1 IN the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. [ This is the first wave of attacks and deportations on Jerusalem. ]

2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, [ Notice who gave what, The Lord is engineering the situtation and fulfilling his perdictions concerning the exile of Judah. The Lord then is using Babylon to bring about his work. ] with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god. [ So the idea is that you take things out of Gods temple and place them in your temple so that people begin to have a sense of commonality with your house of worship, a common ground maybe with their God. Don't make everything strange but make it more acceptable. ]

3 ¶ And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, [ Not everyone, only a select few. He did not bring the poor for example. ] and of the king’s seed, and of the princes; [ Those who had been or were being raised to be the next leaders. ]

4  Children in whom was no blemish, [ There is a standard here, they are those that are the fashion setters so to speak, those who look good no matter what they do. Again we see the selection process. ] but well favoured, [ So if we can take those who have the greatest potential to make a difference in their home land, well is we can bring them here and convert them to our ways so to speak then the others will naturally follow when they are brought into Babylon. ] and skilful in all wisdom, [ Implying that they are the younger ones who are intellectual, the seek so much of the wisdom of man that to them God is just silliness. Learned but not wise. Things like faith are abstract and of no value to them. ] and cunning in knowledge, [ They are those who will be most adept at learning the Chaldean language and the ways of the Babylonians, and will most likely be most willing to adopt those ways if they are properly groomed with vanity and this is closer to their world. In so do they will forget the ways of the Lord as they become true Babylonians. ] and understanding science, and such as had ability [ In other words the cream of the crop - the best in the land. We see from the selection criteria that the Babylonians had definite purpose in those selected for the first wave. ] in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.

5 And the king appointed them a daily provision [ So constantly. So how can it not affect them. ] of the king’s meat, and of the wine which he drank: So nourishing them three years, [ They say that it only takes 21 days to form a habit, so 3 years should ingrain the notions into them pretty well. In todays words we would say they have been well groomed. ] that at the end thereof they might stand before the king.

6 Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: [ These were the names of the three men that had their names changed from names that had meanings associated with the God of Israel. They were given names associated with Babylonian names in order to reestablish them with a new identity, one of Babylonian influence. ]

7 Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel [ "God is my judge". His name ends with "el" after the God of Israel. ] the name of Belteshazzar; [ "lord of the straitened's treasure". Daniels name however never stuck. ] and to Hananiah, [ "God has favored". ] of Shadrach; [ "royal" or "the great scribe". ] and to Mishael, [ "who is what God is". His name ends with "el" after the God of Israel. ] of Meshach; [ "guest of a king". ] and to Azariah, [ "Jehovah has helped". ] of Abed-nego. [ "servant of Nebo". So we can hereby see that the first step in this grooming process is to change their names away from those names that reflect God in their lives. Giving them names that reflect Babylonian ideology, to change their sense of identity. Do we see this in society today? As a matter of fact we are even so Babylonian in our ideas that we even change the very sense of who you are. You are not a son or daughter of God but a Him/Her/He/She/They/Them/Ze/Hir/Mx/genderqueer/gender fluid/non-binary/vis/tem/zis/sie/zim the list goes on and on. For that matter a furry - "A study on furries led by Canadian college professor Dr. Kathy Gerbasi and published in the journal society & Animals found that approximately 25% of those surveyed considered themselves less than 100% human and would become 0% human if they could." ]

8 ¶ But Daniel purposed [ Daniel has determined in advance what he will and will not do. Daniel appears to be the instigator of the abstinence. ] in his heart that he would not defile himself [ Most likely because of the way that it was prepared. If it was just what was on his plate he could have eaten some and picked out the pork, but if he did not know how all of the meat was prepared then it was all bad according to the law. ] with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested [ It was not a demand but it was a request. He was not trying to convert the prince of the eunuchs to his ways but was asking if there was a way for Daniel to still keep his standards. ] of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.

9 Now God had brought Daniel into favour [ Daniel has done some things that brought him into the good graces of his masters. ] and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.

10 And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: [ The prince of the eunuchs has a job to do and is trying to do it. So his concern is that if Daniel does not look fit like the others that the King will come down of the prince of the eunuchs. Because Daniel has asked the question he gets a response from the prince of the eunuchs as to why he thinks that things need to be done a certain way. Danile has learned important information here. With information there is power and it helps Daniel work out a solution to accomplish what he wants to do as well. ] for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king.

11 Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,

12 Prove thy servants, [ Rather than getting all preachy, self-righteous and elevated - Daniel smartly purposes an experiment to see if Daniels way might be beneficial or not. ] I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse [ Seeds and grains such as peas, wheat, barley and rye. ] to eat, and water to drink.

13  Then [ After the ten day proving period. ] let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king’s meat: and as thou seest, [ After the ten days you judge, at that point we will do as you request. ] deal with thy servants.

14 so he consented [ The prince of the eunuchs says well that sounds like a win win for me - so we will give kit a try. ] to them in this matter, and proved them ten days.

15 And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh [ they looked well nourished, so they passed the test. ] than all the children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat.

16 Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse.

17 ¶ As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.

18  Now at the end of the days [ The three year period of indoctrination. ] that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.

19 And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like [ Well duh these have not been Babylonified, so yes they are different. ] Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: [ Their real names. ] therefore stood they before the king.

20 And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, [ What is the Lords definition of wisdom and understanding? See Job 28:28 ] that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better [ A measured difference between them and the others. Remember this is not what they thought was going to happen, they brought them there and tried to Babylonify them for the past three years and in the end the standards, values, wisdom etc were ll better from the Zion perspective. ] than all the magicians and astrologers [ Enchanter who uses incantations - those that practiced the hidden arts. ] that were in all his realm.

21 And Daniel continued [ Daniel was there in Babylon, a captive until they were allowed to return, he was there for the duration of the captivity. ] even unto the first year of king Cyrus.