Albert Barnes Commentary Daniel 1:15

"And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer, and they were fatter in flesh, than all the youths that did eat of the king`s dainties." — Daniel 1:15 (ASV)

And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer—Hebrew, “good;” that is, they appeared more beautiful and healthy. The experiment was successful. There was no lessening of beauty, vigor, or the usual signs of health. One of the results of a course of temperance appears in the countenance, and it is among the wise appointments of God that it should be so. He has made us in such a way that while other parts of the body may be protected from human gaze, it is necessary that the face should be exposed. Therefore, He has made the countenance the principal seat of expression, for the chief muscles that indicate expression are located there. See the valuable work of Sir Charles Bell on the “Anatomy of Expression,” London, 1844.

Therefore, there are certain marks of guilt and vice that are always indicated in the countenance. God has made us in such a way that the drunkard and the glutton must proclaim their own guilt and shame.

The bloated face, the haggard appearance, the look of folly, the “heaviness of the eye, the disposition to squint, and to see double, and a forcible elevation of the eyebrow to counteract the dropping of the upper eyelid, and preserve the eyes from closing,” are all marks that God has appointed to betray and expose the life of indulgence. “Arrangements are made for these expressions in the very anatomy of the face, and no human skill can prevent it.”—Bell on the “Anatomy of Expression,” p. 106.

God intended that if a person would be intemperate, they should themselves proclaim it to the world, and that their fellow human beings should be made aware of their guilt. This was intended to be one of the safeguards of virtue. The young person who will be intemperate knows what the result must be.

They are made aware of it in the loathsome appearance of every drunkard whom they meet. They know that if they yield themselves to indulgence in intoxicating drink, they must soon proclaim it themselves to the whole world.

No matter how beautiful, fresh, blooming, or healthy they may now be; no matter how bright the eye, ruddy the cheek, or eloquent the tongue; the eye, the cheek, and the tongue will soon become indicators of their way of life. The loathsomeness and offensiveness of the once beautiful and blooming countenance must pay the penalty of their folly.

And in the same way, and for the same reason, the countenance is an indication of temperance and purity. The bright and steady eye, the blooming cheek, the lips that eloquently or gracefully express the sentiments of virtue, proclaim the purity of life. These are the natural indicators to our fellow human beings that we live in accordance with the great and benevolent laws of our nature, and they are among the rewards of temperance and virtue.