God’s Word Translation
Daniel 1:12
12“Please test us for ten days. Give us only 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.
- 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
10The chief-of-staff told Daniel, “I’m afraid of my master, the king. The king determined what you should eat and drink. If he sees that you look worse than the other young men your age, he would have my head cut off.” 11The chief-of-staff put a supervisor in charge of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Daniel said to the supervisor, “Please test us for ten days. Give us only vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13Then compare us to the young men who are eating the king’s rich food. Decide how to treat us on the basis of how we look.” 14The supervisor listened to them about 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 supervisor took away the king’s rich food and wine and gave them vegetables.
- Genesis 1:29God said, “I have given you every plant with seeds on the face of the earth and every tree that has fruit with seeds. This will be your food.
- Deuteronomy 8:3So he made you suffer from hunger and then fed you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had seen before. He did this to teach you that a person cannot live on bread alone but on every word that the Lord speaks.
- Romans 14:2Some people believe that they can eat all kinds of food. Other people with weak faith believe that they can eat 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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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