Daniel 1:6-7

1:6 As it turned out, 1  among these young men 2  were some from Judah: 3  Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 4  1:7 But the overseer of the court officials renamed them. He gave 5  Daniel the name Belteshazzar, Hananiah he named Shadrach, Mishael he named Meshach, and Azariah he named Abednego. 6 

1 tn Heb “and it happened that.”

2 tn Heb “among them”; the referent (the young men taken captive from Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

3 tn Heb “the sons of Judah.”

4 sn The names reflect a Jewish heritage. In Hebrew Daniel means “God is my judge”; Hananiah means “the Lord is gracious”; Mishael means “who is what God is?”; Azariah means “the Lord has helped.”

5 tc The LXX and Vulgate lack the verb here.

6 sn The meanings of the Babylonian names are more conjectural than is the case with the Hebrew names. The probable etymologies are as follows: Belteshazzar means “protect his life,” although the MT vocalization may suggest “Belti, protect the king” (cf. Dan 4:8); Shadrach perhaps means “command of Aku”; Meshach is of uncertain meaning; Abednego means “servant of Nego.” Assigning Babylonian names to the Hebrew youths may have been an attempt to erase from their memory their Israelite heritage.