God’s Word for You
Daniel 1:11-14 Eat your veggies
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Saturday, August 23, 2025
11 Now the chief eunuch had placed a guard over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. Daniel said to the guard, 12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us some vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and deal with your servants based on what you see.” 14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
Older versions, from the Latin Vulgate to the King James Version, took the word in verse 11 to be a proper name, “Malassar” (Latin) or “Melzar” (KJV). In Hebrew, it has a definite article, therefore it is not a proper name but a title. The etymology of the word seems to indicate either a steward of some kind or a guard. This passage (1:11-14) gives us the impression that the previous exchange with the chief eunuch may have been conducted in whole or in part through this intermediary guard; possibly this was necessary because of the language barrier, if the guard spoke both Hebrew and Aramaic.
The test is proposed by Daniel. Letting the test go for ten days is a wise, even excellent, suggestion. Ten days would be long enough to show whether the change in diet was having any adverse effects, and yet not so brief a time that a change for the worse could not be noticed by the guard and a reversion to the “better” royal food be made before the king might notice. Another point to be considered here is that the guard would never have had access to the royal food or wine himself. There was only one secure way for Daniel and his friends to receive a substitute without anyone else finding out. The guard (with the chief eunuch’s knowledge and connivance) would eat the royal food and drink the royal wine himself, and he would give Daniel and the other their vegetables from his own meal. His benefit from this arrangement would guarantee his silence in the matter.
Hebrew has a couple of words for “vegetable.” There is yeraq (Proverbs 15:17) or “greens,” and this word zerag, “what is sown” (Haggai 2:19), which can mean just about any food that is not flesh; we could also say “fruits, grains, and vegetables” to catch the meaning in English.
This is what Daniel asks for; this is what Daniel was given. Many translations and versions insert the word “only” into verse 12, but the preposition there is “some,” which paints a more meager picture: “Give us a few vegetables and give us water to drink.” Daniel does not ask for plates heavy with carrots and potatoes and bread and butter, with apples and dates and grapes and other delights, but only “some.” Whatever the guard can find for them, whatever the guard is willing to give to them; this is what they ask: The water of the rushing Tigris and something to eat.
Daniel anticipates Jesus’ words, “Give us today our daily bread.” He wants to avoid the unclean food; this is clear from what he says about avoiding defilement. But he also has something else in mind, a blessing for his own life and the lives of his companions. He wants to learn to trust in God for everything he needs. The simplest explanation will bring Daniel’s desire into the brightest light: “God surely gives daily bread without our asking, even to all the wicked, but we pray in this petition that he would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving” (Small Catechism, Fourth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer).
And just what is meant by “daily bread”? “Daily bread includes everything that we need for our bodily welfare, such as food and drink, clothing and shoes, house and home, land and cattle, money and goods, a godly spouse, godly children, godly workers, godly and faithful leaders, good government, good weather, peace and order, health, a good name, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.” For when we learn to depend upon God for everything we need, setting aside lavish desires and ungodly goals, God will bless us with more than we can imagine. He says, “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left” (Isaiah 54:2-3). The soul that seeks to live on whatever God gives and seek no more, is the soul that delights the Lord. It is not loss or privation that delights God, but trust.
“You who fear him, trust in the Lord—he is their help and shield” (Psalm 115:11). He gives protection to his people. “I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in him” (Isaiah 8:17). The Lord cares for those who love and trust in him even when the church or the nation seem to have gone astray. “Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.” (Isaiah 50:10). When all other ways are closed off, darkened, covered over, or otherwise impossible, the way of the Lord leads ever and always to eternal life. And another prophet says, “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him” (Nahum 1:7). The Lord God is our companion even in the hardest times. His promises rest in our hearts when everything else may be lost. His mercy endures forever.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.