Daniel 1:3-5

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Daniel 1:3 tn Or “gave orders to.” Heb “said to.”
2. Daniel 1:3 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. Daniel 1:3 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. Daniel 1:3 tn Heb “bring.”
5. Daniel 1:3 tn Heb “and from the seed of royalty and from the nobles.”
6. Daniel 1:4 tn Heb “good of appearance.”
7. Daniel 1:4 tn Heb “knowers of knowledge.”
8. Daniel 1:4 tn Heb “understanders of knowledge.”
9. Daniel 1:4 tn Heb “who had strength.”
10. Daniel 1:4 tn Heb “to stand in the palace of the king” (cf. vv. 5, 19).
11. Daniel 1:4 sn The language of the Chaldeans referred to here is Akkadian, an East Semitic cuneiform language.
12. Daniel 1:4 tn Heb “Chaldeans” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV). This is an ancient name for the Babylonians.
13. Daniel 1:5 tn Heb “a thing of a day in its day.”
14. Daniel 1:5 tn Heb “from the delicacies of the king.”
15. Daniel 1:5 tn Or “educated.” See HALOT 179 s.v. I גדל.
16. Daniel 1:5 tn Heb “stand before the king.”