Daniel 1:5
King James Version (1769)
Other translations
| Verse | KJV | BSB | ASV |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king’s meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. | The king assigned them daily provisions of the royal food and wine. They were to be trained for three years, after which they were to enter the king’s service. | And the king appointed for them a daily portion of the king’s dainties, and of the wine which he drank, and that they should be nourished three years; that at the end thereof they should stand before the king. |
In context
AI-assisted, sourcedNebuchadnezzar gave the chosen young men of Judah a daily share of his own food and wine. He planned three years of training so they could then serve in his court. This royal food is what Daniel soon resolved not to eat (1:8). Daniel 1:3Daniel 1:4Daniel 1:5Daniel 1:8
SpeakingThe narrator tells this part of Daniel in the third person. The traditional view is that Daniel wrote the book. Daniel overview
ToThe book was written for God's people in exile and after it. Daniel overview
Also involvedThe young men taken from Israel's royal family and nobles. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were among them. Daniel 1:3Daniel 1:6
The king set a daily ration for the young men from his own table and the wine he drank. He meant to bring them up on it for three years, and then they would stand before him as his servants. Daniel 1:5Strong's H6598Strong's H1431Strong's H5975G
Babylon, in the land of Shinar. The young men were being trained to serve in the king's palace. Daniel 1:2Daniel 1:4Daniel overview
The eventsAfter Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem in the third year of Jehoiakim, about 605 BC. Daniel 1:1Daniel overview
WrittenTraditional: written by Daniel in the 500s BC. Scholarly: many critical scholars date the book's final form to about 167-164 BC, while others keep the 500s BC date. Daniel overview
HereThe verse sets up the test of the chapter. The king's food and wine are exactly what Daniel refused, so that he would not defile himself. Daniel 1:5Daniel 1:8
In the whole of ScriptureThe king planned to raise these young men on his food for three years for his service. Yet God gave them knowledge and wisdom, and they proved ten times better than the king's wise men. This fits the book's theme that God rules over the kingdoms of men. Daniel 1:5Daniel 1:17Daniel 1:20Daniel overview
For readersGod's people may live and work under a foreign ruler's provision. They still must decide where faithfulness to God draws a line, as Daniel did. Daniel 1:8Daniel overview
- king's meatפַּת־בָּג
The word means a portion of food for the king, or delicacies. Daniel refers to this same portion in 1:8. Strong's H6598Daniel 1:8
- nourishingגָּדַל
Its meanings include to cause to grow, to be brought up, and to make great. Here it describes the king raising the young men for his service. Strong's H1431Daniel 1:5
- standעָמַד
To stand before someone can mean to attend upon them or become their servant. The queen of Sheba calls the servants who stand continually before the king happy because they hear his wisdom. So the goal was service in the royal court, which they reached in 1:19. Strong's H5975G1 Kings 10:82 Chronicles 9:7Daniel 1:191 Kings 10:1
Takeaway
This verse describes the king's plan to feed and train Judah's young men for three years so they could serve him. The chapter shows that God gave them knowledge and wisdom. When the time came, they stood before the king because none was found like them. Daniel 1:5Daniel 1:17Daniel 1:19
Drafted by AI from the Scripture and data shown under “Show sources,” then checked automatically and by a second AI pass. Updated 2026-10-28.
The world around the text
Behind this verse
- Trained for the king's service
- Young men of royal and noble families were taught "the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans" for three years and fed from the king's table. Babylonian scholars wrote in cuneiform on clay tablets. Daniel 1:3-5Daniel 1:17
About 605-536 BC. King of Babylon: Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 BC). Where Daniel lived and served for about seventy years. The capital of the Babylonian empire, on the Euphrates south of modern Baghdad, in the land the Bible calls Shinar and Chaldea.
Who ruled
- King of BabylonNebuchadnezzar605-562 BC
The king who besieged Jerusalem, carried Daniel and the temple vessels to Babylon, and later destroyed the city and temple. His own building inscriptions boast of the Babylon he built. Daniel 1:1-22 Kings 24:12 Kings 25:8-10Jeremiah 25:1Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)
- Last king of Babylon, and his son who ruled in his placeNabonidus and Belshazzar556-539 BC
Nabonidus spent about ten years at the oasis of Tema in Arabia and left his son Belshazzar to rule in Babylon. That is why Belshazzar could only offer Daniel the place of "third ruler in the kingdom": he was himself second. Daniel 5:1Daniel 5:7Daniel 5:29Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Verse Account of Nabonidus
- Received the kingdom after Babylon fellDarius the MedianFrom 539 BC
Daniel says he "took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old" and set 120 princes over it. Records outside the Bible do not name him; he has been identified with Gubaru, the governor Cyrus set over Babylon, or with Cyrus himself. Daniel 5:31Daniel 6:1Daniel 9:1Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)
- King of PersiaCyrus559-530 BC
He united the Medes and Persians, took Babylon in 539 BC, and let the exiles go home to rebuild the temple, as Isaiah had named him beforehand. Daniel 1:21Daniel 6:28Daniel 10:1Ezra 1:1-4Isaiah 44:28-45:1Cyrus Cylinder
- King of JudahJehoiakim609-598 BC
Judah's king when Daniel was taken. Jeremiah warned him and his people that the land would serve Babylon seventy years. Daniel 1:1-22 Kings 23:36-24:6Jeremiah 25:1-11
What was happening, 612 BC to 167 BC
- 612 BCWarNineveh falls
Babylon and the Medes destroyed Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, as Nahum and Zephaniah had foretold. Babylon became the great power of the region. Nahum 3:7Zephaniah 2:13Fall of Nineveh Chronicle (ABC 3)
- 605 BCWarBattle of Carchemish
Nebuchadnezzar defeated Pharaoh Necho of Egypt at Carchemish on the Euphrates, in Jehoiakim's fourth year. The same year he came against Jerusalem and took the first captives, Daniel among them. Jeremiah 46:2Daniel 1:1-4Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)
- 597 BCWarJerusalem surrenders
Nebuchadnezzar took King Jehoiachin, his nobles and craftsmen to Babylon. The prophet Ezekiel went into exile with them. 2 Kings 24:10-17Ezekiel 1:2Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)
- 586 BCWarJerusalem and the temple destroyed
Babylon's army burned the temple and the city and broke down its walls. Daniel later prays over "the desolations of Jerusalem" and asks God to shine on his "sanctuary that is desolate." 2 Kings 25:8-10Jeremiah 52:12-14Daniel 9:2Daniel 9:17
- c. 575 BCBuildingBabylon rebuilt in splendor
Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt Babylon with great walls, palaces and the blue-glazed Ishtar Gate, and his inscriptions praise his own work. Compare his boast: "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built?" Daniel 4:30Nebuchadnezzar's East India House InscriptionHerodotus, Histories 1.178-183
- 562 BCRulersNebuchadnezzar dies
His son Evil-merodach became king and released Jehoiachin of Judah from prison. 2 Kings 25:27-30Jeremiah 52:31-34
- c. 553-543 BCRulersNabonidus leaves Babylon to Belshazzar
King Nabonidus stayed at Tema in Arabia for about ten years, and the yearly New Year festival in Babylon was not held. Belshazzar governed in Babylon. Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Daniel 5:1Daniel 7:1
- 550 BCWarCyrus unites the Medes and Persians
Cyrus of Persia defeated Astyages king of the Medes, joining the two peoples in one kingdom. Daniel's vision names the ram's two horns as "the kings of Media and Persia," the higher coming up last. Daniel 8:3Daniel 8:20Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Herodotus, Histories 1.127-130
- October 539 BCWarBabylon falls to Cyrus
Cyrus's army entered Babylon without a long siege. Herodotus says the people were feasting when the city was taken. Daniel records that "in that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain." Daniel 5:30-31Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Herodotus, Histories 1.191Cyrus Cylinder
- 538 BCGod's peopleCyrus lets the exiles return
In his first year over Babylon, Cyrus proclaimed that the Jews could go back and build the LORD's house in Jerusalem. Daniel "continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus." Ezra 1:1-42 Chronicles 36:22-23Daniel 1:21Cyrus Cylinder
- c. 536 BCGod's peopleThe temple's foundation is laid
The returned exiles rebuilt the altar and laid the foundation of the temple. In the third year of Cyrus, Daniel was still in the east, mourning and praying. Ezra 3:1-11Daniel 10:1-3
- 334-331 BCWarAlexander the Great conquers Persia
Alexander of Macedon crossed into Asia and overthrew the Persian empire within four years. Daniel 8:21 names the rough goat as "the king of Grecia" and its great horn as "the first king." Daniel 8:5-8Daniel 8:21Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 1-3
- 323-301 BCWarAlexander's empire is divided
Alexander died young, and after twenty years of war his generals divided his empire, chiefly into four kingdoms. Daniel 8:22 says "four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power." Daniel 8:8Daniel 8:22Daniel 11:4Diodorus Siculus, Library 18-20Plutarch, Demetrius 28-30
- 167 BCWarAntiochus IV defiles the temple
The Greek king Antiochus IV banned Jewish worship and set up a pagan altar on the altar of burnt offering. 1 Maccabees calls it "the abomination of desolation." Two centuries later Jesus spoke of "the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet" as still to come. 1 Maccabees 1:54-59Josephus, Antiquities 12.5.4Matthew 24:15
The full picture: places, culture and daily life. Scripture first, then ancient records of these years (the Babylonian Chronicles, the Cyrus Cylinder, Nebuchadnezzar's inscriptions) and ancient writers (Herodotus, Arrian, Diodorus, Josephus). Drafted by Claude and not yet reviewed by a person.
Original Hebrew words
| English | Hebrew | Say it | Strong's | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| and he assigned | וַיְמַן֩ | vay-MAN | H4487 | to reckon/appointמְנָה (me.nah) 1) to number, reckon 1a) (P'al) to number 1b) (Pael) to appoint |
| the king | הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ | ha-ME-lekh | H4428G | kingמֶ֫לֶךְ (me.lekh) 1) king Aramaic equivalent: me.lekh (מֶ֫לֶךְ "king" H4430) |
| [the] matter of | דְּבַר־ | de-var- | H1697N | wordדָּבָר (da.var) : word/speech/command 1) speech, word, speaking, thing 1a) speech 1b) saying, utterance 1c) word, words 1d) business, occupation, acts, matter, case, something, manner (by extension) |
| a day | י֣וֹם | Yom | H3117J | dayיוֹם (yom) : day/when/time/period 1) day, time, year 1a) day (as opposed to night) 1b) day (24 hour period) 1b1) as defined by evening and morning in Genesis 1 1b2) as a division of time 1b2a) a working day, a day's journey 1c) days, lifetime (pl.) 1d) time, period (general) 1e) year 1f) temporal references 1f1) today 1f2) yesterday 1f3) tomorrow |
| in day its | בְּיוֹמ֗וֹ | be-yo-MO | H3117J | dayיוֹם (yom) : day/when/time/period 1) day, time, year 1a) day (as opposed to night) 1b) day (24 hour period) 1b1) as defined by evening and morning in Genesis 1 1b2) as a division of time 1b2a) a working day, a day's journey 1c) days, lifetime (pl.) 1d) time, period (general) 1e) year 1f) temporal references 1f1) today 1f2) yesterday 1f3) tomorrow |
| some of [the] deli- | מִפַּת־ | mi-pat- | H6598 | choiceפַּת־בָּג (pat.bag) portion of food for king, delicacies |
| -caci[es] of | בַּ֤ג | bag | H6598 | choiceפַּת־בָּג (pat.bag) portion of food for king, delicacies |
| the king | הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ | ha-ME-lekh | H4428G | kingמֶ֫לֶךְ (me.lekh) 1) king Aramaic equivalent: me.lekh (מֶ֫לֶךְ "king" H4430) |
| and some of [the] wine of | וּמִיֵּ֣ין | u-mi-YEIN | H3196 | wineיַ֫יִן (ya.yin) wine |
| drink his | מִשְׁתָּ֔יו | mish-TAV | H4960 | feastמִשְׁתֶּה (mish.teh) 1) feast, drink, banquet 1a) feast, banquet 1b) drink Aramaic equivalent: mish.teh (מִשְׁתֶּה "feast" H4961) |
| and to bring up them | וּֽלְגַדְּלָ֖ם | u-le-ga-de-LAM | H1431 | to magnifyגָּדַל (ga.dal) 1) to grow, become great or important, promote, make powerful, praise, magnify, do great things 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to grow up 1a2) to become great 1a3) to be magnified 1b) (Piel) 1b1) to cause to grow 1b2) to make great, powerful 1b3) to magnify 1c) (Pual) to be brought up 1d) (Hiphil) 1d1) to make great 1d2) to magnify 1d3) to do great things 1e) (Hithpael) to magnify oneself |
| years | שָׁנִ֣ים | sha-NIM | H8141 | yearשְׁנָה (she.nah) year Aramaic of sha.neh (שָׁנָה "year" H8141) |
| three | שָׁל֑וֹשׁ | sha-LO-osh | H7969 | threeשָׁלֹשׁ (sha.losh) 1) three, triad 1a) 3, 300, third Aramaic equivalent: te.lat (תְּלָת "three" H8532) |
| and from [the] end their | וּמִ֨קְצָתָ֔ם | u-MIK-tza-TAM | H7117 | endקְצָת (qe.tsat) 1) end, part 1a) end 1a1) of corners, of earth 1b) from the end of 1c) at the end of Aramaic equivalent: qe.tsat (קְצָת "end" H7118) |
| they will stand | יַֽעַמְד֖וּ | ya-'am-DU | H5975G | to stand: standעָמַד (a.mad) : stand/stop/establish 1) to stand, remain, endure, take one's stand 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to stand, take one's stand, be in a standing attitude, stand forth, take a stand, present oneself, attend upon, be or become servant of 1a2) to stand still, stop (moving or doing), cease 1a3) to tarry, delay, remain, continue, abide, endure, persist, be steadfast 1a4) to make a stand, hold one's ground 1a5) to stand upright, remain standing, stand up, rise, be erect, be upright 1a6) to arise, appear, come on the scene, stand forth, appear, rise up or against … |
| to before | לִפְנֵ֥י | lif-NEI | H6440G | face: beforeפָּנֶה (pa.neh) : before/to/front 1) face 1a) face, faces 1b) presence, person 1c) face (of seraphim or cherubim) 1d) face (of animals) 1e) face, surface (of ground) 1f) as adv of loc/temp 1f1) before and behind, toward, in front of, forward, formerly, from beforetime, before 1g) with prep 1g1) in front of, before, to the front of, in the presence of, in the face of, at the face or front of, from the presence of, from before, from before the face of |
| the king | הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ | ha-ME-lekh | H4428G | kingמֶ֫לֶךְ (me.lekh) 1) king Aramaic equivalent: me.lekh (מֶ֫לֶךְ "king" H4430) |
Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.