John Gill Commentary Daniel 10:3

"I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine into my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled." — Daniel 10:3 (ASV)

I ate no pleasant bread
Or, "bread of desires" ^F4 ; such as was made of the finest of the wheat, and was eaten in the courts of princes where Daniel was. According to some Jewish Rabbins in Ben Melech, hot bread is meant; but in general it means the best of bread, such as had good qualities to make it desirable. Daniel refrained from this while he was humbling and afflicting himself on this sorrowful occasion, but ate coarse bread, black and grainy.

neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth ;
not delicate meat, as of fish, fowl, deer, and the like, as Saadiah observes; but contented himself with meaner fare. Nor did he drink generous wine, as he had used to do, living in a king's court, and which his old age made necessary for him, since he could come at it; but he abstained from it, and other lawful pleasures of nature, the more to give himself up to acts of devotion and contemplation.

neither did I anoint myself at all, until three whole weeks were
fulfilled ;
which was frequently done by the Jews, especially at feasts, and by the Persians every day, among whom he now was. But this he refrained from, as was usual in times of fasting and humiliation; see (Matthew 6:17) .

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FOOTNOTES:

• F4: (twdmx Mxl) "panem desideriorum", Pagninus, Montanus; "desiderabilium", Junius & Tremellius; "desiderabilem", V. L. Vatablus, Piscator.