Many see the Word of God. . .few observe!
Daniel and his friends lived in a very difficult time. They were taken and enslaved by the Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar. Despite their circumstances they showed an openness for every kind of learning.
Daniel 1:4 (NIV)
4 young men without any physical defect, handsome,h showing aptitude for every kind of learning,i well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the languagej and literature of the Babylonians.b
- Intelligence was of the utmost importance to Nebuchadnezzar. “Showing aptitude” is a translation of the Hebrew word maśkîlîm (root=śākal, “to be prudent”), which means in this verbal form “having insight” or “comprehension.”27 Here it speaks of the ability to learn or comprehend information. “For every kind of learning” is literally “in all wisdom (bĕkol-ḥokmâ)” and would include secular as well as religious instruction. “Well informed” literally reads “knowers of [yōdĕʿê] knowledge [daʿat].” Rather than “well informed,” the idea probably is that these young men had the ability to acquire (“know”) knowledge because they were intelligent. “Quick to understand” is literally “understanders of (mĕbînê) knowledge (maddāʿ).”28
- Miller, S. R. (1994). Daniel (Vol. 18, p. 61). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
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h See Ge 39:6
i ver 17
j See Ezr 4:7
b Or Chaldeans
The New International Version. (2011). (Da 1:4). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
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