1:5 And the king appointed them a {h} daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them {i} three years, that at the end thereof they might stand {k} before the king.
(h) That by their good entertainment they might learn to forget the mediocrity of their own people.
(i) With the intent that in this time they might learn both the manners of the Chaldeans, and also their language.
(k) As well as to serve at the table as in other offices.
1:5 The king's meat - Such as he had at his own table.
1:1-7 Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, took Jerusalem, and carried whom and what he pleased away. From this first captivity, most think the seventy years are to be dated. It is the interest of princes to employ wise men; and it is their wisdom to find out and train up such. Nebuchadnezzar ordered that these chosen youths should be taught. All their Hebrew names had something of God in them; but to make them forget the God of their fathers, the Guide of their youth, the heathen gave them names that savoured of idolatry. It is painful to reflect how often public education tends to corrupt the principles and morals.
