# Daniel 1

## Daniel 1:1

### Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylonia

This refers to Nebuchadnezzar and his soldiers, not only to Nebuchadnezzar. Alternate translation: "Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylonia and his soldiers" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-synecdoche]])

### to cut off all supplies to it

"to stop the people from receiving any supplies"

### Jehoiakim king of Judah

This refers to Jehoiakim and his soldiers, not only to Jehoiakim. Alternate translation: "the army of Jehoiakim king of Judah" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-synecdoche]])

## Daniel 1:2

### gave Nebuchadnezzar

This refers to Nebuchadnezzar and his soldiers, not only to Nebuchadnezzar. Alternate translation: "gave Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylonia and his soldiers" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-synecdoche]])

### he gave him

Jehoiakim gave Nebuchadnezzar

### He brought ... he placed

Although Nebuchadnezzar did not do these things alone, it may easier for the reader to retain the singular pronouns. Alternate translation: "They brought ... they placed" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-synecdoche]])

### He brought them

Here "them" probably refers to Jehoiakim and other prisoners, as well as the sacred objects.

### in his god's treasury

This was an act of devotion to his god.

## Daniel 1:3

### The king spoke

This refers to Nebuchadnezzar.

### Ashpenaz

This is the chief official. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/translate-names]])

## Daniel 1:4

### without blemish

These two negative words together emphasize a positive idea. Alternate translation: "with perfect appearance" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-litotes]])

### filled with knowledge and understanding

This is an idiom. This means they knew much and could organize and use that information. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-idiom]])

### king's palace

This is the large house or building where the king lives.

### He was to teach them

"Ashpenaz was to teach them"

## Daniel 1:5

### The king counted out for them

The king's officials did this task for him. Alternate translation: "The king's officials counted out for them" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metonymy]])

### his delicacies

the special, rare, good foods that the king ate

### These young men were to be trained

This can be stated in active form. Alternate translation: "Ashpenaz was to train these young men" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-activepassive]])

### trained

"taught skills"

## Daniel 1:6

### Among these

"Among the young men from Israel"

## Daniel 1:7

### The chief official

This refers to Ashpenaz who was King Nebuchadnezzar's highest official.

### Belteshazzar ... Shadrach ... Meshach ... Abednego

These are all men's names. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/translate-names]])

## Daniel 1:8

### Daniel intended in his mind

Here "mind" refers to Daniel himself. Alternate translation: "Daniel decided to himself" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-synecdoche]])

### pollute himself

To "pollute" something is to make is unclean. Some of the food and drink of the Babylonians would make Daniel ceremonially unclean according to God's law. This can be made explicit. Alternate translation: "make himself unclean according to God's law" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-explicit]])

### delicacies

This refers to the special, rare, good foods that the king ate. See how you translated this in [Daniel 1:3](../01/03.md).

## Daniel 1:9

### General Information:

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## Daniel 1:10

### Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men of your own age?

The official uses this question to explain what he thought would happen. It can be a statement. Alternate translation: "He does not want to see you looking worse than the other young men of your own age." (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-rquestion]])

### The king might have my head

This is an idiom. Alternate translation: "The king might cut off my head" or "The king might kill me" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-idiom]])

## Daniel 1:11

### General Information:

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## Daniel 1:12

### General Information:

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## Daniel 1:13

### compare our appearance with the appearance

Daniel asked the steward to see if he and his friends looked worse than the other young men. Alternate translation: "compare our appearance to see if it is worse than the appearance"

## Daniel 1:14

### tested them

tested Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah

## Daniel 1:15

### their appearance ... they were

The pronouns refer to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

### nourished

This means to have been made healthy from what you have eaten.

## Daniel 1:16

### their delicacies ... their wine ... gave them

All of these pronouns refer to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

## Daniel 1:17

### God gave them knowledge and insight

This can be reworded so that the abstract nouns "knowledge" and "insight" can be expressed as the verbs "learn" and "understand." Alternate translation: "God gave them the ability to learn and understand clearly" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-abstractnouns]])

### in all literature and wisdom

Here "all" is a generalization to show that they had a very good education and understanding. Alternate translation: "in many things that the Babylonians had written and studied" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-hyperbole]])

## Daniel 1:18

### General Information:

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## Daniel 1:19

### The king spoke with them

The king spoke with the "four young men" ([Daniel 1:17](../01/17.md)).

### among the whole group there were none to compare with Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah

This can be stated in positive form. Alternate translation: "Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah pleased him much more than anyone else in the whole group" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-litotes]])

### Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah

These are the names of men. See how you translated these names in [Daniel 1:6](../01/06.md).

## Daniel 1:20

### ten times better

Here "ten times" is an exaggeration representing great quality. Alternate translation: "much better" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-hyperbole]])

## Daniel 1:21

### the first year of King Cyrus

"the first year that King Cyrus ruled Babylon"