Daniel 1:8 - Meaning and Application

We can see here, to our comfort, that Daniel found favor with the chief of the eunuchs, just as Joseph found favor with the prison keeper. He had a warm affection for him. Daniel no doubt deserved this by his skill and gentle character, and he was “highly esteemed” (Daniel 9:23). Even so, the passage says that God brought him into favor with the chief of the eunuchs, because no one receives acceptance only according to personal merit.

We should remember that any standing we gain for ourselves is really God’s gift. If we are in favor with others, God has brought us there. He is the one who gives people understanding and goodwill. In this, Psalm 106:46 was fulfilled again: “He made them to be pitied by all those who held them captive.” Young people should learn that the way to be well liked is to be teachable and obedient.

Daniel also stayed firm in his religion. His captors changed his name, but they could not change his nature. However they chose to call him, he still had the heart of a true Israelite. He applied himself as carefully as anyone to his studies and learned the language and literature of the Chaldeans, but he refused to defile himself with the king’s food and wine (Daniel 1:8).

After he explained his purpose and reasons to his companions, they agreed with him, as we see in Daniel 1:11. This was not stubbornness, sulking, or a desire to disagree. It came from a clear conscience. The food may or may not have been unlawful in itself, but they had serious concerns about it.

First, they were careful about the food, because it might have been sinful to eat. Sometimes it may have included meat the law forbade, such as pork. Or they feared it had been offered to an idol or blessed in an idol’s name. The Jews were set apart from other nations in large part by their food laws (Leviticus 11:45-46). These faithful young men, living in a foreign land, felt they still had to honor their calling as God’s special people. Though they could not keep their rank as princes, they would not lose their identity as Israelites, which they valued most.

When God’s people are in Babylon, they need to be especially careful not to share in Babylon’s sins. Providence seemed to place this food before them. As captives, they had to eat what they were given and not offend their masters. Yet if a command went against God’s law, they had to hold to God’s law. Even if providence says, “Kill and eat,” conscience may say, “No, Lord, nothing unclean has come into my mouth.”

Second, they watched themselves closely, because even if the food was not sinful in itself, it might lead them into sin. By enjoying these rich foods, they might become greedy, overly pleased with luxury, and drawn toward the pleasures of Babylon. They had learned David’s prayer, “Do not let me eat their delicacies” (Psalm 141:4), and Solomon’s warning, “Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food” (Proverbs 23:3). So they made up their minds.

This is a great credit to everyone, especially young people, to be free from craving bodily pleasures. They should not long for them, live for them, or be ruled by them. Those who want wisdom and godliness must learn early to control the body and keep it in check.

Third, they felt it was not the right time for comfort, since Jerusalem was under distress and they themselves were in captivity. They had no desire to drink wine in bowls while they grieved over Joseph’s affliction. Though they had royal blood, they did not think it fitting to enjoy royal delicacies while so humbled. We should be humble under hard providences. “Do not call me Naomi,” said Ruth, “call me Mara,” meaning bitter.

Affliction also shows its value here. Jeremiah’s account of the princes and great men in Jerusalem shows that they were corrupt and unclean, even defiling themselves with idol sacrifices, while these young men in captivity would not defile themselves, not even with the king’s food. How much better it is to keep integrity in deep affliction than to keep sin in times of ease and success. Daniel was mainly concerned to avoid the pollution of sin, and that is what we should fear most, more than any outward trouble.

After Daniel made this decision, he asked the chief of the eunuchs not to force him to defile himself. He wanted not only to avoid being compelled, but also to avoid being tempted. He did not even want the bait set before him, to see the king’s food or look at the wine when it was red. It is easier to keep temptation far away than to let it come close and then fight it at the last moment.

We cannot make better use of favor with others than by using it to keep ourselves from sin. Daniel did that here. He asked for help in staying clean before God.

God also wonderfully approved Daniel in this matter. When Daniel asked that no king’s food or wine be set before him, the chief of the eunuchs objected that if Daniel and his friends did not look as healthy as the others, he might bring anger on himself and even lose his head (Daniel 1:10). To reassure him that no harm would come, Daniel asked for a test.

He then approached the under-officer, Melzar, the steward, and said, “Test us for ten days. During that time, give us only vegetables to eat and water to drink, and then judge us by the result” (Daniel 1:13). People often will not believe the value of simple food and self-denial, or how much it helps bodily health, unless they try it for themselves.

So the test was made. Daniel and his friends lived for ten days on vegetables and water, plain fare for young men of noble birth and education, food one would expect them to refuse rather than request. At the end of the ten days, they were compared with the other young men, and they were found better looking and healthier, with better flesh and complexion, than all those who ate the king’s food (Daniel 1:15).

This was partly the natural result of their temperate life, but it must be credited especially to God’s blessing. He can make a little go a long way, and “a dinner of vegetables” can be better than “a fattened ox.” This shows that man does not live by bread alone. Vegetables and water can be the most nourishing food when God speaks the word.

See what it means to keep ourselves pure from the stains of sin. That is the way to have the comfort and peace that are “health to the navel and marrow to the bones,” while the pleasures of sin lead to ruin and decay.

IV. His master approved of him. The steward did not force them to eat against their consciences, but gave them vegetables and water, as they requested (Daniel 1:16). They enjoyed this provision, and we have good reason to think no one begrudged it to them. Here is a strong example of self-control and contentment with plain food. As Epicurus said, “The one who lives according to nature will never be poor, but the one who lives according to opinion will never be rich.”

This remarkable plainness in these young men, shown in the days of their youth, helped prepare them in two ways. First, it fitted them for their important service. By keeping their minds clear and steady, they were more ready for thoughtful work, and they saved much time and mental energy for better tasks. It also helped them avoid the kinds of weakness and illness that often come from youth spent in excess, and that later keep people from doing the work of older age.

Second, it fitted them for great suffering. Those who had trained themselves to endure hardship, and who had practiced self-denial and self-discipline, could more easily face the fiery furnace and the den of lions rather than sin against God.