Daniel 1:7, commentary and pictures

Daniel and his three companions were carried captive to Babylon early in the reign of Jehoiakim when about fifteen or sixteen years old, and placed under the prince of the eunuchs to be taught the learning and tongue of the Chaldeans for three years that they might stand in the king's palace. The officer changed their valued Hebrew names to Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, names referring to the worship of heathen deities, as part of a policy of changing familiar conditions to gain control over their minds. The renaming was an underhanded, gradual attempt to lead worshipers of the true God to worship idols and become one with the Babylonians in religion through daily exposure to idolatrous customs, rites, and display. At the start of that life they faced a decisive test of loyalty when food from the king's table and his wine would count as homage to Babylon's gods, and Daniel purposed with his companions not to defile themselves but to honor God through temperance on simple fare. God honored their loyalty by giving them wisdom, knowledge, and intellectual power, so that at the end of the three years none were found like them and they stood ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers, making the true God known among heathen nations.

Babylonian Captivity Setting

The renaming took place early in the reign of Jehoiakim, when Nebuchadnezzar for the first time besieged and captured Jerusalem and carried away Daniel and his companions with others specially chosen for service in the court of Babylon. Daniel was about fifteen or sixteen years old when taken captive, and his being described as a child means he was in his youth, along with Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, the four Hebrew youth receiving an education for the king's court. They did not enter the court by their own pride or ambition but were carried there in warfare and placed there by Infinite Wisdom for a trial of loyalty, brought into companionship with those who neither knew nor feared the true God.

They were set in the palace among heathen people under the prince of the eunuchs, the officer who had them in charge. There they were selected to be taught the learning and tongue of the Chaldeans over three years so that they might stand in the king's palace, young men of perfect form and fine mental qualities held under the king's three-year plan to assimilate them. The king did not use an imposing display of absolute power or direct compulsion, but worked by a gradual method of daily familiarity at table with idolaters.

The chapter to which the verse belongs reveals the spirit at work in those under the control of God's enemy, yet it is full of valuable instruction and shows consistency. Daniel and his fellows endured when tested, and afterward when the king threatened to kill all the wise men and astrologers for not telling it, an angel of God gave Daniel the king's forgotten dream and its interpretation so he could give it to the people. Daniel is listed first among the four whose names were changed, reflecting his strong influence as their leader, and the four were bound together in close fellowship so that his firm stand for what was right helped his companions stand with him, for had he yielded to self-pleasing they too might have failed and would not have been honored by God.

Meaning of the Renaming

The officer set over the captives exchanged their familiar Hebrew names — Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah — for Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, as part of a deliberate policy of altering the conditions they had known in order to gain control over their minds. The change struck at what Hebrew parents prized highly, for the names they gave their children carried peculiar significance and often expressed traits of character they hoped the children would develop. The names imposed in their place referred to the worship of heathen deities and represented Chaldean gods, so that worshipers of the true God would constantly hear and answer to the gods of Babylon.

The renaming was another underhanded attempt by the king to lead them to worship idols, carried out not by an imposing display of absolute power or by direct compulsion to renounce their faith, but by a gradual and insidious method. That method was to make the youths familiar with Babylon during three years of sitting at table with idolaters, with daily exposure to idolatrous customs and to the display connected with its charming, seductive rites. The hope was that familiarity would induce them fully to apostatize and become one with the Babylonians in matters of religion.

Though their new names and their circumstances bore the mark of captivity, they were to retain their faith and honor their identity as worshipers of the living God. That name remained an honor they were to bear, refusing all compromise with idolaters while representing God among heathen nations in both prosperity and adversity.

Loyalty and Temperance Test

At the very start of life in Babylon the four youths faced a decisive test of loyalty, for to eat the food and drink the wine from the king's table would have counted as homage to Babylon's gods, since that food had been offered to idols. Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself with the portion of the king's meat nor with the wine, and with Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah he declined the wine and the luxuries of the table, including swine's flesh and other meats forbidden by the law of Moses. When the officer in charge hesitated from fear of the king's displeasure, they requested simple fare and obtained a ten days' trial, at the end of which they were found far healthier in appearance than those who ate the king's dainties, and thereafter they continued on pulse and water.

They refused the appointed food and wine because they believed it would weaken mind and body and hinder God's service, seeking clear minds and sound health so they could gain knowledge, honor God, and represent true religion among a heathen people. Their resolve to honor God through temperance in eating and drinking preserved their physical powers and strengthened their mental and spiritual understanding, supporting clear intelligence and the pursuit of knowledge of God and truth that they could then bring before the king and his associates. They carefully considered the dangers and difficulties of their position in companionship with those who neither knew nor feared the true God, and then in the fear of God decided that even at the risk of the king's displeasure they would be true to the religion of their fathers. In doing so they guarded their religious instruction, sought God's guidance so as not to take part in idolatrous practices, and obeyed the divine law both physical and moral.

The instruction they had received in the homes of their parents and right education in early life in truth and sound principles made them strong in faith and constant in service of the living God, and helped preserve them when tested and tried in a strange land. When separated from home influences and sacred associations they honored the instructors of their childhood by putting that instruction into practice. When tested by the king at the end of the three years of training none were found like them for keen apprehension, choice and exact language, and extensive and varied knowledge testifying to unimpaired mental vigor, so that they stood before the king ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers.

Divine Purpose and Blessing

Their captivity and the humiliation it brought became the occasion for God to show to Babylon His supremacy, the holiness of His requirements, and the sure results of obedience through those who remained loyal to Him. Their being carried captive was permitted by God to serve His purpose that they should make the true God known among heathen nations and represent Him without compromising with idolatry. Their training in self-control in food and drink supported clear intelligence and their pursuit of the knowledge of God and truth, and their success enabled them to bring that knowledge before the king and his associates and nobles, giving them knowledge of the Creator, the only true God.

What happened early in the reign of Jehoiakim, when Nebuchadnezzar for the first time besieged and captured Jerusalem and carried away Daniel and his companions with others specially chosen for service in the court of Babylon, shows that conscientious observance of the commands of Holy Scripture brought them opportunities to exalt the true God before the nations of earth. The instruction they had received in the homes of their parents made them strong in faith and constant in their service of the living God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. In a strange land their faith was tried to the utmost, but trust in the promises of God proved all-sufficient in every experience, and the Scriptures proved a guide and a stay, so that the envy and hatred of enemies could not prevail against them because God helped them.

They considered their position with its dangers and difficulties and then in the fear of God decided that even at the risk of the king's displeasure they would be true to the religion of their fathers, obeying the divine law both physical and moral. God honored their loyalty by giving them wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, and the blessing of God gave them strength and comeliness and intellectual power. When tested by the king at the end of the three years of training none were found like them for keen apprehension, choice and exact language, and extensive and varied knowledge testifying to unimpaired mental vigor, so that they stood before the king ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers.

God's blessing did not replace the effort their studies required, for they worked diligently, using their abilities and opportunities fully. The Lord's eye was upon all their works and He expected fidelity from His servants, and they did not treat the blessing of the Lord as a substitute for the taxing effort required of them. They were diligent in study, bringing all their ability to the work, and by close, severe taxation of their powers made the most of their opportunities for study and labor, discerning that through the grace of God their destiny depended upon their own will and action.

The brief record presents Daniel as an illustrious and holy man, a youth who was tested and stood firm to principle as a pattern of integrity. His life is an example of what people may become when united with God, and an encouragement to those who face trial and temptation. His education in Babylon, set forth in Daniel 1:3-20, revealed the superiority of heavenly wisdom over the learning of Babylon's highest schools. His example teaches that God's word, welcomed into practical life, gives understanding and guides the student toward wisdom that endures for this life and for eternity.

Pattern for Believers Today

The history surrounding the renaming belongs to the prophet Daniel and his Hebrew associates in the court of Babylon, and it gives a comprehensive and forcible illustration of true temperance and its attendant blessings. Daniel controlled his appetite and refused to defile himself with the king's meat and wine, and his conduct stands as an example of pure hygiene. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were captives in a strange land brought into the king's court into companionship with those who neither knew nor feared the true God, not by their own pride or ambition but placed there by Infinite Wisdom for a trial of loyalty. They considered their position with its dangers and difficulties and then in the fear of God decided that even at the risk of the king's displeasure they would be true to the religion of their fathers, obeying the divine law both physical and moral, and the blessing of God gave them strength and comeliness and intellectual power. Having received right education in early life, when separated from home influences and sacred associations they honored the instructors of their childhood, joining habits of self-denial with earnestness of purpose, diligence, and steadfastness, not actuated by pride or unworthy ambition but seeking to acquit themselves creditably for the honor of their downtrodden people and for the glory of God whose servants they were. When tested by the king at the end of the three years of training none were found like them for keen apprehension, choice and exact language, and extensive and varied knowledge testifying to unimpaired mental vigor, so they stood before the king ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers, proving that God always honors the right.

Erect form, firm step, fair countenance, undimmed senses, and untainted breath are certificates of good habits and insignia of nobility honoring obedience to nature's laws. The life and work of Daniel and his fellows placed in Babylon give the pattern for every institution bearing the Seventh-day Adventist name to be to the world, even as Joseph was in Egypt. The account of Daniel and the four Hebrew youths shows that students can follow their example by staying close to God, praying for wisdom, and faithfully meeting their responsibilities under human and heavenly oversight.

Daniel placed in Babylon's school under a heathen name yet remaining faithful is the pattern for believers entering worldly colleges and institutions of learning as students. They should enter only when established, rooted and grounded in truth with the Spirit of God wrought into their being, make no pretensions, never sacrifice principle, and respect all rules and regulations of the school. They are to keep the living principles of truth and observe the Sabbath, and live the truth as Daniel and Paul did so that God's power manifested in their lives witnesses more than words. That life will provoke inquiry, and they should then tell inquirers in simple language the simple Bible doctrines, drop seeds of truth in minds and hearts, and welcome questions upon Bible doctrines without starting open controversy. They are to trust the Holy Spirit to arouse investigation, flash light into minds, and spring the seeds up to bear fruit for God's glory in the saving of souls.

The record of Daniel and his companions shows that Christ is willing to reveal Himself to children. It shows what God expects from children and youth when parents treat them as a sacred responsibility from God. Parents are to teach them from babyhood to keep the commandments of God, to be obedient, and to form characters after the divine similitude so Christ may reveal Himself to them.