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

10And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king. 11Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. 13Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king’s meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. 14So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days.

Daniel 1:12 word by word

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

• 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 1:16Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse.
• Genesis 1:29And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
• Deuteronomy 8:3And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of Yhwh doth man live.
• Romans 14:2For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.

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