English Standard Version
Daniel 1:12
12"Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink.
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.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink.
- New Living Translation (NLT)“Please test us for ten days on a diet of vegetables and water,” Daniel said.
Context of Daniel 1:12
10and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, "I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king." 11Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, "Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see." 14So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days.
Read all of Daniel 1Daniel 1:12 word by word
נַס־נָ֥א אֶת־עֲבָדֶ֖יךָ יָמִ֣ים עֲשָׂרָ֑ה וְיִתְּנוּ־לָ֜נוּ מִן־הַזֵּרֹעִ֛ים וְנֹאכְלָ֖ה וּמַ֥יִם וְנִשְׁתֶּֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Proveנָסָהnâsâh · to testH5254
- thy servantsעֶ֫בֶד‛ebed · servant/slaveH5650
- I beseech thee, tenעֶשֶׂר‛eώer ‛ăώârâh · tenH6235
- daysיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- and let them giveנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
- us pulseזֵרֹעַzêrôa‛ 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 took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.
- Genesis 1:29And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.
- Deuteronomy 8:3And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
- Romans 14:2One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person 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
In the dictionaries
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries