ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for Daniel 1

Dan. 1:1–6:28 Daniel and the Three Friends at the Babylonian Court. The Hebrew exiles live faithfully to the Lord while serving in the court of Nebuchadnezzar and his successors, from 605 b.c. to the fall of Babylon (539) and into the early years of Persian rule. Their service brings blessing to the Gentiles.

Dan. 1:1–21 Daniel describes how he and his three friends were taken into exile (vv. 1–7), remained undefiled (vv. 8–16), and were promoted and preserved (vv. 17–21).

Dan. 1:1–2 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim . . . , Nebuchad­nezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar took Daniel and other promising young people to Babylon to be trained in Babylonian culture and literature. This deportation was the beginning of what came to be known as the Babylonian exile. This exile was the result of the people’s sin (Lev. 26:33, 39). Nebuchadnezzar was the Babylonian king c. 605–562 b.c. See 2 Kings 24:1–25:26; Jer. 39:1–18; 52:1–30.

Dan. 1:3–4 Some of the royal family and nobility were also exiled. Their exile fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy to King Hezekiah in 2 Kings 20 and Isaiah 39, a century earlier. Hezekiah had shown the representatives of Babylon around his treasuries, hoping to win a political partner against the Assyrians. Because he had thus failed to trust in the Lord, it was prophesied that the treasures he had shown the Babylonians, as well as some of his own descendants, would be carried off to Babylon.

Dan. 1:5–7 Nebuchadnezzar forced the exiles into adopting Babylonian culture by depriving them of their religious and cultural identity and creating dependence on the royal court. They were given names linked with Babylonian deities in place of Israelite names linked with their God.

Dan. 1:8–16 Daniel and his three friends kept their original names and resolved not to defile themselves with the king’s food and drink (v. 8). They avoided the rich diet as a way of protecting themselves from being tempted by Babylonian culture. Their restricted diet continually reminded them that they were the people of God in a foreign land. They were dependent for their food, indeed for their very lives, upon God, not King Nebuchadnezzar. The Lord gave Daniel favor with his captors (v. 9), and the steward honored their request for a special diet. At the end of a trial period, Daniel and his friends looked fitter than those who had consumed a high-calorie diet.

Dan. 1:17–21 God also gave Daniel and his friends exceptional knowledge of Babylonian literature and wisdom. In addition, he gave Daniel the ability to understand all visions and dreams. God’s favor enabled Daniel and his friends to answer all of Nebuchadnezzar’s questions, so that he found them ten times better than all of his pagan advisers.

Dan. 1:21 until the first year of King Cyrus. That is, 539 b.c., when Cyrus conquered Babylon. God provided for Daniel throughout 70 years of exile.