Daniel · chapter 1 of 12
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Daniel 1 tells how Nebuchadnezzar takes young nobles of Judah to Babylon, including Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, to train them for the king's service. Daniel resolves not to defile himself with the king's food and wine, and God gives the four men health, wisdom and favor. When their training ends, the king finds them ten times better than all the wise men of his kingdom.
The book of Daniel is set during the exile in Babylon, when God's people lived under an empire that seemed to have defeated even their God. Daniel 1 opens the book with the question that runs through every page: how does a believer stay faithful to the Lord while living in a culture that is not his own? The answer begins with a small, firm decision at the king's table.
In the third year of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieges Jerusalem. The Lord gives Jehoiakim into his hand, and the Babylonian king carries part of the vessels of God's house to the temple of his own god in the land of Shinar. He then orders Ashpenaz, his chief official, to choose from the royal family and the nobility some young men without blemish, handsome and quick to learn, to be taught the language and literature of the Chaldeans. They will receive food and wine from the king's table and enter his service after three years.
Among those chosen from Judah are Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, who are given Babylonian names: Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Daniel resolves not to defile himself with the king's food or wine and asks the chief official for permission. God gives Daniel favor and compassion in his eyes, though the official fears for his own head. Daniel then proposes a ten-day test of vegetables and water to the steward in charge of them, after which their appearance can be compared with that of the other young men.
After ten days the four look healthier and stronger than those who ate the king's food, and the steward lets them continue their diet. God gives them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel in particular understanding of visions and dreams. When the training ends, Nebuchadnezzar examines them and finds no one like them; in every matter of wisdom he finds them ten times better than the magicians and enchanters of his kingdom. The chapter notes that Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The text says it was the Lord who gave Jehoiakim and some of the temple vessels into Nebuchadnezzar's hand. From the first scene, the book teaches that the fall of Jerusalem is not outside God's control.
Daniel resolves in his heart not to defile himself with the king's food and wine. His faithfulness does not begin in a public crisis but in an inner decision, which he carries out with respect and without rebellion.
God grants Daniel favor and compassion in the eyes of the chief official. Daniel's obedience is real, but the text stresses that the favor comes from God, not from Daniel's skill at negotiating.
God himself gives the four young men knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom, and gives Daniel understanding of visions and dreams. Everything they achieve in Babylon is a gift from the Lord.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: The Lord, who also allowed some of the temple vessels to be carried to Babylon. — Daniel 1:2
Answer: They were of the royal family or nobility, without blemish, handsome, wise and quick to learn. — Daniel 1:3-4
Answer: Daniel became Belteshazzar, Hananiah became Shadrach, Mishael became Meshach and Azariah became Abednego. — Daniel 1:7
Answer: Not to defile himself with the king's food and wine. — Daniel 1:8
Answer: Ten days of vegetables and water, and then a comparison of the four with the young men who ate the king's food. — Daniel 1:12-13
Answer: That in every matter of wisdom and understanding they were ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his kingdom. — Daniel 1:18-20
Daniel 1 reminds us that faithfulness is formed in decisions almost nobody sees. Daniel does not stage a crisis or look down on his hosts: he asks permission, proposes a test and trusts God with the outcome. In a Sunday school class or small group, you can ask which areas of daily life, such as work, school or friendships, call for a resolve this clear today.
The chapter also guards against two errors. One is thinking that faith requires running away from the culture; Daniel learns its language, serves in its court and works with excellence. The other is thinking that serving well allows giving in on everything. The book shows a group of young men who serve diligently and, in what matters most, still belong to the Lord.
Daniel 1 ends with four exiles who have been honored, and with the note that Daniel remained until the first year of Cyrus, that is, through the whole exile. That God-given wisdom will be tested in Daniel 2, when Nebuchadnezzar has a dream that none of his wise men can explain.
The text says he did not want to defile himself, but it does not give the exact reason. Several have been suggested: the meat and wine may have been offered to Babylonian gods, they may have included foods the law of Moses called unclean, or eating from the king's table implied a dependence and loyalty Daniel wanted to keep for the Lord. Probably more than one applies at once.
The Hebrew names of the four mention the God of Israel, while the new Babylonian names point to Babylonian gods. The change aimed to make the young men take on the identity of the court. Even so, the book keeps calling them by their Hebrew names, a sign that their identity was not lost.
He was the king of Babylon who took Judah into exile and destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC. The first campaign against Jerusalem mentioned here took place around 605 BC. Daniel presents him as a powerful ruler to whom God himself gave the kingdom, and whom God will teach to recognize his own authority.