Discovery BoxDaniel 1:3 
Context1:3 The king commanded 1 Ashpenaz, 2 who was in charge of his court officials, 3 to choose 4 some of the Israelites who were of royal and noble descent 5 –
Daniel 1:10-11
Context1:10 But he 6 responded to Daniel, “I fear my master the king. He is the one who has decided 7 your food and drink. What would happen if he saw that you looked malnourished in comparison to the other young men your age? 8 If that happened, 9 you would endanger my life 10 with the king!” 1:11 Daniel then spoke to the warden 11 whom the overseer of the court officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:
1 tn Or “gave orders to.” Heb “said to.”
2 sn It is possible that the word Ashpenaz is not a proper name at all, but a general term for “innkeeper.” See J. J. Collins, Daniel (Hermeneia), 127, n. 9. However, the ancient versions understand the term to be a name, and the present translation (along with most English versions) understands the word in this way.
3 sn The word court official (Hebrew saris) need not mean “eunuch” in a technical sense (see Gen 37:36, where the term refers to Potiphar, who had a wife), although in the case of the book of Daniel there was in Jewish literature a common tradition to that effect. On the OT usage of this word see HALOT 769-70 s.v. סָרֹיס.
4 tn Heb “bring.”
5 tn Heb “and from the seed of royalty and from the nobles.”
6 tn Heb “The overseer of the court officials.” The subject has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.
7 tn Heb “assigned.” See v. 5.
8 tn Heb “Why should he see your faces thin from the young men who are according to your age?” The term translated “thin” occurs only here and in Gen 40:6, where it appears to refer to a dejected facial expression. The word is related to an Arabic root meaning “be weak.” See HALOT 277 s.v. II זעף.
9 tn The words “if that happened” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Heb “my head.” Presumably this is an implicit reference to capital punishment (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT), although this is not entirely clear.
11 sn Having failed to convince the overseer, Daniel sought the favor of the warden whom the overseer had appointed to care for the young men.
