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 1:7
Context1:7 But the overseer of the court officials renamed them. He gave 6 Daniel the name Belteshazzar, Hananiah he named Shadrach, Mishael he named Meshach, and Azariah he named Abednego. 7
Daniel 1:11
Context1:11 Daniel then spoke to the warden 8 whom the overseer of the court officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:
Daniel 1:18
Context1:18 When the time appointed by the king arrived, 9 the overseer of the court officials brought them into Nebuchadnezzar’s presence.
Daniel 6:11
Context6:11 Then those officials who had gone to the king 10 came by collusion and found Daniel praying and asking for help before his God.
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 tc The LXX and Vulgate lack the verb here.
7 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.
8 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.
9 tn Heb “at the end of the days which the king said to bring them.”
10 tn Aram “those men”; the referent (the administrative officials who had earlier approached the king about the edict) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
