Daniel 1 · Verse 12

Daniel 1:12

Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.
Daniel 1:12, King James Version

Daniel 1:12 in other translations

BSB“Please test your servants for ten days. Let us be given only vegetables to eat and water to drink.
WEB“Test your servants, I beg you, ten days; and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink.
ASVProve thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.
YLT‘Try, I pray thee, thy servants, ten days; and they give to us of the vegetables, and we eat, and water, and we drink;
DARBYProve thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink;
BBEPut your servants to the test for ten days; let them give us grain for our food and water for our drink.
WebsterProve thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.

What does Daniel 1:12 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
12. pulse--The Hebrew expresses any vegetable grown from seeds, that is, vegetable food in general [Gesenius].

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 12 Give us pulse to eat - הזרעים hazzeraim, seeds or grain, such as barley, wheat, rye, and peas, etc. Though a vegetable diet might have produced that healthiness of the system in general, and of the countenance particularly, as mentioned here; yet we are to understand that there was an especial blessing of God in this, because this spare diet was taken on a religious account.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Daniel 1:8-16

The interest we think we make for ourselves, we must acknowledge to be God's gift. Daniel was still firm to his religion. Whatever they called him, he still held fast the spirit of an Israelite. These youths scrupled concerning the meat, lest it should be sinful. When God's people are in Babylon they need take special care that they partake not of her sins. It is much to the praise of young people, not to covet or…

Read the full comment on Daniel 1:8-16 →

Daniel 1:12 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

נַס\־nas-put to [the] testH5254
נָ֥אna'pleaseH4994
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
עֲבָדֶ֖יךָ'a.va.Dei.khaservants yourH5650
יָמִ֣יםya.MimdaysH3117
עֲשָׂרָ֑ה'a.sa.RahtenH6235
וְיִתְּנוּ\־ve.yi.te.nu-so let people giveH5414
לָ֜נוּLa.nuto us
מִן\־min-some ofH4480
הַזֵּרֹעִ֛יםha.ze.ro.'Imthe vegetablesH2235
וְנֹאכְלָ֖הve.no.khe.Lahso we may eatH398
וּמַ֥יִםu.Ma.yimand waterH4325
וְנִשְׁתֶּֽה\׃ve.nish.Tehso we may drinkH8354

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Daniel 1:12

  • Romans 14:2

    For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.

  • Daniel 1:16

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

  • Deuteronomy 8:3

    And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.

  • Genesis 1:29-30

    And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
pulse to eat. Heb. of pulse that we may eat, etc.Pulse, {zeröim,} denotes all leguminous plants, which are not reaped but pulled or plucked; which, however wholesome, was not naturally calculated to render them fatter in flesh than the others.
16; Ge 1:29,30; De 8:3; Ro 14:2

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Daniel 1:11

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

  • Daniel 1:12

    Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.

  • Daniel 1:13

    Then 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, deal with thy servants.

Read all of Daniel 1

Daniel 1:12 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Prueba, te ruego, tus siervos diez días, y dennos legumbres á comer, y agua á beber.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Éprouve, je te prie, tes serviteurs dix jours, et qu’on nous donne des légumes à manger, et de l’eau à boire;
German
Elberfelder 1871		Versuche es doch mit deinen Knechten zehn Tage, und man gebe uns Gemüse zu essen und Wasser zu trinken;
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Tenta nos, obsecro, servos tuos, diebus decem, et dentur nobis legumina ad vescendum, et aqua ad bibendum: