Daniel 1:5, commentary and pictures

The king appointed Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah with other chosen youths a daily share of his own meat and wine to nourish them for three years of training so they might stand before him in service in his court. The provision was offered as a special honor for their best physical and mental development, yet it was an insidious plan to familiarize them with idolatrous customs and efface their religious impressions without open compulsion. The fare included meats pronounced unclean by the law of Moses and food and wine consecrated to Babylonian worship, so that to partake would defile them and count as homage to false gods and denial of loyalty to Jehovah. Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself, and with his companions courteously sought and obtained a ten days' trial of pulse and water, which proved them healthier and fairer than those eating the king's dainties and let them continue the simple diet. The appointment is the Bible's most comprehensive illustration of true temperance, teaching strict self-denial in eating and drinking to preserve physical powers and increase mental, spiritual, and intellectual strength for God's service.

Provision and Training Period

The king assigned the chosen youths a daily portion of his own meat and of the wine he himself drank, to nourish them through three years of preparation so that at the end they might stand before him in service in his court. Those who received this appointment included Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of Judah, young Hebrew captives being trained for service in the royal court. The allowance was meant to sustain them during their three years of education before they stood before the king.

Those four were selected to be taught the learning and tongue of the Chaldeans that they might stand in the palace, receiving unusual educational advantages including the language of the Chaldeans. King Nebuchadnezzar took Daniel and the three other captive youths of princely birth into his court to prepare them to fill important positions in Babylon. Because of their superior talents they were admitted to the royal palace for three years of thorough physical and intellectual discipline, including learning the language according to Oriental custom, to fully qualify them for life at court. Eating the meat and drinking the wine from the king's table was part of that training.

The provision was presented as a special honor, different from food normally apportioned to captives, expressing the king's favor and care. The king regarded it as an honor and as the means to secure for them the best physical and mental development that could be obtained for important positions. It was intended to honor them and to develop their physical and mental abilities for places at court and service before the king.

The three years were a set period as students under tutors in thorough physical and intellectual discipline, ending in examination and presentation before the king. The king supplied food from his table and the wine he drank for three years, until their examination and presentation before him. At the close they were to stand before him in active service rather than enter again upon another line of book study, putting into practical use what had been learned and practicing the theories gained.

Captivity Setting and Design

The verse belongs to Israel's humiliation when departure from God led to captivity in Babylon, with the vessels of God's house placed in the temple of the Babylonish gods as supposed proof by the victors that their religion and customs were superior to those of the Hebrews. Yet through that very humiliation Babylon was given evidence of God's supremacy, of the holiness of His requirements, and of the sure results of obedience, and that testimony came through those who stayed loyal to Him.

Daniel and his companions were carried away early in the reign of Jehoiakim when Nebuchadnezzar for the first time besieged and captured Jerusalem, with others specially chosen to be trained for service in the court of Babylon to stand before the king. They did not enter that court by pride or ambition or choice, but were brought there in warfare as captives in a strange land, while Infinite Wisdom placed them there and permitted them to be there. Their position tried their faith to the utmost, yet conscientious observance of the commands of Holy Scripture brought them opportunities to exalt the true God, and the instruction received in their parents' homes made them strong in faith and constant in service, with trust in God's promises proving all-sufficient and the Scriptures proving a guide and stay in every experience.

God's purpose was that they carry knowledge of Him as the only true God and Creator to the king and nobles, bring the blessings of knowing God to heathen nations, and represent Jehovah among them. They were not to compromise with idolaters but to honor their faith and their identity as worshipers of the living God, remaining loyal in prosperity and adversity even when doing so brought loss, and God honored them for it.

The king's appointment of daily meat and wine for three years so they might stand before him was an insidious, gradual plan to cause full apostasy and make them one with the Babylonians in religion. Though vested with absolute authority as ruler of a kingdom of surpassing grandeur over young men of perfect form and fine mental qualities standing before him, he did not seek by imposing display of power to influence them nor try to compel them to renounce their faith for idolatry. He himself brought them into his presence to judge their ability and qualifications, took kindly to them because he saw independence joined with true courtesy, and found they were of royal lineage and well instructed. He had them sit at table with idolaters for three years to become familiar with idolatrous customs, hoping that daily opportunity to observe the display connected with the charming, seductive rites of heathen worship, with change of country and associations and the influence of court life in Babylon, would efface the impressions made by their early religious education in childhood.

Before captivity separated them from home they had received the regular Hebrew home training, the same as Moses in Goshen, Samuel by Hannah, David at Bethlehem, Christ at Nazareth, and Timothy by Eunice and Lois. Their parents, as guardians of their little ones, feared God and taught them to prize His precepts, and they had made the Bible the study of their lives, showing what may be expected from youth so trained; when parents fail in duty and neglect their children the defective characters and sins of sons and daughters are charged to the parents as well as to the transgressors. That education made the youth of Israel vigorous in body and mind, quick to perceive and strong to act, with the heart prepared like good ground for precious seed and the mind trained to see God in revelation and nature, so that stars, trees, flowers, mountains, brooks, and the voices of the prophets met a response in the heart. The royal provision of food and wine belongs to the later Babylonian setting, not to that childhood education in the family home before separation from their people.

Amid idolatrous practices and court pressures, while receiving advantages and being prepared with royal food and wine for three years to serve before the king, they guarded their religious instruction and held fast to the faithful education received at home. They resolved to remain true to God's commandments and reject idolatry, remaining true to Jehovah and the only true God under every circumstance and becoming faithful representatives of God's religion. Their faithful principles and early education preserved them amid the test of captivity, and despite the envy and hatred of enemies God helped them and did not allow enemies to prevail against them, leading to their exaltation.

Defilement in Food Refused

The king's daily allowance included meats pronounced unclean by the law of Moses and forbidden to Jews, such as swine's flesh and other things of an abominable character, so eating them would defile and could not be done conscientiously. Though presented as an honor and as support for physical and mental development, the provision therefore became a test of loyalty. The meat from the king's table had often been portions of sacrifices offered in heathen temples and was consecrated to Babylonian worship, and the wine had been dedicated to the gods with a portion poured out as a libation before each meal. To partake was to be regarded as connected with heathen worship, and even to pretend to partake would count as homage to false gods and as denial of loyalty to Jehovah and dishonor to His law.

The rich food and luxurious living would weaken physical, mental, and moral power and threaten development through luxury and dissipation. Partaking would stimulate and confuse the brain and impair the faculties given by God for His service, harming clear intellect and clear presentation of truth, since intelligence depends on what is eaten and drunk. Daniel refused the wine because he knew it could become a snare and a pleasure he would come to prefer to water, and with his associates he carefully considered how such choices would affect physical and mental powers. He controlled appetite rather than accept the royal food and drink.

With his companions he preferred the favor of God and the approval of a clear conscience above all honor from the greatest monarch of the time. The approval of God was dearer to him than the favor of the most powerful earthly potentate, even dearer than life itself.

Trial Request and Outcome

Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself, and with his associates declined both the wine and the luxuries of the table. They did not treat the king's appointment as a duty to partake, but prayed over the matter, studied the Scriptures, and reasoned carefully from cause to effect. By courteous conduct they sought permission for simpler fare, trusting God as their dependence even in captivity.

God brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs, and by courteous conduct he obtained favor with Melzar, the officer in charge. The officer feared that rigid abstinence would render them pale and sickly and deficient in strength, hurt their appearance, and bring himself into disfavor with the king and endanger his life. He thought luxurious food from the king's table would make them ruddy and beautiful and promote activity of body and mind.

Daniel obtained a ten days' trial of pulse to eat and water to drink, asking that the matter be decided by its result. At the end they proved far more healthy and fair in appearance than those eating the king's dainties, with the result opposite to expectation. They were therefore permitted to continue their simple diet through the whole course of training.

Their temperance was joined with self-denial, earnest purpose, diligence and steadfastness, not from pride or ambition but for the honor of their people and the glory of God. The blessing of the Lord was not a substitute for taxing effort, for through grace their destiny depended upon their own will, choice and action. They were diligent in study, bringing all their ability to the work and by close, severe taxation of their powers making the most of their opportunities for study and labor.

At the testing of ability and acquirements at the end of the three years none were found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah in keen apprehension, choice language, extensive knowledge, physical activity and mental vigor. With erect form, fair countenance, undimmed senses and untainted breath they stood before the king, proving that God honors obedience to nature's laws. God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom, with understanding in visions and dreams to Daniel, and when the king communed with them he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers in all his realm.

Temperance Teaching Preserved

The appointment of a daily share of the king's own food and wine to nourish the chosen youths for three years that they might stand in the palace is the Bible's most comprehensive and forcible illustration of true temperance and its attendant blessings. The integrity and firmness shown in that setting make the whole chapter a lesson in Christian temperance. The youths so provided for were Hebrew captives in a strange land, selected to be taught the learning and tongue of the Chaldeans, and they were not there by pride or ambition but placed there by Infinite Wisdom. Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself with the portion of the king's food nor with the wine, and with his associates declined both the wine and the luxuries of the table. The appointed food included swine's flesh and other meats pronounced unclean by the law of Moses and forbidden to the Jews, so that eating would defile them. They requested simpler fare, and when the officer feared that rigid abstinence would injure their appearance and bring himself into disfavor with the king, Daniel obtained a ten days' trial on pulse and water, proved healthier and fairer in appearance than those eating the king's dainties, and thereafter continued on the simple diet.

The account teaches strict temperance in eating and drinking. Daniel and his companions adhered strictly to these principles, thereby preserving their physical powers and gaining mental strength, while their physical, mental, and spiritual understanding increased. Students are thereby taught to practice self-denial in eating and drinking. Wise care of the diet and the blood-making organs honors God and supports the development of knowledge and mental power. Daniel's resolve not to defile himself is the example of guarding the mind and preserving its power for God's work and for bringing the knowledge of God and truth before others.

The first chapter is full of valuable instruction for youth who feel they do not have the advantages they should have in eating. The king's provision of food and drink was the test that Daniel and his fellows faced, and they endured that test with consistency. That consistency calls youth to remain consistent when tested and to remain true to religious principle despite the pressures of court life and youth, as Daniel showed by refusing to eat and drink as the Babylonians did.

Faithful Example Applied

Daniel's course in Babylon shows that heavenly wisdom surpasses the learning of the highest schools, and it demonstrates the value of pursuing education under God's guidance while depending on His power. After completing a set period of study under tutors, he put into practical use what he had learned instead of entering again upon another line of book study. The three years of provision and nourishing ended with standing before the king in active service, making him an example that students should enter upon the work for which they have studied and practice the theories they have gained.

Those who are established, rooted and grounded in truth and led by God may enter worldly colleges as students and live the truth as Daniel and Paul did. They make no pretensions and sacrifice no principle, while respecting all rules and regulations, keeping the living principles of truth, observing the Sabbath, praying to the Saviour as the only mediator between God and man, and telling inquirers in simple language the simple Bible doctrines without starting open controversy. Their distinct life provokes questions and arouses investigation, lets light shine forth, and lets the leaven of godly lives work more than words, so that seeds of truth spring up to bear fruit for the glory of God in the saving of souls. Those with no connection with God must not take up this work, lest instead of correcting error and diffusing light they themselves be led astray.

What worldly wisdom counted as every advantage secured to them was their first test, where their principles came into collision with the regulations and appointments of the king. They did not take the position that the king's appointment made it their duty to partake, but prayed over the matter, studied the Scriptures, and reasoned carefully from cause to effect, trusting God as their dependence even in captivity. Their course is an example to youth to be true to principle and duty by taking a courteous, intelligent, firm stand on the side of righteousness and strict temperance even in licentious surroundings at the risk of life.