Daniel 1:15
in Daniel 1And at the end of ten days, they looked healthier and better nourished than all the young men who were eating the king’s food.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer, and they were fatter in flesh, than all the youths that did eat of the king’s dainties.
KJV
And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat.
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This verse in Daniel 1
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd so Scripture says, "And the chief eunuch heard them and tested them for ten days and after the end of the ten days their appearances appeared better and stronger in body compared to the boys who ate at the table of the king." [Daniel 1:14-15] And so these boys, though nourished with bread and water alone, were equipped with heavenly wisdom, and they had grace beyond all the boys their same age.
This site's exposition
at the end of ten days
on Daniel 1:15-16
At the end of ten days the test resolves in the plainest possible terms, their countenances fairer and fatter in flesh than the very children who ate the king's rich provision, and Melzar's caution is answered by evidence itself. Pulse and water, the bench notes, out-perform luxury not by natural nutrition alone but by the same hand that fed Israel manna in a wilderness; the miracle is dressed as a health report. Melzar takes away the rich portion from that day and continues them on pulse, the small covenant kept without another word recorded on either side.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
By this it appears that man lives not by bread alone; pulse and water shall be the most nourishing food if God speak the word. See what it is to keep ourselves pure from the pollutions of sin; it is the way to have that comfort and satisfaction which will be health to the navel and marrow to the bones, while the pleasures of sin are rottenness to the bones.
And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer, and fatter in flesh,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer - Hebrew, “good;” that is, they appeared more beautiful and healthful. The experiment was successful. There was no diminution of beauty, of vigour, or of the usual indications of health. One of the results of a course of temperance appears in the countenance, and it is among the wise appointments of God that it should be so. He has so made us, that while the other parts of the body may be protected from the gaze of men, it is necessary that the “face” should be exposed.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּמִקְצָת֙ | umiktzat | and from [the] end of | H7117 → | 7 times |
| יָמִ֣ים | yamim | days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| עֲשָׂרָ֔ה | ʾasarah | ten | H6235 → | 176 times |
| נִרְאָ֤ה | nirah | it appeared | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| מַרְאֵיהֶם֙ | mareihem | appearance their | H4758 → | 103 times |
| ט֔וֹב | tov | good | H2896 → | |
| וּבְרִיאֵ֖י | uveriei | and fat of | H1277 → | |
| בָּשָׂ֑ר | basar | flesh | H1320 → | |
| מִן־ | min- | more than | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַיְלָדִ֔ים | hayladim | the youths | H3206 → | 89 times |
| הָאֹ֣כְלִ֔ים | haokhelim | who were eating | H398 → | 810 times |
| אֵ֖ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| פַּתְבַּ֥ג | patbag | [the] delicaci[es] of | H6598 → | 8 times |
| הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
וּמִקְצָת֙and from [the] end of
umiktzatH7117 →7 times
יָמִ֣יםdays
yamimH3117 →2304 times
עֲשָׂרָ֔הten
ʾasarahH6235 →176 times
נִרְאָ֤הit appeared
nirahH7200 →1300 times
מַרְאֵיהֶם֙appearance their
mareihemH4758 →103 times
ט֔וֹבgood
tovH2896 →
וּבְרִיאֵ֖יand fat of
uverieiH1277 →
בָּשָׂ֑רflesh
basarH1320 →
מִן־more than
min-H4480 →1188 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הַיְלָדִ֔יםthe youths
hayladimH3206 →89 times
הָאֹ֣כְלִ֔יםwho were eating
haokhelimH398 →810 times
אֵ֖ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
פַּתְבַּ֥ג[the] delicaci[es] of
patbagH6598 →8 times
הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃the king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 4:4But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 8:3
He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone,…
- Luke 4:4
But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
- John 6:63
The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
- John 6:31–59
Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
- Romans 15:4
For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.
- Deuteronomy 8:3
Through
Proverbs 10:22The blessing of the LORD enriches, and He adds no sorrow to it.
it leads to
- Psalms 107:38
He blesses them, and they multiply greatly; He does not let their herds diminish.
- Genesis 26:12
Now Isaac sowed seed in the land, and that very year he reaped a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him,
- 1 Samuel 2:7–8
The LORD sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.
- Psalms 107:38
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Daniel
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Daniel; Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel 1.12.1-2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.