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 1:6-7
Context1:6 As it turned out, 6 among these young men 7 were some from Judah: 8 Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 9 1:7 But the overseer of the court officials renamed them. He gave 10 Daniel the name Belteshazzar, Hananiah he named Shadrach, Mishael he named Meshach, and Azariah he named Abednego. 11
Daniel 1:11
Context1:11 Daniel then spoke to the warden 12 whom the overseer of the court officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:
Daniel 1:19
Context1:19 When the king spoke with them, he did not find among the entire group 13 anyone like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, or Azariah. So they entered the king’s service. 14
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 “and it happened that.”
7 tn Heb “among them”; the referent (the young men taken captive from Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “the sons of Judah.”
9 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.”
10 tc The LXX and Vulgate lack the verb here.
11 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.
12 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.
13 tn Heb “from all of them.”
14 tn Heb “stood before the king.”
