols. Daniel’s practice in this regard is strikingly different from that of Esther, who was able successfully to conceal her Jewish identity.
³⁷tn Heb “with the delicacies of the king and with the wine of his drinking.”
³⁸tn 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.
³⁹tn Heb “The overseer of the court officials.” The subject has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.
⁴⁰tn Heb “assigned.” See v. 5.
⁴¹tn 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.
⁴²tn The words “if that happened” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.
⁴³tn Heb “my head.” Presumably this is an implicit reference to capital punishment, although this is not entirely clear.
⁴⁴sn Having failed to convince the overseer, Daniel sought the favor of the warden whom the overseer had appointed to care for the young men.
⁴⁵tn Heb “let our appearance be seen before you.”
⁴⁶tn Heb “the appearance of.”
⁴⁷tn Heb “delicacies of the king.” So also in v. 15.
⁴⁸tn Heb “your servants.”
⁴⁹tn Heb “he”; the referent (the warden mentioned in v. 11) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
⁵⁰tn Heb “listened to them with regard to this matter.”
⁵¹sn The number ten is sometimes used in the OT as an ideal number of completeness. Cf. v. 20; Zech 8:23; Rev 2:10.
⁵²tn Heb “fat of flesh.”
⁵³tn Heb “the wine of their drinking.”
⁵⁴tn The words “from their diet” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.
⁵⁵tn Heb “at the end of the days which the king said to bring them.”
⁵⁶tn Heb “from all of them.”
⁵⁷tn Heb “stood before the king.”
⁵⁸tc The MT lacks the conjunction, reading the first word in the phrase as a construct (“wisdom of insight”). While this reading is not impossible, it seems better to follow Theodotion, the Syriac, the Vg, and the Sahidic Coptic, all of which have the conjunction.
⁵⁹tn Heb “hands.”
⁶⁰sn The Persian king Cyrus’ first year in control of Babylon was 539 B.C. Daniel actually lived beyond the first year of Cyrus, as is clear from 10:1. The purpose of the statement in 1:21 is merely to say that Daniel’s life spanned the entire period of the neo-Babylonian empire. His life span also included the early years of the Persian control of Babylon. However, by that time his age was quite advanced; he probably died sometime in the 530’s B.C.