Daniel 1:4

Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Children	יְלָדִ֣ים ye.la.Dim	H3206	something born · noun, common masculine plural absolute
blemish	מוּם֩ me.'um	H3971	to stain · noun, common masculine singular absolute
well	וְטוֹבֵ֨י ve.to.Vei	H2896	good (as an adjective) in the widest sense · conjunction + adjective, masculine plural construct
favoured	מַרְאֶ֜ה mar.'Eh	H4758	a view (the act of seeing) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
skilful	וּמַשְׂכִּילִ֣ים u.mas.ki.Lim	H7919	to be (causatively · conjunction + verb, hiphil active participle, masculine plural absolute
wisdom	חָכְמָ֗ה chokh.mah	H2451	wisdom (in a good sense) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
cunning	וְיֹ֤דְעֵי ve.Yo.de.'ei	H3045	to know (properly · conjunction + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
knowledge	דַ֙עַת֙ da.'at	H1847	knowledge · noun, common feminine singular absolute
understanding	וּמְבִינֵ֣י u.me.vi.Nei	H995	to separate mentally (or distinguish) · conjunction + verb, hiphil active participle, masculine plural construct
science	מַדָּ֔ע ma.Da'	H4093	intelligence or consciousness · noun, common masculine singular absolute
ability	כֹּ֣חַ Ko.ach	H3581	vigor · noun, common masculine singular absolute
stand	לַעֲמֹ֖ד la.'a.Mod	H5975	to stand · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
king’s	הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ ha.Me.lekh	H4428	a king · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
palace	בְּהֵיכַ֣ל be.hei.Khal	H1964	a large public building · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
teach	וּֽלֲלַמְּדָ֥ם u.la.la.me.Dam	H3925	properly · conjunction + preposition + verb, piel infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
learning	סֵ֖פֶר Se.fer	H5612	properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
tongue	וּלְשׁ֥וֹן u.le.Shon	H3956	the tongue (of man or animals) · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular construct
Chaldeans	כַּשְׂדִּֽים kas.Dim	H3778	a Kasdite · proper noun, a place name

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Acts 7:22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.
Daniel 5:11 There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, lik…
Proverbs 22:29 Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.
2 Samuel 14:25 But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head th…
Daniel 1:17-20 As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dr…
Daniel 2:10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king’s matter: therefore there is no k…
Leviticus 21:18-21 For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing super…
Leviticus 24:19-20 And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbour; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him;

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 1:1-7

We have in these verses an account, I. Of the first descent which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, made upon Judah and Jerusalem, in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, and his success in that expedition (Dan 1:1, Dan 1:2.): He besieged Jerusalem, soon made himself master of it, seized the king, took whom he pleased and what he pleased away with him, and then left Jehoiakim to reign as tributary to him, which he did about eight years longer, but then rebelled, and it was his ruin. Now from this first captivity most interpreters think the seventy years are to be dated, though Jerusalem was not destroyed, nor the captivity completed, till about nineteen ye…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 1:4

no blemish--A handsome form was connected, in Oriental ideas, with mental power. "Children" means youths of twelve or fourteen years old. teach . . . tongue of . . . Chaldeans--their language and literature, the Aramaic-Babylonian. That the heathen lore was not altogether valueless appears from the Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses; the Eastern Magi who sought Jesus, and who may have drawn the tradition as to the "King of the Jews" from Dan 9:24, &c., written in the East. As Moses was trained in the learning of the Egyptian sages, so Daniel in that of the Chaldeans, to familiarize his mind with mysterious lore, and so develop his heaven-bestowed gift of understanding in visions (Dan 1:4…

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Adam Clarke on Daniel 1:4

Children - ילדים yeladim, youths, young men; and so the word should be rendered throughout this book. Skilled in all wisdom - Rather, persons capable of every kind of literary accomplishment, that they might be put under proper instruction. And as children of the blood and of the nobles mere most likely, from the care usually taken of their initiatory education, to profit most by the elaborate instruction here designed, the master of the eunuchs, the king's chamberlain, was commanded to choose the youths in question out of such.

Dictionary and topics

Chaldeans, Or Chaldees — It appears that the Chaldeans (Kaldai or Kaldi) were in the earliest times merely one out of many Cushite tribes inhabiting the great alluvial plain known afterwards as Chaldea or Babylonia. Their…
Daniel — God is my judge, or judge of God. (1.) David’s second son, “born unto him in Hebron, of Abigail the Carmelitess” (1 Chr. 3:1). He is called also Chileab (2 Sam. 3:3). (2.) One of the four great…
Daniel, The Book Of — stands at the head of a series of writings in which the deepest thoughts of the Jewish people found expression after their close of the prophetic era. Daniel is composed partly in the vernacular…
Hananiah — Jehovah has given. (1.) A chief of the tribe of Benjamin (1 Chr. 8:24). (2.) One of the sons of Heman (1 Chr. 25:4, 23). (3.) One of Uzziah’s military officers (2 Chr. 26:11). (4.) Grandfather of the…
Meshach — The title given to Mishael, one of the three Hebrew youths who were under training at the Babylonian court for the rank of Magi (Dan. 1:7; 2:49; 3:12-30). This was probably the name of some Chaldean…
Palace — Used now only of royal dwellings, although originally meaning simply (as the Latin word palatium, from which it is derived, shows) a building surrounded by a fence or a paling. In the Authorized…
Babylon · Languages spoken in — Languages spoken in
Chaldeans · Learned and wise men of the east — Learned and wise men of the east
Civil Service · SCHOOL FOR — SCHOOL FOR
Government · Civil service school provi — Civil service school provi
Language · .Chal — .Chal

Daniel 1:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 1:1-7

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 1:4

Adam Clarke on Daniel 1:4

Dictionary and topics

Daniel 1:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 1:1-7

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 1:4

Adam Clarke on Daniel 1:4

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Daniel 1:4

John Calvin on Daniel 1:4

Keil & Delitzsch on Daniel 1:3-7

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Daniel 1:4

Rashi on Daniel 1:4