Daniel 1: 3-4 Daniel Goes to School in Babylon

In verses 1-2, Nebuchadnezzar subjugated the kingdom of Judah in 605 BC, forced Jehoiakim to become a vassal, and brought valuables and captives back to Babylon. Verses 3-4  describe the fate of the captives.

The king spoke to Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring in some of the children of Israel, even of the royal offspring and of the nobles; youths in whom was no defect, but well-favored, and skillful in all wisdom, and endowed with knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability to stand in the king’s palace; and that he should teach them the learning and the language of the Chaldeans.

Daniel 1:3-4

Nebuchadnezzar gives instructions to one of his court officials, a man named Ashpenaz.

The king spoke to Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs,

Ashpenaz is described as the master of eunuchs. The Hebrew word for eneuch is saris, but it can also mean government official. In the Old Testament, it is used both ways, perhaps because eunuchs were frequently used as government officials in ancient near eastern governments. In Genesis, Potiphar, Joseph’s master in Egypt, was a saris, but was married, so he probably was not a eunuch. But in Esther, the attendants of the king’s harem are also saris, so they were eunuchs. Therefore, Ashpenaz could have been either the master of the government officials or the master of the eunuchs, which could make Daniel either a eunuch or an official. Scholars are split on this topic, and we’ll cover this in a future post, so while it is possible Daniel was a eunuch, we cannot know for sure.

The king spoke to Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring in some of the children of Israel, even of the royal offspring and of the nobles; youths in whom was no defect, but well-favored, and skillful in all wisdom, and endowed with knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability to stand in the king’s palace;

Nebuchadnezzar instructed Ashpenaz to select the best of the youth of the exiles from Judea to serve in his court. The Bible does not tell us why Nebuchadnezzar wanted foreigners to serve in his court, but we can make some educated guesses.

Since Nebuchadnezzar was specifically interested in the youth of the royal and noble families, the youth would serve as hostages, as was common in ancient times. The implied threat was if the ruling elite of Judea rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar’s rule, he would execute their children. The selection was also a sign of dominance. Nebuchadnezzar’s message was your children will now be my servants. 

Another reason is they would serve as experts and advisors on Judean culture and politics. As teenagers who grew up in the courts of Jerusalem, they were excellent sources of intelligence. By incorporating the youth into his court, he was attempting to subvert their loyalty from the nation of Judea to the nation of Babylon.

A final, related reason was Nebuchadnezzar might have been developing a cadre of future rulers of Judea. After educating members of the royal family in his court, he could then place them back on the Judean throne, theoretically creating a more loyal vassal ruler. Psamtik I, the successor of Necco as Pharoah of Egypt, had been educated in Assyrian courts during Esarhaddon’s reign. This might partly explain why Egypt initially supported Assyria against the Neo-Babylonian kingdom.

The king spoke to Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring in some of the children of Israel, even of the royal offspring and of the nobles; youths in whom was no defect, but well-favored, and skillful in all wisdom, and endowed with knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability to stand in the king’s palace; and that he should teach them the learning and the language of the Chaldeans.

The Chaldeans

Chaldean is often used to refer to an ethnic group, one of the tribes originating in the lower area of Mesopotamia. Chaldean is also used to designate a professional class, referring to educated government officials, usually associated with astrology and divination. The use of chaldean as an ethnic group is attested to both in the Bible (Genesis 11: Ur of the Chaldeans is given as the birthplace of Abram) and in the Assyrian chronicles (mentioned in the chronicles of Shalmaneser III around 850 BC). The use of chaldean as a professional group, however, is not attested to outside of the Bible, until much later, in the writing of Greek historians describing the Persian period. Critics of Daniel cite this as a factual error, but supporters dismiss this claim as evidence of the incomplete historical record. The lack of evidence for the use of Chaldeans as a professional group during the time of Nebuchadnezzar does not necessarily means it wasn’t used that way.

Education or indoctrination?

Nebuchadnezzar instructed Ashpenaz to educate the youth in learning and language of the Chaldeans. Certainly, he wanted educated officials, but he also wanted loyal officials. This raises the difference between education and indoctrination. Education is “the process of receiving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university” but indoctrination is “the process of teaching a person or a group to accept a set of beliefs uncritically.” The key term here is uncritically. The goal of indoctrination is to force the students to accept a set of beliefs without questioning them. This implies the beliefs might not stand up to detailed examination. Nebuchadnezzar most likely wanted the youths to be educated in science, culture and language, but he also wanted them to be unquestioningly loyal to Babylon. Indoctrination versus education will be a major topic when we begin the discuss the details of the Kingdom of the Beast, for there is evidence of a shift from education towards indoctrination in most Western school system today.

The Language of the Chaldeans

At the time of Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonians seemed to use two languages. The first was Babylonian. Because of its similarity, at least in writing, with Assyrian, these languages are often grouped together as Akkadian. Akkadian was written in cuneiform on clay tablets. The second language was Aramaic, which seemed to be used for more daily activities. Aramaic used an alphabet and primarily seemed to be written on scrolls.

Daniel is mostly written in Hebrew, but starting in chapter 2, a portion is written in Aramaic.

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