DANIEL
Week 4, chapter 1 continued
We found out last time that Daniel was deported to Babylon in 605 B.C., a consequence of the
first attack ordered by Nebuchadnezzar against Jerusalem. This was in response to King
Jehoiakim of Judah breaking his 3 year old agreement to be a tribute-paying vassal to
Babylon.
Jerusalem was not badly damaged, although the Temple was looted for a number of its
valuable gold and silver ritual vessels. Those items were replaceable; but what was not so
easily replaced was the brain-power that was drained from the ruling class and sent to Babylon
to serve the Babylonian royal court.
Daniel and his cohorts were not made slaves, per se. They indeed were taken against their
will, but they were treated with dignity and respect and offered prestigious positions in the
Babylonian government. Some of this had to do with the fact that they were Judean nobility
and some might have even been part of the royal family, but not so close as to be eligible to
rule over Judah.
While there were more than the 4 youths taken to Babylon, our story focuses only on these
four and the primary interest is on one in particular: Daniel. Chapter 1 verse 4 explains that
they were especially chosen for their intelligence, their education, their noble bearing and their
good looks. The first thing that happened to them was that they were sent to school to learn
the ways and language of the Babylonians. They were turned over to a group called the
Kasdim, or in English the Chaldeans, to be taught.
The term Chaldeans has always presented a bit of a problem for bible interpreters as there is
not a great deal known about them, and it seems that the term Chaldeans meant slightly
different things in different eras. Chaldeans first appear in Assyrian records around the 9
th
century B.C., and it referring to a territory located south of the city of Babylon. The people of
this territory seemed to gain more and more influence in the area until by the time of
Nebuchadnezzar it appears that the term Chaldean referred to an elite class of people;
intellectuals, those especially versed in language, arts, magic and astrology. To use the New
Testament description for them, they were “wise men”.
While the general language of the region was Aramaic, it seems nearly certain that the elite of
the Chaldeans spoke Akkadian. We see this phenomenon in many Middle Eastern cultures
where the language of the common folks is different from the language of the most learned in
their society. In Yeshua’s day, Aramaic was the language of the bulk of the common Hebrew
working class, while the most worldly Jews spoke Greek, and the priests and Levites and
Jewish aristocrats conversed mainly in Hebrew. But it is not as though these different
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segments of society couldn’t communicate. In point of fact nearly everyone was multi-lingual
to one degree or another and all of these languages operated simultaneously, side by side.
So when Daniel and his comrades were sent to the Chaldean school, they would have learned
both Akkadian and Aramaic. The languages had similarities and both used cuneiform
alphabets. But there was another point to sending them to school: they were to learn the ways
of the Babylonians including about their gods, their religion, and their magic.
Let’s pick up at verse 5, and the matter involving food.
RE-READ DANIEL 1:5 – end

Verse 5 explains that these Jewish youth were to be fed from the Kings table. This did not
mean that they dined with King Nebuchadnezzar; rather it means that they ate food from the
royal pantry, which was the best of the best food in the land. It means that the food was
provided for them, prepared, and served to them as would be served to an aristocrat. And
we’re told that the period of their education was to be for three years. Assyriologists are
convinced that this mention of 3 years of education indicates a form of organized institutional
higher education, and that essentially a student got a 3 year degree upon graduation. So this
wasn’t some special arrangement only for these Jewish immigrants. We read of the same
thing concerning an education system in later Persian documents. Naturally, only the most
privileged and noble were given access to such a valuable education.
Verses 6 and 7 give us the names of these Jewish youths and then we’re told that the man in
charge of them assigned them new names. Let’s get the preliminaries out of the way by
explaining the meaning of their Hebrew names. Daniel means (El) God has judged. Hananyah
means Yah (or God) is gracious. Mishael means who is as God is? And finally Azaryah
means God has helped. Notice how each one of these Hebrew names invokes their Hebrew
God in some way.
It was the prerogative and a standard practice of conquering kings to change the names of
their vassal kings and those who they captured and used near them in the royal court. The
idea was partly that their old life and status had terminated, and so with a new life and status
came a new name to symbolize it. Daniel’s new name was Belteshazzar. There’s no
consensus on its meaning. Some scholars believe it comes directly from an Akkadian phrase
that means “protect his life”. Others think that because the god Bel was an important god of
the Babylonians, and that it might have intended to make some connection that way.
Hananyah’s new name was Shadrakh, and I found so many different suppositions on the
meaning of his name that frankly it’s not worth discussing.
Mishael’s new name was Meshack, which is probably from an Akkadian word that means “I
am slighted”.
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And finally Azaryah’s name was changed to Aved-Nego. Scholarly consensus here is that
Nego is a copyist error and it should have been Nebo; however since all translations from one
language to another depend on how a word sounds when spoken, then since in Aramaic Nego
and Nebo are so similar that it is not so much an error as just another way of vocalizing the
same word. Nebo was a high Babylonian deity. If the consensus is correct then it probably
means “servant of Nebo”, which makes sense.
But now as we get to verse 8, the deeper reason for the name changes begins to reveal itself
(which is why we took a moment to see what these new Babylonian names might have meant).
We were told earlier that the king ordered that these Jewish youth be fed from the king’s own
food supply. But Daniel decided he could not accept this because it would have meant defiling
himself. Why? Because the food being offered would not have been compatible with Torah
law; it would not have been ritually clean.
So here we see Daniel emerge as the leader of the group as he steps forward to establish that
he will not give up his holiness to comply even with the orders of a king. No doubt Daniel sees
this as a divine test of his faithfulness. The issue was not necessarily that the preparation of
the food would not have met Levitical standards as it was that the meat would have been
unclean due to at least a portion of it having been sacrificed to the Babylonian idols (this was
the common practice).
Let me pause for a brief detour to explain a common misconception about the Laws of Kashrut
(the Torah dietary rules) that even much of the Jewish community is unaware. There are two
distinct sets of Torah laws that deal with food. One set deals with what is considered
permissible. And then another set deals with the proper handling of the permissible foods. The
first set is about defining what is to be considered as food, and the 2
nd
set then explains what
can contaminate the otherwise permissible foods, thereby rendering them unclean and
therefore ritually inedible. Technically the terms clean and unclean have nothing to do with
listing which items can be considered as food; that falls under the classification of permissible
and prohibited. Rather clean and unclean are ONLY about the handling of food that if done
improperly can render a perfectly permissible food as ritually unclean.
So (and this is key for understanding the issue of food especially in the New Testament), from
Leviticus onward (after the food laws are given to Moses) the term food is only referring to
permissible food. Because if something otherwise edible is prohibited, it is not food. Our
modern Western minds think about categorizing food items as more edible and inedible. That
is, things that will not harm us and may supply some level of nutrition are called edible; things
that would cause us to be harmed or even die if we ingest them are called inedible. Thus while
many insects, worms, reptiles, and some plants that taste disgusting are indeed edible by
humans (from a purely scientific medical standpoint), from a biblical standpoint they do not
qualify as food and humans (especially redeemed humans) ought not to eat them.
So remembering that from Genesis to Revelation the bible is a Hebrew document created in
the context of a Hebrew culture, then understand that unless the biblical context specifically
calls for a different definition, when God or a Hebrew uses the term “food” it is only referring to
permissible food according to the list given in the Law of Moses. Anything outside that list is
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not food and is not referred to as food. Thus when we encounter a food issue in Old or New
Testaments this in mind. Since this matter is especially problematic for Christians, consider this
example:
1Cor. 8:4-7 CJB
4
So, as for eating food sacrificed to idols, we "know" that, as you say, "An idol has no real existence in
the world, and there is only one God."
5
For even if there are so-called "gods," either in heaven or on earth- as in fact there are "gods" and
"lords" galore-
6
yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom all things come and for whom we exist; and one Lord,
Yeshua the Messiah, through whom were created all things and through whom we have our being.
7
But not everyone has this knowledge. Moreover, some people are still so accustomed to idols that when
they eat food which has been sacrificed to them, they think of it as really affected by the idol; and their
consciences, being weak, are thus defiled.

So this passage has a number of issues involved. First is the use of the term “food”. And food
is defined as something that God has said in the Law of Moses is permissible to eat. But
because in this case because the food was sacrificed to idols, then this food becomes ritually
unclean. So, for instance, this passage by no means is indicating sacrificing a pig, or a horse,
or something that is prohibited and thus is fundamentally NOT FOOD.
And just so we don’t leave this passage hanging, Paul goes on to explain that since idols have
ALWAYS been nothings (since there are no such things in reality as other gods), then it is
certainly NOT that this silly idol has somehow caused the molecular structure of the meat to
literally change or is it contaminated as though it was dropped in a mud puddle. So that is not
why this food becomes unclean. Thus because the people in question don’t have the
knowledge of the God of Israel, the Law of Moses and the Torah (we’re no doubt speaking of
gentiles here), and the Torah makes it clear that it is NOT any inherent physical aspect of an
edible item that is at the root of God’s food choices (rather it is simply the Lord’s sovereign
decision), the conclusion is that to NOT eat food sacrificed to idols is strictly a matter of
obedience and faith to the God of Israel (it is not an issue of a magical spell cast over the meat
or some physical transformation of the meat). Thus these gentiles in this NT passage, who
sacrifice their meat to idols before eating it, really believe that the idols have a physical tangible
effect on that meat. So for them it’s not that their food somehow becomes physically defiled
(since these idols have no power anyway), rather it is that their consciences become defiled
(ritually unclean before God) because their intent is wrong. The issues of clean and unclean,
permitted and prohibited, are spiritual issues; they are merely played out in a physical world.
So armed with that understanding we come back to Daniel and see that for Daniel this problem
he had with eating the king’s food was an issue of proper obedience to the Torah Law of not
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eating food that has been ritually defiled (because from a physical standpoint it is otherwise
perfectly edible and nutritious). So, in what is described as a humble attitude showing respect,
Daniel asks if he might be excused from eating the king’s food so that he is not ritually defiled.
Interestingly the chief officer, a Babylonian, was not insulted by this and was actually quite
sympathetic. But he was also afraid that if Daniel didn’t partake of the food so graciously
allotted to him by the king that he’d get in trouble. And the main proof to the king as to whether
the youths were getting the proper food was how they looked.
So Daniel turns to a subordinate of Ashp’naz, the chief eunuch, and asks him to just try a
relatively short experiment to prove that the king would be none the wiser if Daniel was granted
his request, because outwardly they’d look just fine. And by the way, although the CJB says
that it was the guard whom Daniel spoke to, the Hebrew word is Melzar and very likely this is a
proper name and doesn’t just have a generic meaning like guard or steward. That is, Daniel
spoke to a fellow named Melzar and asked him if they could eat differently. So the bargain was
that Daniel and his 3 friends would only eat vegetables (which except under the most radical
circumstances don’t get defiled), and drink only water. Why can’t they drink the king’s wine?
Wine is kosher. No one really has a provable answer except that perhaps the wine used by the
Babylonian royalty was a much higher alcohol content than Hebrew table wine; and wine with
too high of an alcohol content is called old wine (or shekar), and it is fermented with the
express purpose to get you drunk as quickly as possible. But, that is speculation and opinion.
The testing period was to be for 10 days, and then Melzar could determine if the Jewish youths
looked OK so he wouldn’t get in trouble. And of course, at the end of 10 days the young men
looked better than the others who ate the king’s food and drank his wine. So Melzar agreed to
continue with the dietary program. A point I’d like to make here is this: from a nutrition or food
safety aspect there wasn’t a thing in the world wrong with the food that the king provided for
the Jewish youth. It was first rate and no doubt was permissible under Torah Law. And, for you
vegetarians don’t think that this vegan diet we see Daniel and his buddies eating was
somehow causing them to look better. Rather, this is a spiritual issue. I’ve said over and over
again: the Laws of Moses aren’t, and have never been, salvation issues. The Laws of Moses
didn’t redeem Israel to start with, and (with some exceptions) they didn’t maintain Israel’s
redemption when obeyed. And for Believers, there is only 1 thing that redeems us: trust in our
Lord Yeshua. And scrupulously obeying God’s commandments is not the determining factor
(with some exceptions) in maintaining our membership in the Kingdom of God. Daniel and his
friends would not have become un-redeemed had they eaten the king’s defiled food. But, they
would have become ritually unclean. The issue I’m highlighting here is a determination to be
obedient to the Lord’s commandments as a proper response to God’s free gift of redemption
and relationship. However if one’s determination is to intentionally and habitually trespass
against God’s commandments, this may indicate a fundamental lack of trust or faith in God.
And a lack of faith or trust indeed puts one’s redemption in doubt since trust and faith are the
core requirements for redemption.
Daniel and his friends knew God’s laws well. But now that they were up in Babylon, would
they still strive to obey those dietary laws even in a foreign place under challenging
circumstances? Would they be a good witness for Yehoveh in a pagan place by steadfastly
remaining obedient, or would they go along with the crowd and employ the motto “when in
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Rome…”? Daniel passed the divine test; the Lord favored Daniel and his 3 friends not only with
sustained health on such a limited diet, but they actually fared BETTER than those who ate the
full menu. This was not a natural result of eating only vegetables and water; it was a
supernatural blessing by God. And it no doubt made a favorable impression on both
Melzar and his boss Ashp’naz.
Now if I can ask for your full attention. It is important to understand that the bottom line purpose
of Nebuchadnezzar taking these Jewish youths from Judah and offering them prestigious
positions in his government; giving them new Babylonian names and sending them to a 3 year
program of the best higher education available; and of offering only the best Babylonian foods
from the king’s own table, was to fundamentally change Daniel, Hananyah, Mishael, and
Azaryah’s identities. They were brought to him as intelligent faithful Jews and he wanted them
to become loyal useful Babylonians. The intent was to separate them from their heritage, their
nation, and their faith. The goal was to have them, in time, think differently than when they had
first arrived. And the primary ingredients needed to facilitate this new identity were: location,
name, education and diet.
And notice that of these 4 ingredients on the path to identity change the one given the most
attention in this story was diet. This is not by accident. As I try to remind gentile Christians
whenever the opportunity arises: when Adam and Even were created, they had no known rules
given to them save for one. They essentially had a Torah that consisted of but ONE
commandment. Do you recall what that one commandment was?
Gen 2:15-17 CJB

15
ADONAI, God, took the person and put him in the garden of 'Eden to cultivate and care for it.
16
ADONAI, God, gave the person this order: "You may freely eat from every tree in the garden
17
except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You are not to eat from it, because on the day that
you eat from it, it will become certain that you will die."
In a pristine world that was perfect and free of sin, there was given to the first couple a divine
commandment that (as illogical as it might seem to our modern scientific, Systematic Theology
based Christianity) was about diet. Yes, the very first law ever given to mankind (long before
there was an Abraham, Isaac, or Israel) was about food. They could eat anything they chose in
the garden without restriction….except……for one particular fruit from one particular tree. The
result of eating that fruit, as both Jews and Christians fully agree and accept, was not that
Adam and Eve were poisoned. The fruit was obviously not only edible but the bible says it was
delicious. The result of breaking that dietary law was the emergence of sin itself. And the result
of sin is death; physical and spiritual death. Obedience to God and the resultant spiritual
blessing; or disobedience to God and the resultant spiritual curse is the God-principle being
demonstrated with Adam and Even, and with the Kosher dietary laws of the Torah. For those
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who have ears, I pray you hear. I pray you shema.
Verse 17 of Daniel chapter 1 continues that these 4 boys had been given tremendous spiritual
gifts. However a division is drawn and an emphasis is created. Daniel, unlike his 3 friends (and
apparently unlike any of the other unnamed Jewish youth taken to Babylon) was given the gifts
of understanding dreams and visions. And let’s be clear about what is meant about the type of
learning and wisdom that all 4 were given special gifts for: it was of ANY type. These boys
would have had great ability to learn and digest the Babylonian languages, magic arts, god
system, etc. But with wisdom they could also discern what was true and what was false. All of
these boys would become expert in the ways of the Babylonians and Chaldeans, but that
doesn’t mean that they subscribed to their efficacy or societal morality. Daniel, especially,
would rise in knowledge of the Babylonian system above even the best of Nebuchadnezzar’s
Babylonian brain trust. And this isn’t the first time we’ve heard of such a thing.
Acts 7:22 CJB

22
So Moshe was trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became both a powerful speaker and a
man of action.
But in the end, this knowledge was used by Moses and soon by Daniel for a Godly purpose as
directed by God. Or, as C.F. Keil so eloquently put it: such acquisition of heathen knowledge
was arranged, “so as to put to shame the wisdom of this world by the hidden wisdom of God”.
Thus after the 3 years of training, Ashp’naz presented Daniel and his 3 comrades to King
Nebuchadnezzar. The King carefully interviewed them and was so impressed by what he saw
and heard that among all of the Jewish youths he had commandeered and had trained in
Babylonian ways, these 4 were superior in every manner. No doubt the king gave them difficult
problems to solve and ponder and their acute degree of discernment in these matters set them
apart from all others.
This chapter ends with the notice that Daniel continued until the first year of King Koresh. I told
you I’d point out places the bible scholars of the bible criticism school latch onto as evidence
that Daniel is a fraud, and this is one of them.
King Koresh is the Persian King Cyrus. So we have Daniel serving the Babylonian kings as
long as Babylon remained the regional power, and then serving the Persian Kings when they
took over the Babylonian Empire. However in Daniel chapter 10 we read this:
CJB
Daniel 10:1 In the third year of Koresh king of Persia, a word was revealed to Dani'el, also called
Belt'shatzar. The word was certain: a great war. He understood the word, having gained understanding in
the vision.

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So, the bible critics say we have a discrepancy. In chapter 1 verse 21 Daniel says he served
until the 1
st
year of King Koresh, but in chapter 10 verse 1 we have Daniel serving Koresh in
Koresh’s 3
rd
year. And, they say, the meaning of verse 1 is that Daniel served Koresh only in
Koresh’s 1
st
year, so the fictitious author of Daniel has revealed himself as a poor historian.
This is a classic red herring and it is what happens when one tries to reduce the bible to
science and wants to examine it to the sub-atomic level. First of all, without any needed
explanation, up until the era of modern critics it was generally understood by Church leaders
that all that chapter 1 verse 21 is saying is that Daniel continued serving as an advisor even
when the Empire changed hands. Trying to parse the single word “until” (ad in Hebrew) to
mean that the 1
st
year of King Koresh was the terminating year of Daniel’s service. However
as the Brown-Briggs-Driver lexicon explains, while ad can mean “up until”, it also can equally
mean “while”, as in the sense of “during”. So it is a flexible, not a definite, term.
So one legitimate meaning is that Daniel served there “during” the 1
st
year of King Koresh. And
as the book of Daniel continues, the additional information of chapter 10 verse 1 that describes
a time when Daniel is still with Koresh in Koresh’s 3
rd
year shows that the proper use of ad in
this context is “while” or “during”, NOT “up until”. And yet the bible critics want to say that
chapter 10 verse 1 doesn’t provide context, it provides contradiction.
This is a good reminder of what challenges a modern bible student faces when trying to
honestly and openly study God’s Word. Because the bulk of scholarship for over a century
that has influenced nearly every Christian denomination, and much of the Jewish world as well,
has set about trying to prove that the bible, while a “good book”, is nonetheless not a divine
book. And that Christ, while a “good man”, is nonetheless not a divine man or the Son of God.
We’ll begin the fascinating Daniel chapter 2 next time when Nebuchadnezzar has a frightening
series of dreams.

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