Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Daniel 1:12
Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.
12. ten days ] a round number of days (cf. Gen 24:55; Gen 31:7), sufficiently long to test the effects of the proposed diet.
let them ] i.e. the people appointed for the purpose. A Hebrew idiom, the force of which would here be better expressed in English by the passive, ‘let there be given us’ (cf. Job 7:3 b, lit. ‘they have appointed,’ Psa 63:11 a [A.V. 10 a ], Psa 64:9 a [A.V. 8a]; and on ch. Dan 4:25).
pulse ] rather vegetable food in general; there is no reason for restricting the Heb. word used to leguminous fruits, such as beans and peas, which is what the term ‘pulse’ properly denotes. Cf. Isa 61:11, where almost the same word is rendered ‘the things that are sown,’ i.e. vegetable products.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days – A period which would indicate the probable result of the entire experiment. If during that period there were no indications of diminished health, beauty, or vigour, it would not be unfair to presume that the experiment in behalf of temperance would be successful, and it would not be improper then to ask that it might be continued longer.
And let them give us pulse to eat – Margin, of pulse that we may eat. Hebrew, Let them give us of pulse, and we will eat. The word pulse with us means leguminous plants with thin seeds; that is, plants with a pericarp, or seed-vessel, of two valves, having the seeds fixed to one suture only. In popular language the legume is called a pod; as a pea-pod, or bean-pod, and the word is commonly applied to peas or beans. The Hebrew word ( zeroym) would properly have reference to seeds of any kind – from zara, to disperse, to scatter seed, to sow. Then it would refer to plants that bear seed, of all kinds, and would be by no means limited to pulse – as pease or beans. It is rendered by Gesenius, seed-herbs, greens, vegetables; i. e., vegetable food, such as was eaten in half-fast, opposed to meats and the more delicate kinds of food. The word occurs only here and in Dan 1:16. It is rendered in the Vulgate, legumina; and in the Greek, apo ton spermaton – from seeds. It is not a proper construction to limit this to pulse, or to suppose that Daniel desired to live solely on pease or beans; but the fair interpretation is to apply it to what grows up from seeds – such, probably, as would be sown in a garden, or, as we would now express it, vegetable diet. It was designed as an experiment – and was a very interesting one – to show the legitimate effect of such a diet in promoting beauty and health, and the result is worthy of special notice as contrasted with a more luxurious mode of life.
And water to drink – This, also, was a most interesting and important experiment, to show that wine was not necessary to produce healthfulness of appearance, or manly strength and beauty. It was an experiment to illustrate the effect of cold water as a beverage, made by an interesting group of young men, when surrounded by great temptations, and is, therefore, worthy of particular attention.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 12. Give us pulse to eat] hazzeraim, seeds or grain, such as barley, wheat, rye, and peas, c. Though a vegetable diet might have produced that healthiness of the system in general, and of the countenance particularly, as mentioned here yet we are to understand that there was an especial blessing of God in this, because this spare diet was taken on a religious account.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
12. pulseThe Hebrewexpresses any vegetable grown from seeds, that is, vegetablefood in general [GESENIUS].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days, e.] Here Daniel manifestly includes his companions, and makes his request for himself and them desiring that they might be tried ten days with different sort of food and drink, and see whether any alteration would be made in them for the worse; which was a proper time for such a trial; for in that time it might be reasonably supposed that their food, if it had any bad effect on them, would appear. Saadiah makes these ten days to be the days between the first day of the year and the day of atonement; but without any foundation:
and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink; instead of the king’s meat, pulse, beans, pease, vetches, lentiles, rice, millet, and the like. The word d used signifies anything sown, all kinds of roots, herbs, and fruits; and, instead of wine, water; meat and drink, it may be thought, that persons of such birth and education had not been used to; and yet they preferred these to the king’s dainties, by eating and drinking of which their consciences would be in danger of being defiled.
d , Sept.; “de seminibus”, Montanus; “de sativis”, Cocceius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(12) Ten days.The number ten is treated as a round number here, and in Dan. 1:20. (Comp. Gen. 31:41.) By adopting this mode of life, Daniel resumes the simple diet commonly used by his ancestors previously to their entering Canaan (Deu. 12:15-16; Deu. 26:5; Deu. 26:9). This simplicity of life prevailed till the early times of David (1Sa. 17:17-18). At the Persian court, in later times, Daniel changed his rule of life (Dan. 10:3), the infirmities of age beginning to tell upon his constitution.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Dan 1:12. Pulse Pulse here signifies all sorts of roots or herbs.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Dan 1:12 Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.
Ver. 12. Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days. ] All good means must be used for the keeping of a good conscience, and then God must be trusted for the issue. But did not Daniel herein tempt God? No; for besides that he had a word, (1.) Of precept; Deu 14:3 and (2.) Of promise, Exo 23:25 ex arcana revelatione certior factus est, it might be revealed unto him that no inconvenience should follow upon this course.
And let them give pulse to eat, and water to drink.
a De Ver. lnnoc., cap. 56.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
pulse = vegetable food (to avoid the idol-tainted meat).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Dan 1:12-14
Dan 1:12 ProveH5254 (H853) thy servants,H5650 I beseech thee,H4994 tenH6235 days;H3117 and let them giveH5414 us pulseH2235 to eat,H398 and waterH4325 to drink.H8354
Dan 1:13 Then let our countenancesH4758 be looked uponH7200 beforeH6440 thee, and the countenanceH4758 of the childrenH3206 that eatH398 (H853) of the portion of the king’s meat:H6598 H4428 and asH834 thou seest,H7200 dealH6213 withH5973 thy servants.H5650
Dan 1:14 So he consentedH8085 to them in thisH2088 matter,H1697 and provedH5254 them tenH6235 days.H3117
Dan 1:12-14
Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king’s meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days.
Daniel made a deal with Melzar to feed them pulse instead of the king’s diet. The basic meaning of the term “pulse” in Daniel is “seeds”; the term here means “vegetables”. What Daniel and his companions were requesting was the plain vegetable fare of the general populace rather than the richer, meaty diet of the royal table. In Deu 11:10 and 1Ki 21:2 the Hebrew word for “pulse” is a collective noun referring to vegetables, herbs, and green plants growing together in a garden. The Greek equivalent for this word is used in Rom 14:2 as a general term for vegetables as opposed to meat protein. What Daniel asked for was to be fed a vegetarian diet as opposed to the diet of the king which would include whatever meat he was eating at the time and wine.
Just coming from the siege and overthrow of Jerusalem, Daniel and his companions would be gaunt and starved. Under normal circumstances ten days would scarcely be enough time to notice a difference in someone from a diet but here ten days was sufficient to prove their case to Melzar. Their request was granted and they were nourished on a diet of vegetables and probably plain water for ten days.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
pulse to eat: Heb. of pulse that we may eat, etc. Pulse, zeroim denotes all leguminous plants, which are not reaped but pulled or plucked; which, however wholesome, was not naturally calculated to render them fatter in flesh than the others. Dan 1:16, Gen 1:29, Gen 1:30, Deu 8:3, Rom 14:2
Reciprocal: Dan 12:11 – a thousand
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Dan 1:12. Daniels proposition was fair to all parties concerned, for, regardless of the success or failure of the diet he requested, it could not have any ill effect that would show up after three years. On the other hand, his faith in his God was so strong he was certain that such a period would be sufficient to bring about the desired effect. It might be asked if the Lord could not have accomplished the same result in one day. True, he could have done so, but had the transformation been made in one day, the steward would have known that it was not the effect of the diet, and that would have caused an investigation which might have interfered with Daniels plans. And yet a period of ten days would be enough to expect some results from the schedule of diet used. Pulse is sometimes defined as seeds of any kind of vegetables, and in some lexicons it is defined simply as a vegetable food Since the heathen always used animals in their sacrifices, Daniel knew he would be safe if his diet was restricted to vegetables.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1:12 Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, {o} ten days; and let them give us {p} pulse to eat, and water to drink.
(o) Meaning that within this space he might have the test, and that no man would be able to know about it: and thus he spoke, being moved by the Spirit of God.
(p) Not that it was a thing abominable to eat dainty meats, and to drink wine, as both before and after they did, but if they would have by this been won to the King, and had refused their own religion, that meat and drink would have been accursed.