Daniel 1:12-16

1:12 “Please test your servants for ten days by providing us with some vegetables to eat and water to drink. 1:13 Then compare our appearance ¹  with that of ²  the young men who are eating the royal delicacies; ³  deal with us ⁴  in light of what you see.” 1:14 So the warden ⁵  agreed to their proposal ⁶  and tested them for ten ⁷  days.

1:15 At the end of the ten days their appearance was better and their bodies were healthier ⁸  than all the young men who had been eating the royal delicacies. 1:16 So the warden removed the delicacies and the wine ⁹  from their diet ¹⁰  and gave them a diet of vegetables instead.

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¹ tn Heb “let our appearance be seen before you.”

² tn Heb “the appearance of.”

³ tn Heb “delicacies of the king.” So also in v. 15.

⁴ tn Heb “your servants.”

⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the warden mentioned in v. 11) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶ tn Heb “listened to them with regard to this matter.”

⁷ sn The number ten is sometimes used in the OT as an ideal number of completeness. Cf. v. 20; Zech 8:23; Rev 2:10.

⁸ tn Heb “fat of flesh”; KJV, ASV “fatter in flesh”; NASB, NRSV “fatter” (although this is no longer a sign of health in Western culture).

⁹ tn Heb “the wine of their drinking.”

¹⁰ tn The words “from their diet” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.