I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.
Parallel translations
- WEB I ate no pleasant bread, neither came meat nor wine into my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, until three whole weeks were fulfilled.
- BSB I ate no rich food, no meat or wine entered my mouth, and I did not anoint myself with oil until the three weeks were completed.
- NKJV I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.
- NASB I did not eat any tasty food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any ointment at all until the entire three weeks were completed.
- NLT All that time I had eaten no rich food. No meat or wine crossed my lips, and I used no fragrant lotions until those three weeks had passed.
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
Daniel mourns and fasts from rich food, meat, and wine for three weeks, seeking the Lord. His self-denial shows that earnest prayer often goes hand in hand with humbling the body.
Overview
Now an old man, Daniel sets himself to seek God over the unfinished restoration of his people after the exile. He abstains from delicacies and the ordinary comforts of anointing oil as an expression of grief and dependence. Such fasting is never a way to earn God's favor but a posture of humble waiting that prepares the heart to receive His word. It anticipates the believer who learns from Christ to deny self and seek first the kingdom of God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Matt 6:17But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
- Dan 11:8And shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods, with their princes, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold; and he shall continue more years than the king of the north.
- 1 Cor 9:27But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
- Amos 5:11Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.
- Dan 6:18Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him.
- Isa 24:6–11Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
- Nah 2:9Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold: for there is none end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture.
- 2 Sam 19:24And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace.
- Job 33:20So that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat.
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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 10:3 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
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