Daniel 1.10-Ashpenaz Fears For His Life If He Disobeys Nebuchadnezzar's Orders In Order To Fulfill Daniel's Request
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday December 14, 2011
Daniel: Daniel 1:10-Ashpenaz Fears For His Life If He Disobeys Nebuchadnezzar’s Orders In Order To Fulfill Daniel’s Request
Lesson # 15
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 1:1.
In Daniel 1:8, we saw that Daniel was determined to not defile himself by eating the food and wine that Nebuchadnezzar had prescribed for him and all those selected for the king’s training program. Eating this food would have made him ceremonially unclean with respect to the Mosaic Law.
He thus requested permission from Ashpenaz to abstain from the king’s food and wine.
Then, in Daniel 1:9, we saw that because of Daniel’s determination to please God, God caused Ashpenaz to extend kindness to Daniel in the form of merciful acts.
In Daniel 1:10, we will see that in response to Daniel’s request, Ashpenaz expresses his fear that he would lose his life if he disobeys the king’s orders and grants Daniel his request.
His response reveals his desire to grant Daniel his request since he does not reject his request but rather presents to Daniel a major obstacle which prevents him from granting him his request.
Daniel 1:1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his god. 3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal family and of the nobles, 4 youths in whom was no defect, who were good-looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and who had ability for serving in the king’s court; and he ordered him to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. 5 The king appointed for them a daily ration from the king’s choice food and from the wine which he drank, and appointed that they should be educated three years, at the end of which they were to enter the king’s personal service. 6 Now among them from the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 7 Then the commander of the officials assigned new names to them; and to Daniel he assigned the name Belteshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach and to Azariah Abed-nego. 8 But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself. 9 Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials. 10 and the commander of the officials said to Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has appointed your food and your drink; for why should he see your faces looking more haggard than the youths who are your own age? Then you would make me forfeit my head to the king.” (NASB95)
“And the commander of the officials said to Daniel” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is followed by the third person masculine singular qal active imperfect form of the verb ʾā∙mǎr (אָמַר) (aw-mar), “said” and then we have the masculine singular construct form of the noun śǎr (שַׂר) (sar), “the commander of” and this is followed by the articular masculine plural form of the noun sā∙rîs (סָרִיס) (saw-reece), “the officials” which is followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), “to” whose object is the masculine singular proper noun dā∙niy∙yē(ʾ)l (דָּנִיֵּאל) (daw-nee-yale), “Daniel.”
The conjunction wa is introducing a statement that presents the result of God causing Daniel to receive kindness in the form of merciful acts from Ashpenaz.
The result was that Ashpenaz responded to Daniel’s request.
“I am afraid of my lord the king” is composed of the masculine singular qal active participle form of the verb yā∙rē(ʾ) (יָרֵא) (yaw-ray), “am afraid of” and this is followed by the fist person singular form of the personal pronoun ʾǎnî (אֲנִי) (an-ee), “I” and then we have the object marker ʾēṯ (אֵת) (ayth), which is not translated but is marking the masculine singular suffixed construct form of the noun ʾā∙ḏôn (אָדֹון) (aw-done), “lord” as the direct object and this is followed by the first person singular pronomial suffix ʾǎnî (אֲנִי) (an-ee), “my” and then we have articular masculine singular form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh-lek), “the king.”
The personal pronoun ʾǎnî is used in answering a request for pragmatic antithesis and involves psychological emphasis expressing Ashpenaz’s deep seated fear that Nebuchadnezzar will execute him if he grants Daniel his request.
In Daniel 1:10, the verb yā∙rē(ʾ) refers to Ashpenaz being in a state of great distress and anxiety and deep concern of losing his life if he grants Daniel’s request to abstain from the king’s fine food and wine.
The noun ʾā∙ḏôn means “lord” and is used with reference to Nebuchadnezzar and it speaks of his sovereign authority over Ashpenaz, his officials’ chief and is used by Ashpenaz as a term of respect for Nebuchadnezzar.
“Who has appointed your food and your drink” is composed of the relative particle ʾǎšěr (אֲשֶׁר) (ash-er), “who” and this is followed by the third person masculine singular piel active perfect form of the verb mā∙nā(h) (מָנָה) (maw-naw), “has appointed” and then we have the object marker ʾēṯ (אֵת) (ayth), which is not translated but is marking the masculine singular construct form of the noun mǎ∙ʾǎḵāl (מַאֲכָל) (mah-ak-awl), “food” as the direct object and this is modified by the second person masculine plural pronomial suffix ʾǎt∙těm (אַתֶּם) (at-tem), “your” and this is followed by the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is followed by the object marker ʾēṯ (אֵת) (ayth), which is not translated but is marking the masculine singular construct form of the noun miš∙tě(h) (מִשְׁתֶּה) (mish-teh), “drink” as the direct object which is modified by the second person masculine plural pronomial suffix ʾǎt∙těm (אַתֶּם) (at-tem), “your.”
The verb mā∙nā(h) means “to assign” and is used with Nebuchadnezzar as its subject and a daily ration of the food Nebuchadnezzar ate as its object and Daniel is the recipient of its action.
The noun mǎ∙ʾǎḵāl means “food” referring to food in general and specifically to the fine food that Nebuchadnezzar ate at his own table and gave to the young Israelite nobility and royalty who were in his three year training program.
The noun miš∙tě(h) means “alcoholic beverages” and refers to the alcoholic beverages that Nebuchadnezzar gave to Daniel and the young Israelite men who were enrolled in his three year program for future dignitaries serving in his court.
“For why should he see your faces looking more haggard than the youths who are your own age?” is composed of the particle ʾǎšěr (אֲשֶׁר) (ash-er), “for” and this is followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), “why” and then we have the interrogative pronoun mā(h) (מָה) (maw), “why” and this is followed by the third person masculine singular qal active imperfect form of the verb rā∙ʾā(h) (רָאָה) (raw-aw), “should he see” and then we have the object marker ʾēṯ (אֵת) (ayth), which is not translated but is marking the masculine plural construct form of the noun pā∙ně(h) (פָּנֶה) (pah-neh), “faces” as the direct object and this is modified by the second person masculine singular pronomial suffix ʾǎt∙těm (אַתֶּם) (at-tem), “your” and this is followed by the masculine plural qal active participle form of the verb zā∙ʿǎp̄ (זָעַף) (zaw-af), “looking haggard” and then we have the preposition min (מִן) (min), “more than” and its object is the articular masculine plural form of the noun yě∙lěḏ (יֶלֶד) (yeh-led), “youths” and this is followed by relative particle ʾǎšěr (אֲשֶׁר) (ash-er), “who” and then we have the preposition k- (ךְּ־) (kee), which is not translated and is followed by the masculine singular construct form of the noun gîl (גִּיל) (gheel), “age” and then lastly, we have the second person masculine singular pronomial suffix ʾǎt∙těm (אַתֶּם) (at-tem), “your own.”
The particle ʾǎšěr means “consequently” since it is introducing a rhetorical question demanding a negative answer, which presents the result of Ashpenaz’s preceding response to Daniel that he feared for his life if he granted Daniel’s request to abstain from eating and drinking from the king’s table.
The preposition lĕ means “then” since it is marking this rhetorical question as the logical consequence of the preceding statement that Ashpenaz will lose his life if he grants Daniel’s request.
The interrogative adverb mā(h) is a marker of a question and specifically a rhetorical question that demands a negative response and indicates why Ashpenaz can not grant Daniel’s request.
The verb rā∙ʾā(h) is used of the perception of Nebuchadnezzar inspecting the appearance of these four young Israelite men for the purpose of arriving at a judgment that they have not been adhering to the diet he prescribed for them and which judgment would result in the execution of Ashpenaz.
The noun pā∙ně(h) is in the plural and means “appearances” referring to the physical appearance of the bodies of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.
The verb zā∙ʿǎp̄ means “to possess a sickly or unhealthy appearance” referring to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah “possessing a sickly appearance” in comparison to the other young Israelite men who adhered to the diet.
The noun yě∙lěḏ in Daniel 1:10 is in the masculine gender and is plural in number and means “young men” referring to adult males who were of royal descent and from Jewish nobility who were between their late teens and early twenties.
The noun yě∙lěḏ is the object of the preposition min, which means “more than” since it functions as a marker of comparative degree indicating the comparison of the physical appearances of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah with those young Israelite men who did adhere to the diet prescribed by Nebuchadnezzar.
The preposition k- means “like” and marks the comparative contrast between Daniel and his three friends and those young Israelite men who did adhere to the diet prescribed by Nebuchadnezzar.
The noun gîl means “age” referring to Daniel’s Jewish contemporaries who were selected to take part in Nebuchadnezzar’s three year program to train men to become dignitaries to serve in his government.
“Then you would make me forfeit my head to the king” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “then” which is followed by the second person masculine plural piel active perfect form of the verb ḥûḇ (חוּב) (khoob), “you would make forfeit” and then we have the object marker ʾēṯ (אֵת) (ayth), which is not translated and then we have the masculine singular construct form of the noun rō(ʾ)š (רֹאשׁ) (roshe), “head” which is modified by the first person singular pronomial suffix ʾǎnî (אֲנִי) (an-ee), “my” and then we have the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), “to” whose object is the articular masculine singular form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh-lek), “the king.”
This time the conjunction wa means “indeed” since it functions as a marker of emphasis indicating that it is introducing a statement in which Ashpenaz wants to emphasize with Daniel the awful and terrible consequence for him if he granted Daniel’s request.
The verb ḥûḇ means “to endanger” referring to Ashpenaz’s head being in danger of being cut off as a result of Nebuchadnezzar discovering that Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah had not adhered to the diet he prescribed for those selected to take part in his three year program.