Please test your servants for ten days.In this phrase, Daniel is speaking to the chief official in Babylon, requesting a trial period to prove the efficacy of a diet that aligns with Jewish dietary laws. The number ten often symbolizes completeness or a period of testing in the Bible, as seen in
Genesis 24:55 and
Revelation 2:10. Daniel's request reflects his faith in God's provision and his commitment to maintaining purity according to the Law of Moses, despite being in a foreign land. This act of faith and obedience sets a precedent for believers to trust God in challenging circumstances.
Let us be given only vegetables to eat and water to drink.
Daniel's proposal to consume only vegetables and water is significant in the context of maintaining ritual purity. The Hebrew term for "vegetables" can also include grains and legumes, which were considered clean foods. This diet contrasts with the royal food and wine, which may have been offered to idols or not prepared according to Jewish dietary laws. Daniel's choice underscores the importance of holiness and separation from pagan practices. This act of dietary discipline can be seen as a type of Christ, who lived a life of perfect obedience and separation from sin. Daniel's faithfulness in small matters foreshadows the greater faithfulness of Jesus, who fulfilled the law perfectly.
Persons / Places / Events
1.
DanielA young Hebrew man of noble lineage taken into Babylonian captivity. He is known for his unwavering faith and wisdom.
2.
BabylonThe empire that conquered Judah and took many Israelites, including Daniel, into exile. It was a center of power and culture.
3.
King NebuchadnezzarThe Babylonian king who ordered the selection of young Israelites to be trained for service in his court.
4.
AshpenazThe chief official appointed by Nebuchadnezzar to oversee the training of the young Israelites.
5.
The TestDaniel's proposal to be tested for ten days by consuming only vegetables and water, as a demonstration of faith and reliance on God.
Teaching Points
Faithfulness in Small ThingsDaniel's request for a simple diet demonstrates faithfulness in seemingly minor decisions, which can lead to greater spiritual victories.
Courage to Stand ApartDaniel's willingness to propose a test shows the courage to stand apart from cultural norms when they conflict with God's commands.
Trust in God's ProvisionBy choosing a diet of vegetables and water, Daniel exemplifies trust in God's provision over human resources.
The Power of TestingThe ten-day test serves as a reminder that trials can strengthen faith and reveal God's faithfulness.
Influence Through IntegrityDaniel's integrity and faithfulness influenced those around him, showing that living out one's convictions can impact others positively.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1. What is the meaning of Daniel 1:12?
2. How does Daniel 1:12 encourage us to trust God's provision in trials?
3. What does Daniel's request in Daniel 1:12 reveal about his faith and obedience?
4. How can Daniel 1:12 inspire us to uphold our convictions today?
5. In what ways does Daniel 1:12 connect to Romans 12:2 about transformation?
6. How can we apply Daniel's example of testing in our spiritual disciplines?
7. What is the significance of the ten-day test in Daniel 1:12?
8. How does Daniel 1:12 reflect faith in God's provision?
9. Why did Daniel choose vegetables and water in Daniel 1:12?
10. What are the top 10 Lessons from Daniel 1?
11. Does Daniel 1:12–15 realistically depict that a mere ten-day vegetable diet could visibly improve health compared to the king’s provisions?
12. What is the Daniel Fast?
13. What are the ten days of tribulation?
14. Should Christians adopt a vegetarian lifestyle?What Does Daniel 1:12 Mean
Please test your servantsDaniel courteously says, “Please test your servants….” This opening phrase sets the tone: respect for authority joined with unwavering loyalty to God.
- A respectful appeal: Daniel honors Ashpenaz’s position, echoing Romans 13:1-2, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities….”
- A higher allegiance: While he submits, Daniel also knows when to draw a line. Acts 5:29 reminds us, “We must obey God rather than men.”
- Faith that God will vindicate: Daniel is confident that a literal, measurable test will prove God’s way best. James 1:2-4 encourages us to “consider it pure joy…when you encounter trials,” because God uses tests to mature us.
- Servanthood, not arrogance: By calling himself and his friends “servants,” Daniel models humility, refusing entitlement even though he had been hand-picked for royal service.
for ten daysDaniel specifies, “…for ten days.” He is not guessing; he gives a concrete, literal time frame.
- A brief yet sufficient window: Long enough for visible results, short enough to be granted. Revelation 2:10 also speaks of a “ten-day” test, showing that God sometimes uses limited periods for proving faith.
- Trust in God’s timetable: Daniel doesn’t negotiate for more or less time; he believes God will act within the stated period. Psalm 31:15 reminds us, “My times are in Your hands.”
- Expectation of observable change: At the end of ten literal days (v. 15), their appearance validates their faith. God often provides tangible confirmation when we stand on His Word.
Let us be given only vegetables to eatDaniel adds, “Let us be given only vegetables to eat….” The Hebrew youths choose food that has not been offered to idols or prepared contrary to Mosaic law.
- Loyalty to God’s dietary boundaries: Genesis 1:29 shows plants were humanity’s original fare. Daniel returns to that simplicity to avoid ceremonial defilement.
- A living sacrifice: Romans 12:1 urges believers to “offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.” Daniel’s menu is a literal act of consecration.
- Testimony over appetite: 1 Corinthians 10:31 calls us to “eat or drink…all to the glory of God.” Daniel demonstrates that obedience sometimes means foregoing legitimate pleasures for God’s honor.
- Not a universal command but a timely conviction: The passage records what Daniel did, not a dietary law for all. Still, it teaches that holiness may require personal restrictions when culture pressures compromise.
and water to drinkFinally, “…and water to drink.” Daniel declines the royal wine, choosing the simplest beverage.
- Purity over privilege: Water, the basic provision of God, contrasts with wine that likely had been offered to Babylonian deities. Proverbs 20:1 warns, “Wine is a mocker….”
- Dependence on the Lord: Water recalls God’s sustaining grace. John 4:13-14 speaks of the “water” Jesus gives that forever satisfies.
- Clarity of mind and witness: Ephesians 5:18 commands, “Do not get drunk on wine…instead, be filled with the Spirit.” Daniel shows how physical choices support spiritual alertness.
- Prepared for greater tests: This initial stand with water foreshadows later victories in Daniel 3 and 6. Small faithfulness cultivates readiness for larger trials.
summaryDaniel 1:12 records a polite yet resolute request that sets the stage for God’s unmistakable intervention. By asking for a ten-day test on vegetables and water, Daniel and his friends:
- Honor authority while honoring God more
- Exhibit faith in a literal, short-term proving period
- Demonstrate that physical choices can be acts of worship
- Show that God rewards uncompromising obedience with visible favor
The verse invites believers to trust the accuracy of Scripture, to live distinctly in any culture, and to expect God’s faithfulness when they stand on His Word.
(12)
Ten days.--The number "ten" is treated as a round number here, and in
Daniel 1:20. (Comp.
Genesis 31:41.) By adopting this mode of life, Daniel resumes the simple diet commonly used by his ancestors previously to their entering Canaan (
Deuteronomy 12:15-16;
Deuteronomy 26:5;
Deuteronomy 26:9). This simplicity of life prevailed till the early times of David (
1Samuel 17:17-18). At the Persian court, in later times, Daniel changed his rule of life (
Daniel 10:3), the infirmities of age beginning to tell upon his constitution. . . .
Verse 12. -
Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. The Septuagint seems to have read
yutan, "let there be given," instead of
yitnu, "let them give."
Zero'im, "seeds" (
σπερμάτων, Theodotion), "pulse" (
ὀσπρίων, Septuagint and Authorized and Revised Versions). This word occurs only here; it differs, however, only by the second vowel from
zeruim in
Isaiah 61:11, and there it is rendered as by Theodotion here,
σπέρματα. As the vowels were not written for centuries after the latest critical date of Daniel, it is in the highest degree absurd to ground any argument on the pronunciation affixed to the word by these late scribes, probably with as great caprice as made them maintain to all time "suspended letters" here and there in the text, or sometimes begin a word with a final
mere. Professor Bevan regards this word a s possibly a scribe's mistake for
zeronim, a word with the same meaning, which occurs in ver. 16, and is found in the Talmud. He might more naturally regard
zero'him as a scribe's mistake for
zero'im. As, however, the word is Aramaic, occurring both in the Eastern and Western dialects, it may be a case where the original word shines through.
Prove thy servants ten days. The word used for "prove' is that frequently used of God in relation to men, as in
Genesis 22:1," God did prove Abraham." Calvin thinks that Daniel made this request because he had been directed by the Divine Spirit. We would not for one moment deny that all wisdom comes down from above, and that it is the Spirit of the Almighty that giveth understanding, yet the suggestion was a reasonable one, the period was long enough to have given signs that it affected them injuriously, and yet not so long but the evil effects might easily be removed.
Ten days. It may be that this is merely a round number - an easily marked period - but an experiment would have a definite period. It is approximately the third of a revolution of the moon, and as the Babylonians were attentive observers of the movements of the heavenly bodies, especially of the moon, "ten days" is likely enough to be a period with them, as certainly a week was. Moreover, among all the nations of antiquity numbers were credited with special powers, as all who have studied Greek philosophy know. Pythagoras rested the whole universe on number. This theory, in which to some extent he was followed by Plato, seems to have been derived from Assyrian, if not Babylonian sources. Thus Lenormant, in 'La Magic,' gives a dialogue between
Hea and his son
Hilgq-mulu-qi. Everything depends on knowing "the number." It may be noted, as bearing on this, that in the bas-reliefs portraying a feast from the palace of Asshurbanipal, the guests are seated in messes of four round small tables. If, then, as is probable, all these young cadets at the Babylonian court sat in the royal presence, they would have a table to themselves, and thus the peculiarity of their meal would not be patent to the whole company. Had the number of friends been more, they would have been conspicuous: had they been fewer, they would have been observed by those added to make up the number. Their request to be allotted to eat only pulse and to drink only water, had not, as we have already said, anything necessarily of the asceticism of the Essenes. They, the Essenes, rather started
from Daniel and his friends. Maimonides tells us that there were three kinds of
zeronim - tbu'ah, "crops," wheat, barley, millet, etc.;
gatonith, "small crops," peas, beans, lentils;
geenah, "garden seeds," such as mint, anise, and cummin. The English versions and the Septuagint agree in regarding the second of these classes as here intended. There is this to be said, that seeds are the most nourishing form of vegetable diet. Aben Ezra suggests "rice" as the seeds used for this purpose; but as, just as in all hot climates, vegetables and fruits of all sorts were largely consumed in Babylon, definition is unnecessary. To the present day among the inhabitants of the district around ancient Babylon, indeed, over the Levant generally, dates and raisins, with grain, and in the season fresh fruit, form the staple food. Daniel really prayed to live as the common people.
Parallel Commentaries ...
Hebrew
“Pleaseנָ֥א (nā)Interjection
Strong's 4994: I pray', 'now', 'then'testנַס־ (nas-)Verb - Piel - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 5254: To test, to attemptyour servantsעֲבָדֶ֖יךָ (‘ă·ḇā·ḏe·ḵā)Noun - masculine plural construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 5650: Slave, servantfor tenעֲשָׂרָ֑ה (‘ă·śā·rāh)Number - masculine singular
Strong's 6235: Tendays.יָמִ֣ים (yā·mîm)Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 3117: A dayLet us be givenוְיִתְּנוּ־ (wə·yit·tə·nū-)Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 5414: To give, put, setonly vegetablesהַזֵּרֹעִ֛ים (haz·zê·rō·‘îm)Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 2235: Something sown, a vegetableto eatוְנֹאכְלָ֖ה (wə·nō·ḵə·lāh)Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative - first person common plural
Strong's 398: To eatand waterוּמַ֥יִם (ū·ma·yim)Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 4325: Water, juice, urine, semento drink.וְנִשְׁתֶּֽה׃ (wə·niš·teh)Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative if contextual - first person common plural
Strong's 8354: To imbibe
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OT Prophets: Daniel 1:12 Prove your servants I beg you ten (Dan. Da Dn) 
