The chief official
The term "chief official" refers to Ashpenaz, the master of the eunuchs, who was responsible for the care and training of the young captives from Judah. In the Babylonian court, such officials held significant authority and were tasked with assimilating captives into Babylonian culture. This role underscores the systematic approach of the Babylonians to integrate and indoctrinate the youth of conquered nations, ensuring loyalty and service to the empire.

gave them new names
In ancient cultures, names held profound significance, often reflecting one's identity, heritage, and religious beliefs. By giving new names, the Babylonians aimed to redefine the captives' identities, severing ties with their Hebrew heritage and God. This act symbolizes the attempt to impose a new cultural and religious identity upon the young men, aligning them with Babylonian deities and customs.

to Daniel he gave the name Belteshazzar
The name "Daniel" means "God is my judge" in Hebrew, reflecting his heritage and faith in the God of Israel. The new name "Belteshazzar" likely means "Bel, protect his life," associating Daniel with the Babylonian god Bel (or Marduk). This renaming was an attempt to shift Daniel's allegiance from the God of Israel to the gods of Babylon, yet throughout the book, Daniel remains steadfast in his faith.

to Hananiah, Shadrach
"Hananiah" means "Yahweh is gracious." His new name, "Shadrach," is thought to be derived from "Aku," the moon god, or possibly from a phrase meaning "command of Aku." This change was intended to align Hananiah with Babylonian religious practices, yet he, like Daniel, remains true to his faith.

to Mishael, Meshach
"Mishael" means "Who is like God?" in Hebrew, a rhetorical question emphasizing the uniqueness of the God of Israel. The name "Meshach" may be related to the Babylonian goddess Shach or a corruption of "Mishael" to remove its Hebrew significance. Despite the name change, Mishael's account in the book of Daniel demonstrates his unwavering commitment to God.

to Azariah, Abednego
"Azariah" means "Yahweh has helped." The new name "Abednego" is believed to mean "servant of Nego" or "Nabu," another Babylonian deity. This renaming was part of the broader strategy to integrate the captives into Babylonian society, yet Azariah's faithfulness to God is evident in his actions and the miraculous deliverance he experiences.

Verse 7. - Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names; for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abed-nego. The only thing to be noted in regard to the versions is that, with the exception of the Peshitta, all of them identify the name of Daniel with that of the last King of Babylon. Both are called Baltasar or Baltassar in the Vulgate, the LXX., and Theodotion. The difference made in the Peshitta is not the same as that in the Hebrew; the prophet is called Beletshazzar, and the king Belit-shazzar. This would indicate something wrong. The Greek versions render Abed-nego Ἀβδεναγώ, which also the Vulgate has. This habit of changing the names of those who entered their service prevailed among Eastern potentates. Joseph became Zaph-nath-paaneah (Genesis 41:45). Not only did those about the court receive new names, but, not infrequently, subject monarchs, as token of subjection, were newly named, as Jehoiakim, who had formerly been Eliakim. Professor Fuller mentions the case of the Egyptian monarch Psammetik II., whose name as subject of Asshur-bani-pal was Nabo-sezib-ani. Not only so, but monarchs of their own will changed their names with changed circumstances; thus Pal in Babylon is Tiglath-pileser in Nineveh. Still in modern times this is continued in the head of Roman Catholic Christendom, who has for the last twelve centuries always assumed another than his original name on ascending the papalthrone. With members of a monarch's court this is easily intelligible. The desire was to have names of good omen; a foreign name might either be meaningless or suggest anything but thoughts full of good omen. In considering these names, there are certain preliminary facts we must bear in mind. In the first place, there is a great probability that all the names had a Divine element in them, that is, contained as an element the name of a Babylonian god. The great mass of the names of Baby-Ionian and Assyrian officials had this. Next, it is by no means improbable that, at the hands of the Jewish scribes, the names have sustained some considerable change, more especially as regards the Divine element. The Jewish scribe had few scruples as to altering a name when there was anything in it to hurt his sensibilities. It is horrible to him that Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses the great lawgiver, should be the originator of the false temple at Dan, and so he inserts a nun, and changes Moshe, "Moses," into "Manasseh." The scribe that copied out 2 Samuel, coming to the name of Jerubbaal, cannot endure to chronicle the fact that a judge in Israel ever bore the name of the abomination of the Zidonians as part of his name, and altered it to Jerubesheth. So we have in the same book Ishbosheth for Ethbaal, and Mephibosheth for Meribbaal. With a foreign potentate it is different; but in the case of a Jew there always was a tendency to blink such an awkward fact as bearing a name with heathen elements, by a slight change. The name given to Daniel is, in the Massoretic text, Belteshazzar. From the fact that in the Septuagint, Theodotion, and the Vulgate, we have the king Belshazzar and Daniel, as Babylonian magician, called by the same name," Baltasar," and when in the Peshitta, the difference is very slight, and not always maintained, we, for our part, are strongly inclined to believe both names to have been the same. Professor Bevan ('The Book of Daniel,' 40) is quite sure that the author did not understand the meaning of the name given to Daniel. He (Professor Bevan) derives the name from Balat-zu-utzur, "Protect thou his life." Professor Fuller, with as great plausibility, makes it Bilat-sarra-utzur, "Beltis protects the crown." If that be the true derivation, then Nebuchadnezzar could quite correctly say that he was called after the name of his god. Still more accurate would this statement be if the name were Belshazzar. But an uneasy suspicion crosses our mind. Does the author of Daniel ever attribute to Nebuchadnezzar the words on which Professor Bevan grounds his charge? The words are not in the Septuagint. Thus Professor Bevan - never admitting the possibility of the name Belteshazzar having been modified from something else, although the evidence of the versions points most distinctly to that, and although he candidly admits it to have taken place in regard to Abed-nego - assumes an etymology for it, as if it were the only possible one, which it is not; and on the ground of this etymology, and on the assumption that certain words were in the original text of Daniel, which are yet not in the Septuagint, he concludes that the author of Daniel did not know the meaning of the name he had given to his hero. Surely this is special pleading. If there has been any tampering with the name or modification of it, then Professor Bevan's assumption falls to the ground, and his argument with it; but there seems every probability that there has been such modification, and the effect of such modification would be to deface the name of the heathen divinity in the name if there were such. Further, if Professor Fuller's etymology may be maintained, again Professor Bevan's assumption falls to the ground. These two arguments do not conflict. A Jewish scribe, ignorant of ancient Assyrian, might easily introduce a modification which, despite his intention, did not remove all heathen divinity from the name, only changed the divinity. If the original text of Daniel did not contain the phrase in the fourth chapter, "according to the name of my god," then again Professor Bevan's assumption is proved groundless, and his argument without value. The phrase in question is not in the Septuagint, and therefore it is, to say the least, suspicious. It has no such intimate connection with the context as to show it part of the text; it is just such a phrase as would be put on the margin as a gloss, and get into the text by blunder of a copyist. It may be observed that Professor Bevan merely follows Schrader, alike in his derivation and deduction; but he, not Schrader, had before him continually the Septuagint version of Daniel, and he, not Schrader, is commentator on Daniel. And to Hananiah of Shadrach. This name is explained by Dr. Delitzsch as being a modified transliteration of Shudur-aku, "the command of Aku" (the moon-deity). With this Schrader agrees. There is always the possibility of the name having undergone a change. On the other hand, as the name of the deity, Aku, does not appear in Scripture, the Puritanic scribe might be unaware of its presence here. And to Mishael of Meshach. This name has caused great difficulty; it is consonantally identical with מֶשֶׁך, "Hesheeh," the name of one of the sons of Japhet. Dr. Delitzsch would render it Me-sa-aku, "Who is as Aku." Schrader's objections to this are, that in the first place the Babylonian form would be Mamm-ki-Aku. And next, that there would not likely be a simple translation of the Hebrew name into Assyrian, but rather the giving a new name altogether. This second objection is valueless, for Pharaoh-Necho did not wholly change the name of Eliakim when he set him on the throne; since Jehovah may be regarded as the equivalent of El. The fact that "Meshach" is so like "Mcshech" points to intentional modification, and, therefore, to the presence in the name of the designation of a Babylonian god likely to be known to the Jews, such as Merodach, whose name was known to the Jews by its occurrence in the names Evil-Merodach and Merodach-Baladan, and actually as a divinity in Jeremiah 50:2. Such is Lenormant's hypothesis ('La Divination,' p. 178). which would render it Misa-Mero-dash, "Who is as Merodach" - a suggestion certainly open to Schrader's first objection. And to Azariah of Abed-nego. It has long been recognized that this name is a modification of Abed-Nebo. This identification is rendered all the more probable, that in New Hebrew and Aramaic Naga meant the planet "Venus," that is, "Nebo" The consonants are correct for this, but the vocalization is purposely wrong, in order to avoid the heathen name. If the author of Daniel was an obscure Jew, living in Palestine during the days of Epiphanes, whoa the influence of Babylon had disappeared, and its language had ceased to be studied, is it not strange that he should devise names which so accurately represent those that were in Babylon? One has only to read the Book of Judith, in all likelihood the product of the Epiphanes period (Konig, 'Einlcitung,' 480), to see the wild work that Palestinian Jews of that time made of Babylonian names.

Parallel Commentaries ...


The chief
שַׂ֥ר (śar)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 8269: Chieftain, chief, ruler, official, captain, prince

official
הַסָּרִיסִ֖ים (has·sā·rî·sîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 5631: A eunuch, valet, a minister of state

gave
וַיָּ֧שֶׂם (way·yā·śem)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7760: Put -- to put, place, set

them new names:
שֵׁמ֑וֹת (šê·mō·wṯ)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 8034: A name

To Daniel
לְדָֽנִיֵּ֜אל (lə·ḏā·nî·yêl)
Preposition-l | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1840: Daniel -- 'God is my judge', the name of several Israelites

he gave
וַיָּ֨שֶׂם (way·yā·śem)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7760: Put -- to put, place, set

the name Belteshazzar;
בֵּ֣לְטְשַׁאצַּ֗ר (bê·lə·ṭə·šaṣ·ṣar)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1095: Belteshazzar -- Babylonian name of Daniel

to Hananiah,
וְלַֽחֲנַנְיָה֙ (wə·la·ḥă·nan·yāh)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 2608: Hananiah -- 'Yah has been gracious', the name of a number of Israelites

Shadrach;
שַׁדְרַ֔ךְ (šaḏ·raḵ)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 7714: Shadrach -- Babylonian name of one of Daniel's companions

to Mishael,
וּלְמִֽישָׁאֵ֣ל (ū·lə·mî·šā·’êl)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 4332: Mishael -- 'Who is what God is?' three Israelites

Meshach;
מֵישַׁ֔ךְ (mê·šaḵ)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 4335: Meshach -- a Babylonian name given to Mishael

and to Azariah,
וְלַעֲזַרְיָ֖ה (wə·la·‘ă·zar·yāh)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 5838: Azariah -- 'Yah has helped', the name of a number of Israelites

Abednego.
נְגֽוֹ׃ (nə·ḡōw)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 5664: Abed-nego -- 'servant of Nebo', Babylonian name of one of Daniel's companions


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OT Prophets: Daniel 1:7 The prince of the eunuchs gave names (Dan. Da Dn)