Daniel 1:3, commentary and pictures

Nebuchadnezzar, early in the reign of Jehoiakim when he first besieged and took Jerusalem, commanded Ashpenaz the chief of his eunuchs to bring certain of the children of Israel of royal seed and of the princes to serve in his palace. Those brought were youths about fifteen or sixteen years old, with those who held Daniel was about eighteen when taken from Judah to the heathen court. Their being carried as captives to Babylon and placed among those who neither knew nor feared the true God was by Infinite Wisdom and divine permission, that rightly educated youth might exalt God in the greatest kingdom of the world. The king arranged for them thorough preparation to stand in the palace, three years of physical and intellectual discipline in the learning and tongue of the Chaldeans with a daily provision of meat and wine from his own table. The account beginning with this selection affords a comprehensive illustration of true temperance and faithful loyalty, showing youths who stayed true to principle under trial and were honored by God as His representatives among heathen nations.

Words and Historical Setting

The command recorded here is the king's order to Ashpenaz, the master or chief of his eunuchs, to bring chosen Israelites to Babylon for service in the palace. The king who gave it was Nebuchadnezzar, acting early in the reign of Jehoiakim when for the first time he besieged and captured Jerusalem. Those to be brought were certain of the children of Israel, of the king's seed and of the princes, meaning youths of royal family and nobility.

Daniel himself was of Judah's royal line, a prince among those thus selected from Israel's royal family and princes. The word for child points to youth, about fifteen or sixteen years old. Daniel is also reckoned as about eighteen years old when brought from Judah to serve in the heathen court.

This taking of captives began the seventy years of captivity. The captivity, together with the placing of the vessels of God's house in the temple of the Babylonish gods, was boastfully cited by the victors as evidence that Babylonian religion and customs were superior to those of the Hebrews, a humiliation invited by Israel's departure from God.

Selection and Court Training

Daniel and his companions — the four Hebrew youths Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah — were among those thus selected and brought to Babylon. They were chosen from those of princely birth because Nebuchadnezzar perceived their superior talents and promise of ability, and because they were well instructed. When Israel with its king, nobles and priests was carried into captivity, these four captives were selected to serve in the court of the king of Babylon in order to prepare them to fill important positions in his kingdom.

The king arranged thorough training to prepare them to fill important positions and stand in the palace: teaching the learning and tongue of the Chaldeans, under tutors for a set period of three years of physical and intellectual discipline. When that set time of study was finished Daniel entered the work he had studied for and put into practical use what he had learned instead of going on into another line of book study. As part of that training the king appointed them a daily provision of meat and wine from his own table, meant as great honor and as the best means to secure their full physical and mental development. When royal food and wine were set before them under the king's command, their selection thus placed them under the king's appointed wine and rich foods.

They were brought as captives in war to a strange land, not by their own pride or ambition, but under God's providence. They were taken from comparatively simple Jewish homes and Jerusalem associations to the magnificent capital and its powerful, luxurious and corrupt court, where their loyalty would be tested. Their position there was a trial of loyalty with dangers and difficulties, in companionship with those who neither knew nor feared the true God. Their removal among the heathen severely tested the principles received by education and training.

The king himself judged their ability and qualifications and took kindly to them. He saw in them a spirit of independence and yet true courtesy that he appreciated. He flattered himself that change of country and associations and the influence of court life in that magnificent city would efface the impressions made by their early religious education.

Divine Purpose in Captivity

The bringing of Israelite youths of royal and princely families into the Babylonian court was not accident or merely human ambition, but the act of Infinite Wisdom, divine providence, and God's permission placing them as captives in companionship with those who neither knew nor feared the true God. God allowed that scattering to Babylon, then the greatest kingdom in the world, because Israel had departed from Him and the Jews were doing no good to those outside themselves, and He sent rightly educated youth there to be exalted. The humiliation of captivity was thus invited by departure from God, yet permitted for a higher end.

They were to serve as God's representatives among heathen nations, sharing the blessings of knowing Him and carrying to king and nobles the knowledge of Him as the only true God, the Creator of heaven and earth, making known His glory. Through captives who remained loyal, Babylon was to be given evidence of His supremacy, of the holiness of His requirements, and of the sure results of obedience. Their calling was to honor their faith and identity as worshipers of the living God without compromising with idolaters, honoring Him in both prosperity and adversity, and He in turn honored them.

Those brought in this captivity who placed themselves in right relation with God made the most of their opportunities and were rewarded even as Daniel was rewarded. Though their enemies were envious and hostile, God did not allow them to prevail against captives who trusted in Him. He never leaves His loving children who serve Him to be the sport of temptation, and trust in His promises with the Scriptures as guide and stay proved all-sufficient in every experience through which they passed in the strange land.

Temperance Lesson Taught

The command that brought selected Israelite youths, including those of the king's seed and of the princes, to Babylon for training in the learning and tongue of the Chaldeans that they might stand in the king's palace begins an account that affords a comprehensive and forcible illustration of true temperance and its attendant blessings. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were among those thus chosen, and their conduct under that training became the example of faithful self-discipline. It shows temperance as a biblical principle, upheld by integrity and firmness and by standing with firm purpose. Their being placed as captives in companionship with those who neither knew nor feared the true God was by Infinite Wisdom and divine providence, and it became the setting in which their temperance and its blessings were shown.

That selection placed them under a daily appointment of food and wine from the king's table, with rich foods and appointed wine set before them. These youths had been educated from childhood to strict temperance in all eating and drinking for their present and future good, because intelligence depends on what is eaten and drunk. They had laid out their course as students to stand high in clear intellect and in clear presentation of matters that bring a knowledge of God and the truth, and by refusing the wine and rich foods they stayed in that course.

In the fear of God they resolved to follow God's principles in eating and drinking and to obey the divine law, both physical and moral, even at the risk of the king's displeasure, and to be true to the religion of their fathers. They honored the right education of their childhood when separated from home influences and sacred associations, joining habits of self-denial with earnestness of purpose, diligence and steadfastness. They were not actuated by pride or unworthy ambition but sought to acquit themselves creditably for the honor of their downtrodden people and for the glory of God whose servants they were. When the royal food and wine were set before them they considered how their choices would affect their physical and mental powers. They refused the wine because they knew it could become pleasant and preferred to water, and because they regarded it as a snare that could dull judgment and lead to dishonoring God.

Their choice to abstain from intoxicating drink and indulgence of perverted appetite was vindicated when they were found healthier and wiser than the others. By that course they preserved physical strength and gained greater mental and spiritual understanding, so as to become useful to God. God honored their right course with strength and comeliness and intellectual power. When their ability and acquirements were tested by the king at the end of the three years of training, none were found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, but in erect form, fair countenance, undimmed senses, keen apprehension, choice language and extensive knowledge they stood without a rival among the most promising youth gathered from conquered lands. God wanted this temperance course brought before the king and their associates, and they were successful in it.

Faithfulness, Diligence and Witness

Their placement in the heathen court was a trial of loyalty amid dangers and difficulties, and they stayed true to principle, firm in integrity and faithful to Jehovah under any circumstances and consequences, having resolved to resist temptation, reject idolatry and remain loyal to God. They were taken there as captives of war and not by their own choice, yet their presence could make known the glory of the true God, and they valued advantages only insofar as they practiced what they had been taught. Their example shows that a person can live in the world without being shaped by its corruption, obeying human rulers only so far as obedience is consistent with truth and righteousness.

Their preservation came from early training in Judean homes, where loving parents taught the commands of Holy Scripture, God's requirements and dealings, His mighty works in deliverance, His providence and the future life. Home and school were one, with thoughts of God associated with all daily life and lessons illustrated by figures and symbols to fix memory, initiating the child into the mysteries, wisdom and hopes of the fathers. That childhood instruction stored the mind with pure, sound, honest principles, engraved truth from the Word upon the tablets of the soul, vividly impressed principles of righteousness by the Holy Spirit, and molded character after the divine similitude so that heart and mind were prepared. Those precious truths, only dimly comprehended before, became essential in captivity, flashing in time of need like concealed treasure and newly discovered jewels revealing all their beauty. They guided thought and feeling beyond things seen and transitory to the unseen and eternal, so that youth came forth vigorous in body and mind, quick to perceive and strong to act, with heart like good ground for precious seed and mind trained to see God in revelation and nature.

In Babylon they held fast to the home education, learned humility before God, remained faithful students, and valued new instruction insofar as they practiced what they had been taught, so that heavenly wisdom surpassed the learning of Babylon's highest schools. God's blessing did not replace the effort their education required, for through grace their destiny depended on their own will and action. They were therefore diligent in study, bringing all ability to the work and by close, severe taxation of their powers making the most of opportunities for study and labor. When the set period under tutors was finished Daniel entered the work he had studied for and put into practical use what he had learned instead of going on into another line of book study. Students should follow that course by limiting prolonged book knowledge, seeking heavenly direction and God's guidance and counsel before any move, and practicing the theories gained in the work for which they studied.

Daniel stood firm to principle, was tried and proved, and became a representative man and pattern of integrity. A youth raised in a Judean home studying God's word and works and learning faithful service may later witness for God in legislative assemblies, courts of justice or royal courts, using position and God-given powers as the Lord calls him to use them to reveal God to the world. The experience teaches students the value of self-denial in eating and drinking while seeking knowledge and developing mental powers, calling them to guard the mind and practice self-denial after the resolve not to defile himself. Entering a worldly college to live the truth there means making no pretensions, living out belief, never sacrificing principle, respecting all rules and regulations of the school, and depending on power manifested in the life more than on words spoken. It means keeping the living principles of truth and observing the Sabbath while studying, telling inquirers in simple language the simple Bible doctrines without starting open controversies, asking questions upon doctrines and dropping seeds of truth in minds and hearts that under the Holy Spirit will spring up to bear fruit in the saving of souls. That work is to be done only by those established, rooted and grounded in the truth with the Spirit wrought into the being and who are led and taught of God, because those with no connection with God who place themselves in these schools will themselves be led astray instead of correcting error and diffusing light.