Daniel 1:12

Daniel 1:12 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.
• New International Version (NIV)“Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink.
• English Standard Version (ESV)"Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink.

Context of Daniel 1:12

10but he said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. For why should he see your faces looking thinner than those of the other young men your age? You would endanger my head before the king!” 11Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, “Please test your servants for ten days. Let us be given only vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13Then compare our appearances with those of the young men who are eating the royal food, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” 14So he consented to this and tested them for ten days.

Daniel 1:12 word by word

נַס־נָ֥א אֶת־עֲבָדֶ֖יךָ יָמִ֣ים עֲשָׂרָ֑ה וְיִתְּנוּ־לָ֜נוּ מִן־הַזֵּרֹעִ֛ים וְנֹאכְלָ֖ה וּמַ֥יִם וְנִשְׁתֶּֽה׃Read the interlinear

• Pleaseנָאnâ' · pleaseH4994
• ·אֵת'êth · [Obj.]H853
• testנָסָהnâsâh · to testH5254
• your servantsעֶ֫בֶד‛ebed · servant/slaveH5650
• for tenעֶשֶׂר‛eώer ‛ăώârâh · tenH6235
• daysיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
• Let us be givenנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
• onlyמִן־min minnîy minnêy · fromH4480
• vegetablesזֵרֹעַzêrôa‛ zêrâ‛ôn · vegetableH2235
• to eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
• and waterמַיmayim · waterH4325
• to drinkשָׁתָהshâthâh · to drinkH8354

Cross-references for Daniel 1:12

• Daniel 1:16So the steward continued to withhold their choice food and the wine they were to drink, and he gave them vegetables instead.
• Genesis 1:29Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for food.
• Deuteronomy 8:3He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
• Romans 14:2For one person has faith to eat all things, while another, who is weak, eats only vegetables.

Commentaries on Daniel 1:12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12Give us pulse to eat - הזרעים hazzeraim, seeds or grain, such as barley, wheat, rye, and peas, etc. Though a vegetable diet might have produced that healthiness of the system in general, and of the countenance particularly, as mentioned here; yet we are to understand that there was an especial blessing of God in this, because this spare diet was taken on a religious account.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days - A period which would indicate the probable result of the entire experiment. If during that period there were no indications of diminished health, beauty, or vigour, it would not be unfair to presume that the experiment in behalf of temperance would be successful, and it would not be improper then to ask that it might be continued longer. And let them give us pulse to eat - Margin, “of pulse that we may eat.”…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-16Verses 8-16 The interest we think we make for ourselves, we must acknowledge to be God's gift. Daniel was still firm to his religion. Whatever they called him, he still held fast the spirit of an Israelite. These youths scrupled concerning the meat, lest it should be sinful. When God's people are in Babylon they need take special care that they partake not of her sins. It is much to the praise of young people, not to covet or seek the delights of sense…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12only vegetables … and water: Eating only vegetables and water would avoid forbidden foods (Daniel 1:8). This diet, as a kind of fast, would demonstrate mourning over their exile in a foreign land.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. pulse--The Hebrew expresses any vegetable grown from seeds, that is, vegetable food in general [Gesenius].Read the comment

Topics related to Daniel 1:12

• Abed-Nego
• Abstemiousness
• Abstinence, Total
• Appetite
• Daniel
• Government
• Integrity
• Melzar
• Mishael
• Prudence
• Pulse
• School
• Temperance

In the dictionaries

• Hananiah
• Liking
• Pulse
• Drunkenness
• Food
• Genealogy
• Judah, Kingdom of
• Shadrach
• Daniel
• Daniel, the Book of

Commentaries on Daniel 1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings