John Calvin Commentary Daniel 1:5

"And the king appointed for them a daily portion of the king`s dainties, and of the wine which he drank, and that they should be nourished three years; that at the end thereof they should stand before the king." — Daniel 1:5 (ASV)

In this verse, Daniel shows that the king had ordered some young men to be brought to him from Judea, and to be nourished with such delicacies that they would become intoxicated by them, and thus be made forgetful of their own nation. For we know that wherever there is any cunning in the world, it reigns especially in kings' palaces!

So Nebuchadnezzar, when he perceived that he was dealing with an obstinate people (and we know the Jews to have been of a hard and unsubdued spirit), wished to acquire servants who would be spontaneously obedient, and thus endeavored to soften them with luxuries. This was the reason why he provided for them an allotment of his own meat and drink; as at present it is the greatest honor at princes' tables to be served with a bon-bouche, as they say.

Nebuchadnezzar wished Daniel and his companions, though only captives and exiles, to be brought up not only splendidly but royally, if they were of the royal race. Through his right of conquest, he had drawn them away violently from their country, as we said yesterday. Therefore, he did not act this way from any feeling of liberality, and his feeding those miserable exiles from his own table should not be considered a virtuous action. Instead, as we have said, he cleverly sought to sway the minds of the young men to accept being counted as Chaldeans rather than Jews, and thus to deny their own race.

This, then, was the king's intention. But we shall see how God governed Daniel and his companions by His Spirit, and how they became aware of these snares of the devil and abstained from the royal diet, lest they become polluted by it.

This point will be treated later in its proper place—we are now only commenting on the king's craftiness. He commanded a daily portion of food to be distributed to them, not because a spirit of parsimony dictated this daily portion, but because the king wished their food to be exactly the same as his own and that of his officials.

He adds, that they should be educated for three years; meaning, until they were thoroughly skilled in both the language and knowledge of the Chaldeans. Three years were sufficient for both these objectives, since he had selected young men of sufficient talent to learn with ease both languages and sciences. As they were endowed with such capacity, it is not surprising that the period of three years had been prescribed by the king.

Finally, he says, at the end of them, meaning at the end of the three years. We have shown how this should not be referred to the young men as if the king afterward selected some of them, for we shall see in its proper place that a distinct time was fixed beforehand; therefore, no long refutation is needed.

It is certain, then, that the Prophet speaks of the close of the three years. It had been said just before, that they with stand in the palace; but this should also be understood in relation to the time that has been mentioned. They did not stand before the king immediately but were reserved for this purpose.

Since the king commanded them to be brought up so that he could use their services later, Daniel twice emphasizes that they were splendidly educated. This was because the king wished them to become his servants at table and in other duties.