Was Daniel a eunuch? (Daniel 1)

Episode 209: Was Daniel a eunuch?

Daniel 1

Daniel and his companions

1 ¹ Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, attacked Jerusalem in the third year of king Jehoiakim of Judah.

² God helped the Babylonians defeat Judah. The vessels in God's house were carried to the house of the Babylonian god.

^3-4 Nebuchadnezzar told Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of unblemished, wise, science-knowing children of Judah to his palace, so they could be taught the knowledge and language of the Babylonians.

14th century illuminated manuscript, depicting Hebrew captives being castrated

⁵ The king ordered them to eat meat and wine for three years, to prepare them for the king's service.

⁶ Among them were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

⁸ But Daniel refused to eat the king's meat or drink his wine.

⁹ (God had brought Daniel into tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.)

¹⁰ He said to Daniel,

The king told me to feed you meat and wine. He'll kill me if you don't eat it.

¹¹ Daniel proposed a dietary test, saying,

^12-13 Let's do an experiment. We'll drink water and eat vegetables for ten days. Then compare us to the meat-eaters.

¹⁴ So that's what they did. ¹⁵ And after ten days, the vegans were fairer and fatter than the meat-eaters.

¹⁷ Meanwhile, God gave Daniel and his friends knowledge, skill, and wisdom. And Daniel understood visions and dreams.

¹⁹ Later, when they were brought to the king, they were best-looking guys the king had ever seen.

²⁰ And they were ten times better than all of his kingdom's magicians and astrologers.

²¹ Daniel continued to serve there until the first year of king Cyrus’s reign.

A few more words about this episode

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. (1:1)

The third year of the reign of Jehoiakim would be 606 BCE, at which time Nebuchadnezzar was not yet king of Babylon. It was 597 BCE that Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem for the first time (without actually destroying it). By that time Jehohiakim was dead and his son, Jehoiachin, was ruling. (See 2 Kings 24:10-12)

The master of the eunuchs (1:3)

Daniel and his companions were serving the master of the eunuchs. So were they eunuchs?

It's hard to say, but it would be consistent with what God said to Hezekiah in Isaiah 39:7: "Thy sons ... shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon", since Daniel and his companions were of "the royal seed" (Daniel 1:3).

What the Bible says about eunuchs

Tender love with the prince of the eunuchs (1:9)

Strange Flesh: Daniel

Daniel continued to serve there until the first year of king Cyrus’s reign. (1:21)

This would be 539 BCE - 67 years after he began to serve Nebuchadnezzar.

Episode 209: Was Daniel a eunuch?

Daniel 1

Daniel and his companions

A few more words about this episode

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