Daniel 1

Theodoret of Cyrus · Comentário Patrístico (catena)

Daniel 1:1

Naturally, at the outset, the king who ruled is revealed and the year made clear, when the capture first occurred. And so by calling to mind the king that reigned at that point, he [Daniel] demonstrates … that he is a prophet. For other prophets begin in the very same way. — COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 1:1

Daniel 1:3-4

And so the God of all makes evident the foolishness, infirmity and loathsome ways of the world in order to put to shame its power and wisdom. People who care for bodily things and seek beauty, greatness and great bodily strength know nothing of divine wisdom but rather only a false and artificial sort of eloquence. And thus is the distance between humanity and God. The false pretense of the king is shown as he wished not only the other captives be servants but also that they be descendents from kings. Now all this happened just as Isaiah had predicted to Hezekiah …: "And some of your own sons will become slaves, yes eunuchs, in the palace of the king of Babylon." — COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 1:3-4

Daniel 1:5-6

So here he informs us of the king's generosity in providing them with nourishment that was not of an ordinary kind fit for captives and slaves; instead, he gave orders for them to share in the king's table. Shortly afterward he mentions their self-control and sound values, not indulging in self-glorification but proposing a beneficial lesson to those prepared to accept benefit. It is possible to see also the moderation in his thinking: after mentioning above that the king ordered young men of royal birth to be chosen, fair to behold and of becoming stature, and citing at this point the persons' names, he simply referred to the tribe of Judah and concealed their royal connections. — COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 1:5-6

Daniel 1:8

For those who love God do not seek after the God of all in just one place, but even in the midst of this misfortune they worshiped as if in the house of the Creator. In that place there are many wondrous moments to be found. For having been reared on the teachings of the Jews and having learned the customary service to God, they now were dwelling in a foreign land and were being forced into slavery exactly at the prime of their life. They were forced to abide under the foreign customs. But having seen the Babylonians offer defiled meat to the idols and the polluted libations at the temple, they took heed and, neglecting their own safety, rejected the king's banquet, beseeching the chief eunuch to allow them to be excused from partaking of the king's food. — COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 1:8

Daniel 1:10

This pointless objection of the eunuch was cowardly. He [the eunuch] was a man whose spirit did not know grace but took pleasure in his own sensuality. Of this man and human morality, take heed as there is the opinion that sumptuous feeding on nutritious foods provides for the body nourishment enough for it to flourish. In fact, it is not with such indulgence that you should chance your life, for it was with a small portion and by way of self-control that they [Daniel and his friends] flourished. — COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 1:10