Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Daniel 1:17
As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
17. Now as for these four youths, God gave them knowledge (the word rendered science in Dan 1:4), and intelligence (cf. intelligent, Dan 1:4) in all literature ( Dan 1:4) and wisdom ] ‘Wisdom’ is used here, in a concrete sense, of an intelligently arranged body of principles, or, as we should now say, science. The term must be understood as representing the popular estimate of the subjects referred to: for the ‘wisdom’ of the Chaldaean priests, except in so far as it took cognizance of the actual facts of astronomy, was in reality nothing but a systematized superstition.
and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams ] or, ‘in every kind of vision and dreams.’ This was a point in which Daniel excelled the rest. The words are intended as introductory to the narrative following.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
17 19. At the end of the three years ( Dan 1:5), Daniel and his three companions are brought before the king; and being found by him to be the most proficient of all whom he had directed to be educated, are promoted to a place among his personal attendants.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
As for these four children – On the word children, see the notes at Dan 1:4. Compare Dan 1:6.
God gave them knowledge and skill – See the notes at Dan 1:9. There is no reason to suppose that in the knowledge and skill here referred to, it is meant to be implied that there was anything miraculous, or that there was any direct inspiration. Inspiration was evidently confined to Daniel, and pertained to what is spoken of under the head of visions and dreams. The fact that all this was to be attributed to God as his gift, is in accordance with the common method of speaking in the Scriptures; and it is also in accordance with fact, that all knowledge is to be traced to God. See Exo 31:2-3. God formed the intellect; he preserves the exercise of reason; he furnishes us instructors; he gives us clearness of perception; he enables us to take advantage of bright thoughts and happy suggestions which occur in our own minds, as much as he sends rain, and dew, and sunshine on the fields of the farmer, and endows him with skill. Compare Isa 28:26, For his God doth instruct him. The knowledge and skill which we may acquire, therefore, should be as much attributed to God as the success of the farmer should. Compare Job 32:8, For there is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. In the case before us, there is no reason to doubt that the natural powers of these young men had been diligently applied during the three years of their trial Dan 1:5, and under the advantages of a strict course of temperance; and that the knowledge here spoken of was the result of such an application to their studies. On the meaning of the words knowledge and skill here, see the notes at Dan 1:4.
In all learning and wisdom – See also the notes at Dan 1:4.
And Daniel had understanding – Showing that in that respect there was a special endowment in his case; a kind of knowledge imparted which could be communicated only by special inspiration. The margin is, he made Daniel understand. The margin is in accordance with the Hebrew, but the sense is the same.
In all visions – On the word rendered visions – chazon – see the notes at Isa 1:1, and the introduction to Isaiah, Section 7. (4). It is a term frequently employed in reference to prophecy, and designates the usual method by which future events were made known. The prophet was permitted to see those events as if they were made to pass before the eye, and to describe them as if they were objects of sight. Here the word seems to be used to denote all supernatural appearances; all that God permitted him to see that in any way shadowed forth the future. It would seem that men who were not inspired were permitted occasionally to behold such supernatural appearances, though they were not able to interpret them. Thus their attention would be particularly called to them, and they would be prepared to admit the truth of what the interpreter communicated to them. Compare Dan. 4; Dan 5:5-6; Gen 40:5; Gen 41:1-7. Daniel was so endowed that he could interpret the meaning of these mysterious appearances, and thus convey important messages to men. The same endowment had been conferred on Joseph when in Egypt. See the passages referred to in Genesis.
And dreams – One of the ways by which the will of God was anciently communicated to men. See Introduction to Isaiah, Section 7. (2), and the notes at Job 33:14-18. Daniel, like Joseph before him, was supernaturally endowed to explain these messages which God sent to men, or to unfold these preintimations of coming events. This was a kind of knowledge which the Chaldeans particularly sought, and on which they especially prided themselves; and it was important, in order to stain the pride of all human glory, and to make the wisdom of the wise in Babylon to be seen to be comparative folly, to endow one man from the land of the prophets in the most ample manner with this knowledge, as it was important to do the same thing at the court of Pharaoh by the superior endowments of Joseph Gen 41:8.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 17. As for these four children] Young men or youths. Our translation gives a false idea.
In all visions and dreams.] That is, such as are Divine; for as to dreams in general, they have as much signification as they have connexion, being the effects of the state of the body, of the mind, or of the circumstances of the dreamer. A dream may be considered supernatural, if it have nothing preposterous, nothing monstrous, and nothing irregular. If the whole order and consequences of the things be preserved in them, from beginning to end, then we may presume they are supernatural. In such dreams Daniel had understanding.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
We must own
knowledge, and skill, and wisdom to come from God, Jam 1:5. These are beams of light shining in us from the Father of lights, and a man can receive nothing of this unless it be given him from above, Joh 3:27.
Object. But was not this magic, and was not this learning forbidden as abomination to the Lord, Deu 18:9-14?
Answ. The Chaldeans used lawful arts and sciences, and unlawful; these four young men, Daniel and his companions, used only those that were lawful; rejecting all that wisdom which is sensual, carnal, and devilish, Jam 3:15. In all visions and dreams; not in idle, vain, and lying, but in such as were sent of God, and predictions of things to come, as Num 12:6, such as the prophets had. Such was that of Nebuchadnezzar.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. God gave them knowledge(Exo 31:2; Exo 31:3;1Ki 3:12; Job 32:8;Jas 1:5; Jas 1:17).
Daniel had understanding in .. . dreamsGod thus made one of the despised covenant-peopleeclipse the Chaldean sages in the very science on which they mostprided themselves. So Joseph in the court of Pharaoh (Gen 40:5;Gen 41:1-8). Daniel, in thesepraises of his own “understanding,” speaks not throughvanity, but by the direction of God, as one transported out ofhimself. See my Introduction,“CONTENTS OF THEBOOK.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom,…. As they prospered in their bodies, they succeeded in their studies, and improved in their minds, and became great proficients in all kind of lawful and useful knowledge; not owing so much to their own sagacity and diligence, and the goodness and ability of their teachers, as to the blessing of God on their instructions and studies; for, as all natural, so all acquired parts are to be ascribed to God; and which these were favoured with by him in a very great manner, to answer some purposes of his. This is to be understood, not of magic art, vain philosophy, judicial astrology, to which the Chaldeans were addicted; but of learning and wisdom, laudable and useful, both in things natural and political; for these men, who scrupled eating and drinking what came from the king’s table, would never indulge themselves in the study of vain, curious, and unlawful knowledge; much less would God have blessed the study of such things, and still less be said to give them knowledge and skill therein:
and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams; besides knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom, in languages and sciences, in common with the other young men; he had the honour of seeing very remarkable visions of future things, and of interpreting dreams; and this not by rules of art, such as the Oneirocritics use, but by the gift of God; of which many singular instances follow in this book.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The progress of the young men in the wisdom of the Chaldeans, and their appointment to the service of the king.
As God blessed the resolution of Daniel and his three friends that they would not defile themselves by the food, He also blessed the education which they received in the literature ( , Dan 1:17 as Dan 1:4) and wisdom of the Chaldeans, so that the whole four made remarkable progress therein. But besides this, Daniel obtained an insight into all kinds of visions and dreams, i.e., he attained great readiness in interpreting visions and dreams. This is recorded regarding him because of what follows in this book, and is but a simple statement of the fact, without any trace of vainglory. Instruction in the wisdom of the Chaldeans was, besides, for Daniel and his three friends a test of their faith, since the wisdom of the Chaldeans, from the nature of the case, was closely allied to the Chaldean idolatry and heathen superstition, which the learners of this wisdom might easily be led to adopt. But that Daniel and his friends learned only the Chaldean wisdom without adopting the heathen element which was mingled with it, is evidenced from the stedfastness in the faith with which at a later period, at the danger of their lives (cf. Dan 3:6), they stood aloof from all participation in idolatry, and in regard to Daniel in particular, from the deep glance into the mysteries of the kingdom of God which lies before us in his prophecies, and bears witness of the clear separation between the sacred and the profane. But he needed to be deeply versed in the Chaldean wisdom, as formerly Moses was in the wisdom of Egypt (Act 7:22), so as to be able to put to shame the wisdom of this world by the hidden wisdom of God.
Dan 1:18-20 After the expiry of the period of three years the youths were brought before the king. They were examined by him, and these four were found more intelligent and discriminating than all the others that had been educated along with them ( , “than all,” refers to the other Israelitish youths, Dan 1:3, that had been brought to Babylon along with Daniel and his friends), and were then appointed to his service. , as in Dan 1:5, of standing as a servant before his master. The king found them indeed, in all matters of wisdom about which he examined them, to excel all the wise men in the whole of his kingdom. Of the two classes of the learned men of Chaldea, who are named instar omnium in Dan 1:20, see at Dan 2:2.
Dan 1:21 In Dan 1:21 the introduction to the book is concluded with a general statement as to the period of Daniel’s continuance in the office appointed to him by God. The difficulty which the explanation of offers is not removed by a change of the reading into , since Daniel, according to Dan 10:1, lived beyond the first year of Cyrus and received divine revelations. marks the terminus ad quem in a wide sense, i.e., it denotes a termination without reference to that which came after it. The first year of king Cyrus is, according to 2Ch 36:22; Ezr 1:1; Ezr 6:3, the end of the Babylonish exile, and the date, “to the first year of king Cyrus,” stands in close relation to the date in Dan 1:1, Nebuchadnezzar’s advance against Jerusalem and the first taking of the city, which forms the commencement of the exile; so that the statement, “Daniel continued unto the first year of king Cyrus,” means only that he lived and acted during the whole period of the exile in Babylon, without reference to the fact that his work continued after the termination of the exile. Cf. The analogous statement, Jer 1:2., that Jeremiah prophesied in the days of Josiah and Jehoiakim to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, although his book contains prophecies also of a date subsequent to the taking of Jerusalem. stands neither for , he lived, nor absolutely in the sense of he existed, was present; for though means existere, to be, yet it is never used absolutely in this sense, as , to live, but always only so that the “how” or “where” of the being or existence is either expressly stated, or at least is implied in the connection. Thus here also the qualification of the “being” must be supplied from the context. The expression will then mean, not that he lived at the court, or in Babylon, or in high esteem with the king, but more generally, in the place to which God had raised him in Babylon by his wonderful endowments.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Wisdom of Daniel and His Companions. | B. C. 606. |
17 As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 18 Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king. 20 And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm. 21 And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus.
Concerning Daniel and his fellows we have here,
I. Their great attainments in learning, v. 17. They were very sober and diligent, and studied hard; and we may suppose their tutors, finding them of an uncommon capacity, took a great deal of pains with them, but, after all, their achievements are ascribed to God only. It was he that gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom; for every good and perfect gift is from above, from the Father of the lights. It is the Lord our God that gives men power to get this wealth; the mind is furnished only by him that formed it. The great learning which God gave these four children was, 1. A balance for their losses. They had, for the iniquity of their fathers, been deprived of the honours and pleasures that would have attended their noble extraction; but, to make them amends for that, God, in giving them learning, gave them better honours and pleasures than those they had been deprived of. 2. A recompence for their integrity. They kept to their religion, even in the minutest instances of it, and would not so much as defile themselves with the king’s meat or wine, but became, in effect, Nazarites; and now God rewarded them for it with eminency in learning; for God gives to a man that is good in his sight, wisdom, and knowledge, and joy with them, Eccl. ii. 26. To Daniel he gave a double portion; he had understanding in visions and dreams; he knew how to interpret dreams, as Joseph, not by rules of art, such as are pretended to be given by the oneirocritics, but by a divine sagacity and wisdom which God gave him. Nay, he was endued with a prophetic spirit, by which he was enabled to converse with God, and to receive the notices of divine things in dreams and visions, Num. xii. 6. According to this gift given to Daniel, we find him, in this book, all along employed about dreams and visions, interpreting or entertaining them; for, as every one has received the gift, so shall he have an opportunity, and so should he have a heart, to minister the same, 1 Pet. iv. 10.
II. Their great acceptance with the king. After three years spent in their education (they being of some maturity, it is likely, when they came, perhaps about twenty years old) they were presented to the king with the rest that were of their standing, v. 18. And the king examined them and communed with them himself, v. 19. He could do it, being a man of parts and learning himself, else he would not have come to be so great; and he would do it, for it is the wisdom of princes, in the choice of the persons they employ, to see with their own eyes, to exercise their own judgment, and not trust too much to the representation of others. The king examined them not so much in the languages, in the rules of oratory or poetry, as in all matters of wisdom and understanding, the rules of prudence and true politics; he enquired into their judgment about the due conduct of human life and public affairs; not “Were they wits?” but, “Were they wise?” And he not only found them to excel the young candidates for preferment that were of their own standing, but found that they had more understanding than the ancients, than all their teachers,Psa 119:99; Psa 119:100. So far was the king from being partial to his own countrymen, to seniors, to those of his own religion and of an established reputation, that he freely owned that, upon trial, he found those poor young captive Jews ten times wiser and better than all the magicians that were in all his realm, v. 20. He was soon aware of something extraordinary in these young men, and, which gave him a surprising satisfaction, was soon aware that a little of their true divinity was preferable to a great deal of the divination he had been used to. What is the chaff to the wheat? what are the magicians’ rods to Aaron’s? There was no comparison between them. These four young students were better, were ten times better, than all the old practitioners, put them all together, that were in all his realm, and we may be sure that they were not a few. This contempt did God pour upon the pride of the Chaldeans, and this honour did he put upon the low estate of his own people; and thus did he make not only these persons, but the rest of their nation for their sakes, the more respected in the land of their captivity. Lastly, This judgment being given concerning them, they stood before the king (v. 19); they attended in the presence-chamber, nay, and in the council-chamber, for to see the king’s face is the periphrasis of a privy-counsellor, Esth. i. 14. This confirms Solomon’s observation, Seest thou a man diligent in his business, sober and humble? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men. Industry is the way to preferment. How long the other three were about the court we are not told; but Daniel, for his part, continued to the first year of Cyrus (v. 21), though not always alike in favour and reputation. He lived and prophesied after the first year of Cyrus; but that is mentioned to intimate that he lived to see the deliverance of his people out of their captivity and their return to their own land. Note, Sometimes God favours his servants that mourn with Zion in her sorrows to let them live to see better times with the church than they saw in the beginning of their days and to share with her in her joys.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
The Prophet here shows what we have already touched upon, how his authority was acquired for exercising the prophetic office with greater advantage. He ought to be distinguished by fixed marks, that the Jews first, and foreigners afterwards, might acknowledge him to be endued with the prophetic spirit. But a portion of this favor was shared with his three companions; yet he excelled them all, because God fitted him specially for his office. Here the end is to be noticed, because it would be incorrect to say that their reward was bestowed by God, because they lived both frugally and heavenly, and spontaneously abstained from the delicacies of the palace; for God had quite a different intention. For he wished, as I have already said, to extol Daniel, to enable him to shew with advantage that Israel’s God is the only God; and as he wished his companions to excel hereafter in political government, he presented them also with some portion of his Spirit. But it is worthwhile to set Daniel before our eyes; because, as I have said, before God appointed him his Prophet, he wished to adorn him with his own insignia, to procure confidence in his teaching. He says, therefore, to those four boys, or youths, knowledge and science were given in all literature and wisdom Daniel was endued with a very singular gift — he was to be an interpreter of dreams, and an explainer of visions. Since Daniel here speaks of literature, without doubt he simply means the liberal arts, and does not comprehend the magical arts which flourished then and afterwards in Chaldea. We know that nothing was sincere among unbelievers; and, on the other hand, I have previously admonished you, that Daniel was not imbued with the superstitions in those days highly esteemed in that nation. Through discontent with genuine science, they corrupted the study of the stars; but Daniel and his associates were so brought up among the Chaldeans, that they were not tinctured with those mixtures and corruptions which ought always to be separated from true science. It would be absurd, then, to attribute to God the approval of magical arts, which it is well known were severely prohibited and condemned by the law itself. (Deu 18:10.) Although God abominates those magical superstitions as the works of the devil, this does not prevent Daniel and his companions from being divinely adorned with this gift, and being very well versed in all the literature of the Chaldees. Hence this ought to be restricted to true and natural science. As it respects Daniel, he says, he understood even, visions and dreams and we know how by these two methods the Prophets were instructed in the will of God. (Num 12:6.) For while God there blames Aaron and Miriam, he affirms this to be his usual method; as often as he wishes to manifest his designs to the Prophets, he addresses them by visions and dreams. But Moses is treated out of the common order of men, because he is addressed face to face, and mouth to mouth. God, therefore, whenever he wished to make use of his Prophets, by either visions or dreams, made known to them what he wished to be proclaimed to the people. When, therefore, it is here said, — Daniel understood dreams and visions, it has the sense of being endued with the prophetic spirit. While his companions were superior masters and teachers in all kinds of literature, he alone was a Prophet of God.
We now understand the object of this distinction, when an acquaintance with visions and dreams was ascribed peculiarly to Daniel. And here our previous assertion is fully confirmed, namely, that Daniel was adorned with the fullest proofs of his mission, to enable him afterwards to undertake the prophetic office with greater confidence, and acquire greater attention to his teaching. God could, indeed, prepare the in a single moment, and by striking terror and reverence into the minds of all, induce them to embrace his teaching; but he wished to raise his servant by degrees, and to bring him forth at the fitting time, and not too suddenly so that all might know by marks impressed for many years how to distinguish him from the common order of men. It afterwards follows:
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
III. PROSPERITY AWARDED
TEXT: Dan. 1:17-21
17
Now as for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams,
18
And at the end of the days which the king had appointed for bringing them in, the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.
19
And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king.
20
And in every matter of wisdom and understanding, concerning which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his realm.
21
And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus.
QUERIES
a.
How did God give these youths knowledge, learning and wisdom?
b.
Who were the magicians and enchanters in Babylon?
c.
Who is king Cyrus?
PARAPHRASE
God gave these four youths supernatural ability to learn and they soon mastered all the literature and science of the time; and God gave to Daniel special ability in understanding the meanings of dreams and visions when they are given as divine messages. And when the three-year training period was completed, the chief of the eunuchs brought all the young men in this training program to the king for interview and examination. King Nebuchadnezzar interviewed each one at length and found that none of them impressed him as much as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. So they were appointed to his regular staff of advisors. And in all matters requiring information and reasoned judgment the king found these young mens advice ten times better than that of all the skilled wise men and prognosticators in his realm. And Daniel held this appointment as the kings counsellor for some twenty-four years and through five or six emperors, until sometime in the first year of the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
COMMENT
Dan. 1:17 . . . GOD GAVE THEM KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL IN ALL LEARNING AND WISDOM . . . The only conclusion to reach from the statement in Dan. 1:17 is that the ability to gain knowledge and have learning and wisdom was a direct and supernatural gift of God to the four young lads. The gift of God was received, of course, willingly and we may safely presume they applied themselves diligently to their task. The phrase skill in all learning and wisdom indicates God gave them a power to perceive, distinguish and judge everything they learned whether it was to be accepted and practiced and taught as truth or to be rejected as false. They had inerrant insight into all the knowledge and learning of Babylonians. Leupold says, . . . a discernment that enabled these four to sit in judgment on all secular learning that was offered them and to evaluate it according to the estimate of all-wise God. They were also given wisdom which is the ability to rightly apply the knowledge acquired as God would have it applied. Daniel was given an additional gift that the other three did not haveunderstanding in all visions and dreams.
Visions and dreams were often used by God in the Old Testament to reveal special missions or messages to certain men (cf. Jacob, Joseph, etc.), Inasmuch as these dreams and visions were usually in extended symbolism they required special, divine interpretation, directly from God or through one of Gods appointed messengers. This would be especially necessary when such dreams and visions were given to pagan rulers. Daniels gift was extraordinary. See our introductory study entitled Interpreting The Prophets, in The Minor Prophets, by Paul T. Butler, pub. College Press, for information on dreams and visions. Daniel was not unique in this gift of interpreting dreams and visions (Joseph had the gift and exercised it extensively).
Dan. 1:18-19 . . . AND AMONG THEM ALL WAS FOUND NONE LIKE DANIEL, ETC. . . . It is still amazing to some people, but true in most cases, that firm but courteous propagation of principle and truth will be appreciated and rewarded even by pagans who themselves are prone to follow falsehood and myth. Joseph, Moses, Peter and John and Paul are prime examples as they stood before pagan rulers and princes. This is true because truth is always wise! What is true may not be immediately and physically pleasurable, but it is always wise. And only the degraded reprobate will fail to recognize that. It did not take Nebuchadnezzar long to recognize the contrast between the wisdom of these four youths and the foolishness of the mythology and mysticism of the enchanters and magicians.
Dan. 1:20-21 . . . HE FOUND THEM TEN TIMES BETTER THAN ALL THE MAGICIANS AND ENCHANTERS . . . The word ten is, of course, hyperbolic and simply means Daniel and his three companions were found exceedingly wise and perceptive. They were much more learned and discerning than the young men who had been born and reared in Babylonin fact more than all the trained wise men of Babylon!
It would be well to give a brief resume of Babylonian religion here. The religion which the Jews of the Exile found in Babylon had roots which went back over two thousand years. The ancient Sumerian religion was highly polytheistic and made a practice of absorbing or incorporating every religion or god it contacted. The god of a victorious state was considered to be the most powerful deity, for warfare was always waged on two levels. The earthly states were championed by their celestial deities, and the battles in the sky were accounted as real as the battles on earth (cf. Daniel chap. 10). In very ancient Sumerian times (2000 years before the Jewish captivity) the chief god was known as Anu, the sky god who was regarded as father of the great gods. The second great god was Bel (the Semitic Baal) which means Lord, and he was ruler of earth. The third of the great Sumerian gods was known as Enki who ruled the waters upon which the Babylonians believed the terrestrial world floated. Then there was a pantheon of some 4000 gods which included Sin the moon-god, Shamash, the sun-god, and Adad the storm god. Fertility and reproduction in the Tigris-Euphrates valley were associated with Ishtar also the goddess of war. There was Ninurta, fertility god who was responsible for the annual flooding of the rivers; Gibil the god of fire who was invoked by magicians in their tasks of exorcismhe was called upon to burn to death evil spirits and sorcerers; Nergal, destroyer of life, the god of pestilence and death, god of the land of no return; Nabu (Nebo) god of the scribes who was keeper of the Table of Fate with power to prolong or shorten life (Nebuchadnezzars name expresses faith in Nebo).
During the First Dynasty of Neo-Babylon an important revolution took place in the religion of the country. A minor deity named Marduk was chosen as the principal god of the whole of Babylonia and was placed at the head of the pantheon. The mythological story of how he rescued all the gods and goddesses from the monster Tiamat and was acknowledged by all he rescued as chief god is too long to recount here, Tammuz, son of Ishtar, was a god of vegetation who disappeared each year in the late summer and returned (i.e. was resurrected) the following spring (cf. Eze. 8:14), In the Greco-Roman world Tammuz was worshiped as Adonis (a name which is a variant of the Semitic Adon, lord, or master).
The Babylonians of Daniels day had an elaborate system of good genies or spirits and evil genies. Evil genies were believed to enter houses even when doors were bolted and if they found men or women in sin without the protection of their personal god they entered that man or woman and possessed them. The Babylonian felt himself surrounded by ghosts, or spirits of men whose lives had proved unhappy on earth. The ghosts had been cheated out of happiness in this life and, nursing their grief, they were determined to torment the living.
This is the kind of learning and wisdom Daniel and his three friends, and especially Daniel, would later renounce in favor of being true to Jehovah God and would, indirectly at least, expose as mythological and false. We shall deal with the magicians and enchanters in chapter two.
QUIZ
1.
What was the knowledge and skill in learning and wisdom given these youths?
2.
Why did God use visions and dreams to communicate to man?
3.
Why is truth usually rewarded with respect even by heathen?
4.
What was the character of Babylonian religion?
5.
Who was the chief god of the Babylonians in Daniels day?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(17) Learning and wisdom.These appear to be contrasted in this verse. The former refers to literature, and implies the knowledge of secular subjects; the latter implies philosophy and theology, and perhaps, also, an acquaintance with the meaning of portents. Abundant instances of the latter may be found in the Records of the Past (see vol. v., p. 167).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. God gave these four Hebrew youths “knowledge and skill in every kind of books” (Hebrews) The Hebrews wrote their books generally upon parchment, the Egyptians upon papyrus, the Babylonians upon clay tablets. These tablets were stored by hundreds of thousands in the palace library, and so arranged as to be easily accessible to visitors and students. The princes who were to be fitted for state offices would no doubt have a special post-graduate course differing from that provided for those who were to be priests or “magicians,’’ but the preliminary training might be the same in both cases. It seems strange to many that these boys who were so scrupulous about touching heathen food (Dan 1:8) would so eagerly grasp the heathen learning; but they might not have seen that this was necessarily connected with idolatry. They certainly are not represented as accepting the religion of Babylon with its other wisdom.
Visions and dreams Both the Babylonians and the Hebrews believed that the divine will was often revealed to man through this agency. (See Dan 2:1; Gen 41:15; Num 12:6.) No doubt the study of omens and dreams was a prominent part of the curriculum of the Babylonian schools, and there is no reason to suppose that a Hebrew youth at this era would doubt its value, although in later ages heathen learning of every kind became abominable in their eyes.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Now as for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom. And Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.’
Not only were their complexions continually clear and full but their minds were also, for the four grew in wisdom and knowledge. Their minds were alert and they absorbed their lessons well. We are probably to see in this that they also grew in the knowledge of God and His ways, for that is the true wisdom. But Daniel especially was blessed. He had a special gift as regards visions and dreams. He had the makings of a seer (compare Num 12:6; Isa 1:1), as he had already demonstrated. Right from the beginning he was being prepared for his extraordinary career.
This was an age of visions and dreams, especially in Babylon. Men attained high position by their ability to interpret them, for great store was laid on those who were seen as having this ability. But many of the interpretations were facile and men-pleasing, and few could discern the false from the true, as Nebuchadnezzar was very much aware. So in this highly charged environment God gave Daniel full understanding of them. He was able to discern what was real and what was not. It was a special gift from God so that he could bring God’s word to this idolatrous court.
There is a lesson here in all this for all young people that they should make full use of any opportunity that God gives them to advance their education. Had these young men been too ‘spiritual’ to do so they would have missed out on the future that God had for them.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Dan 1:17. Dreams Namely, those sent from God to portend future events; which were easily distinguished from fortuitous dreams; if, for instance, they had nothing in them preposterous, nothing irregular, nothing monstrous; and if the whole order and consequences of things were regularly preserved in them, from beginning to end: for nothing of this kind happens in fortuitous dreams; which generally exhibit irregular, unconnected appearances, and which greatly depend upon the disposition of the body, as well as of the mind. The Chaldeans were very much attached to the study of dreams; but the Scripture gives us to understand here, that Daniel’s attaining to any distinguished knowledge of these things, was by the immediate gift of God. See Houbigant and Calmet.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Reader! when the Church of God; (which Daniel and his companions represented,) is called in to stand before the King; and Jesus himself communes with his redeemed! how fully will it be found, that there can be none like the Church in point of knowledge, skill, and wisdom: because Christ himself is made of God unto all his people: wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. Such honour have all his saints!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Dan 1:17 As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
Ver. 17. As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning. ] Both natural and supernatural. In the art of grammar, saith Symmachus; in every book, saith the Latin interpreter. There was potus ex fonte, fletus in prece, somnns in codice, as Ambrose speaketh: they drank Adam’s ale, prayed with tears, slept with a book in their hands. Whether they read the curious books of the magicians (fitter to be burnt, Act 19:19 ) is another question. Osiander thinketh that their Chaldean tutors would have obtruded upon them such kind of learning also; but as they abstained from the king’s meat, so they did, likely, from such corrupt and unlawful arts. Other commendable learning they looked into, as did also Moses, Solomon, Paul, &c. But what meant Pope Paul II to condemn all learned artists for heretics, and to tell his Romans that it was learning enough for a man to be able to read and write? a Nebuchadnezzar was of another mind, and Daniel and his fellows went further than so. Learning hath no enemy but ignorance.
In all visions and dreams,
a Jac. Rev. De Vit. Pont., 244.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Dan 1:17
17As for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams.
Dan 1:17 God gave Again, like Dan 1:9, it was not the natural talents or intelligence of these young men, but the power of God. God had a purpose for their lives.
This is a good word for those who feel called by God, but feel inadequate for the task. When God calls, God equips and He equips in such a way that He gets the glory, not the human agent.
As these youths honored God in what they did know (food laws), God gifted them in areas they did not know. Their one step of faith opened other opportunities. Believers must act on what they do understand, then more knowledge and opportunities will be provided (cf. Rom 1:17).
Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams This was a special gift from God that only Daniel of the four Jewish youths possessed (cf. Dan 2:19; Dan 7:1; Dan 8:1). It was similar to Joseph’s ability in interpreting Pharaoh’s dream (cf. Genesis 37; Genesis 40-41). God would use this gift to equip Daniel to receive His revelation (1) to pagan kings; (2) to Daniel himself; and (3) from angels. The rest of the book is based on these revelations and their interpretations.
God equipped Daniel to minister to a culture where dreams were a primary way of receiving information from the spiritual realm.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
understanding = discernment.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Dan 1:17
Dan 1:17 As for theseH428 fourH702 children,H3206 GodH430 gaveH5414 them knowledgeH4093 and skillH7919 in allH3605 learningH5612 and wisdom:H2451 and DanielH1840 had understandingH995 in allH3605 visionsH2377 and dreams.H2472
Dan 1:17
As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
These children were favored by God for their perseverance and efforts at following after God’s righteousness despite their circumstances. The application for us today is that when we withstand adversity and remain stedfast in our faith, God will approve and will bless our efforts. These boys were given skill in learning and wisdom. Daniel received an added blessing in that he could understand and interpret dreams and visions which served him and his companions well in the years to come.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
God: Dan 2:21, Dan 2:23, 1Ki 3:12, 1Ki 3:28, 1Ki 4:29-31, 2Ch 1:10, 2Ch 1:12, Job 32:8, Psa 119:98-100, Pro 2:6, Ecc 2:26, Isa 28:26, Luk 21:15, Act 6:10, Act 7:10, Col 1:9, Jam 1:5, Jam 1:17
knowledge: Act 7:22
Daniel had understanding: or, he made Daniel understand, Dan 4:9, Dan 4:10, Dan 5:11, Dan 5:12, Dan 5:14, Dan 10:1, Gen 41:8-15, Num 12:6, 2Ch 26:5, Eze 28:3, 1Co 12:7-11
Reciprocal: 1Ki 10:24 – which God 2Ch 9:23 – God Ecc 12:1 – Remember Dan 1:4 – ability Dan 2:49 – he set Zec 2:4 – young 2Ti 2:7 – and Jam 3:17 – the wisdom
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Dan 1:17. In acquiring the physical developments desired the four children could cooperate with God since it included the partaking of food. In the mental advancement they had no opportunity for their own activity because they were being put through the trial to test out their appearance in body. But God wished them to be as well qualified in mind as in body when the time of their appearance before the king arrived, hence He gave them all those talents as a direct gift.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Dan 1:17. As for these four children The Hebrew is literally, As to these children, or young men, each of them four: to them God gave knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom That is, in all sorts of learning and knowledge. They became particularly skilful in those parts of the Chaldean learning which were really useful, and which might recommend them to the favour of the kings both of Babylon and Persia, and qualify them for places of trust under them; as Mosess education in the Egyptian learning fitted him to be a ruler of Gods people. And Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams Daniel excelled the others in the gift of prophecy, and in his extraordinary skill in interpreting all sorts of visions and dreams, namely, such as were sent of God, and foreshowed future events, under the cover of certain images and representations, which required an interpretation in order to the understanding of their true signification. But we must not suppose that Daniel attained this skill by any study or rules of art. It was Gods supernatural gift unto him, as was the same kind of knowledge which Joseph possessed and manifested when he interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh, and those of the chief butler and baker.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1:17 As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning {r} and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all {s} visions and dreams.
(r) Meaning in the liberal sciences, and natural knowledge, and not in the magical areas which are forbidden; De 18:11 .
(s) So that he alone was a Prophet, and none of the others: for by dreams and visions God appeared to his Prophets; Num 12:6
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
E. God’s blessing of Daniel and his friends 1:17-21
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
In addition to favor with their overseers, God gave Daniel and his three friends the ability to master the subjects they studied and wisdom in these matters (cf. Jas 1:5). They may have thought that Nebuchadnezzar had designed their curriculum, but really God had. Like Moses and Paul, Daniel had an excellent educational background and an unusually brilliant mind (cf. Act 7:22; Php 3:4). God also gave Daniel the supernatural ability to understand visions and dreams (Dan 1:17). Visions and dreams were the primary means God used to communicate His revelations to prophets in the Old Testament (Num 12:6). From the writer’s perspective, Daniel qualified for the blessing of receiving this special gift by choosing to remain loyal to God’s will. Daniel’s similarity to Joseph is again obvious.
"In Hebrew usage the wisdom terms of this verse [Dan 1:4] had ethical religious overtones, for without wholehearted commitment to the Lord and obedience to His will there could be no wisdom (Job 28:28)." [Note: Ibid., p. 79.]