Daniel 1:4

Children in whom was no blemish,.... Not mere children, but young men of fifteen or twenty years of age; about which age Daniel is by Aben Ezra supposed to be when he was carried captive; and less

Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and

If the princes are so curious in their choice, no marvel that God was cautious in his, 22:20-25. The reason why they were so delicately trained up was, that they being in the flower of their age should be allured with the delights of the court, and should: thereby be brought to forget their fathers’ house and their religion; this hath been the artifice of the Turk in taking Christians’ children, and making them Mamelukes and Janizaries, that thereby they may become, as renegades, the greatest champions for Mahomet, and enemies to the Christians. To stand in the king’ s palace: this notes men fit by their parts to give advice in arduous matters, : which shows that men only of promising abilities, and not incompetent, should be admitted to the presence of kings. The learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans: for this cause Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, ; yet it must be supposed that neither Moses nor Daniel learned any thing that was ungodly, but only to search nature, and that which was only moral; wherein both the Chaldeans and Egyptians were skilled above any other nations of the heathens. And although their magi or wise men did at last degenerate into curious and vain arts, yet Daniel had no further design to know their wisdom than to choose the good of it, and to shun and reject that which was unlawful. The Chaldean tongue differed from the Hebrew in dialect and in pronunciation, which they learned in the right tone and accent, that they might be the more acceptable to the king and court, by their conformity in garb, language, and manners; for which they had the space of three years allotted them.

Daniel 1:4 Children in whom [was] no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as [had] ability in them to stand in the king’ s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.Ver. 4. Children in whom was no blemish.] Such as were Joseph, David, Artaxerxes Longimus, Germanicus, and others, in whom beauty proved to be the "flower of virtue," as Chrysippus called it. Of Galba the emperor one said, that his good wit dwelt in an ill house, like an excellent instrument in a bad case; whereas Vatinius the Roman was not more misshapen in body than in mind. The heathens also advise us to beware of those whom nature hath set a mark upon. And skilful in all wisdom,] i.e., Ingenious and industrious, apt and able to receive and improve instruction. Tacitus telleth us that in the times of Vespasian and Domitian, the children of the British nobles were so witty and well bred that the Romans infinitely admired them for the debonnaireness of their natures, preferring the wits of the Britons before the study of the Gauls. And they are called Angli quasi Angeli, the English just as Angels, said Gregory the Great, concerning the English boys presented to him. And such as had ability in them.] Daniel and his three friends are thought by some to have been bred under the prophet Jeremiah, and to have begun to prophesy some years before Ezekiel. To stand in the king’ s palace,] i.e., To do him service. This is that which learned men should aim at in these studies, viz., to lay forth themselves for the public good. Paulum sepultae distat inertiae Celata virtus, And whom they might teach the learning.] Heb., The book - that is, the art of grammar, say some. But why not other arts also learned by books, those mute masters? Yet not so well, the mathematics especially, without a teacher. Joseph Scaliger, who was αυτοδιδακτος, self-taught, and yet proved so great a scholar, is by one called daemonium hominis, et miraculum naturae, more than a man, even a very miracle. And the tongue of the Chaldee.] Which was not therefore the same with the Hebrew, but a different dialect, or daughter of it. The most ancient tongue was the Hebrew, preserved in Heber’ s family. The Hebrews and Chaldees had one common ancestor, viz., Arphaxad; and Abraham, being born in Chaldea, could speak both languages; but so could not Daniel and his fellows till they were taught. Good letters and languages are to be taught in schools and universities, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, especially, the dignity and study whereof Christ would have to be ever kept a-foot in his Church, as appeareth by that inscription, not without a providence, set upon his cross in those three tongues. Ingenium Galbae male habitat. Deformitas corporia cum turpitudine certavit ingenii. - Paterc. In Vit. Jul. Agrico. Horat.

(4) Children.—If the Babylonian customs were similar to the Persian, it is probable that the course of education would commence at an early age. So elaborate a system of science as the Babylonian, whether theological, astronomical, or magical, would naturally require an early training. It is reasonable to suppose that these “children” were quite young. So much may be inferred from Nebuchadnezzar’s amazement at what he considered to be Daniel’s precocious genius (Daniel 2:26). To stand, i.e., to act as courtiers or servants. (Comp. 2 Kings 5:25, and below, Daniel 1:19.) Learning . . . Chaldeans.—Many interesting specimens of this may be seen in the volumes of the Records of the Past, which are devoted to Assyrian and Babylonian subjects. Many more examples may be seen in the British Museum, and among them the large treatise on magic, which originally consisted of no less than two hundred tablets. It appears, from comparing this with Daniel 1:19, that some form of examination was held by the king, before he admitted the courtiers into his immediate service. The language of Chaldæa at this time was Semitic; but there was a sacred language in use besides, which probably belonged to the Turanian family. In both these languages was Daniel educated.

Verse 4. Children] ילדים yeladim, youths, young men; and so the word should be rendered throughout this book. Skilled in all wisdom] Rather, persons capable of every kind of literary accomplishment, that they might be put under proper instruction. And as children of the blood and of the nobles mere most likely, from the care usually taken of their initiatory education, to profit most by the elaborate instruction here designed, the master of the eunuchs, the king's chamberlain, was commanded to choose the youths in question out of such.

4. children] youths (R.V.). blemish] here of physical imperfection, as Leviticus 21:17-18, &c. well favoured] An archaistic English expression for good-looking: so Genesis 29:17; Genesis 39:6; Genesis 41:2 al. As Mr Wright (Bible Word-Book, s. v. Favour) shews, ‘favour’ in old English meant face[179], so that ‘well favoured’ means having a handsome face. The Heb. (lit. good in looks) is the same as in Genesis 24:16; Genesis 26:7. An Oriental monarch would attach importance to the personal appearance of his attendants. [179] Bacon, Essays, xxvii. p. 113, ‘As S. James saith, they are as men, that looke sometimes into a glass, and presently forget their own shape, and favour’; Cymbeline, Daniel 1:5, 93, ‘His favour is familiar to me.’intelligent in all wisdom, and knowing knowledge, and understanding science] i.e. men of sagacity and intelligence, the combination of synonyms merely serving to emphasize the idea. ‘Cunning’ (i.e. kenning) in A.V., R.V., is simply an archaism for knowing, skilful, though the word is used generally where the reference is to some kind of technical knowledge (Genesis 25:27; Exodus 38:23 [where, for ‘cunning workman,’ read ‘designer’]; 1 Samuel 16:16; 1 Chronicles 25:7 [not R.V.]; 2 Chronicles 2:7; 2 Chronicles 2:13-14; Jeremiah 9:17; Jeremiah 10:9 al.). The modern associations of the word prevent it, however, from being now a good rendering of the Hebrew. science] In the Heb. a (late) synonym of ‘knowledge’ (as it is rendered Daniel 1:17; 2 Chronicles 1:10-12), and derived from the same root: the word is not to be understood here in a technical sense, but simply as a Latinism for ‘knowledge,’ used in default of any more colourless synonym. ability] Properly, power; i.e. capacity, both physical and mental. to stand] to take their place—with a suggestion of the idea of serving, which, with ‘before’ (see on Daniel 1:5), the word regularly denotes. learning] literature: lit. book(s), writing(s), cf. Isaiah 29:11-12. and the tongue of the Chaldeans] ‘Chaldeans’ is used here, not in the ethnic sense, which the word has in other books of the O. T., but to denote the learned class among the Babylonians, i.e. the priests, a large part of whose functions consisted in the study and practice of magic, divination, and astrology, and in whose hands there was an extensive traditional lore relating to these subjects (see more fully below, p. 12 ff.). The word has the same sense elsewhere in the Book of Daniel (Daniel 2:2; Daniel 2:4-5; Daniel 2:10, Daniel 3:8 (prob.), Daniel 4:7, Daniel 5:7; Daniel 5:11). The literature on the subjects named is what is referred to in the present verse. The ‘tongue of the Chaldeans’ would be Babylonian, a Semitic language, but very different from Hebrew, so that it would have to be specially studied by a Jew. Many of the magical texts preserved in the cuneiform script are also written in the non-Semitic Sumerian (or ‘Accadian’); but it is hardly likely that the distinction between these two languages was present to the author.

Children in whom was no blemish - The word rendered “children” in this place (ילדים yelâdı̂ym) is different from that which is rendered “children” in Job 1:3 - בנים bânnı̂ym).

4. These youths, who were selected to be schooled in “the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans” in the royal palace, were perfect physically, and with a pleasing presence — a quality which was