And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat.
Parallel translations
- WEB At the end of ten days their faces appeared fairer, and they were fatter in flesh, than all the youths who ate of the king’s dainties.
- BSB And at the end of ten days, they looked healthier and better nourished than all the young men who were eating the king’s food.
- NKJV And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies.
- NASB And at the end of ten days their appearance seemed better, and they were fatter than all the youths who had been eating the king’s choice food.
- NLT At the end of the ten days, Daniel and his three friends looked healthier and better nourished than the young men who had been eating the food assigned by the king.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
After ten days the four look healthier than those eating the royal food. God blesses their faithfulness with visible thriving.
Overview
The better appearance is not presented as a property of the diet but as God's gracious vindication of their obedience. As in Joseph and the exodus, the Lord cares for His people in a foreign land. The outcome confirms that trusting God in small acts of obedience is never in vain.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Exod 23:25And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.
- Prov 10:22The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.
- Matt 4:4But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
- Hag 1:6Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
- 2 Kgs 4:42–44And there came a man from Baalshalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat.
- Deut 28:1–14And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
- Mark 6:41–42And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.
- Hag 1:9Ye looked for much, and lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.
- Mal 2:2If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.
- Ps 37:16A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.
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Christ at the center
Daniel sees the stone cut without hands that shatters the kingdoms, and 'one like a son of man' given everlasting dominion — titles and visions Jesus claims as his own.
How Daniel 1:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.