What Does Daniel 1:15 Mean in the King James?
And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The king’s table does not define nourishment; the bodies eating another portion visibly thrive.
THE MEANING
Your visible condition can tell a different story than the status of the portion placed before you. Here, nourishment is measured by what appears in the flesh, not presumed from a prestigious table.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A king’s portion must be the most nourishing, while a simpler portion must leave you diminished.
THE ROOT
טוֹב
ṭāḇ
GROWS FROM
טוב
Good, pleasing, favorable.
The Aramaic word behind “fairer” is ṭāḇ, meaning good or pleasing. The line calls their visible condition good, then names healthy flesh as its evidence; it reaches beyond a comparison of attractive faces.
ALSO GROWS
ṭov: Good, pleasing, beneficial.
טוֹב
This Hebrew cognate shows the same root’s range: goodness can describe a condition, not just appearance.
hēṭîḇ: To do good, make well.
הֵיטִיב
This verbal branch makes goodness tangible, fitting a verse where the bodies show the result.
נִרְאָה
nirʾeh
GROWS FROM
ראה
To see, look at, perceive.
“appeared / countenances” in this verse is nirʾeh. The Aramaic words for “appeared” and “countenances” belong to the same see-and-appearance family. English separates the visible condition from the act of appearing; the shared root makes the body’s condition something seen and assessed.
ALSO GROWS
rāʾāh: To see, look at, perceive.
רָאָה
This branch names the act of seeing that the comparison depends on.
marʾeh: Appearance, sight; what is seen.
מַרְאֶה
This is the word family behind “countenances,” linking their visible form directly to “appeared.”
THE PATTERN
What sustains life is not measured only by how impressive its provision appears.
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.THE THREAD
O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.Daniel’s “fairer” is Aramaic ṭāḇ, a cognate of Hebrew ṭōḇ, “good,” and “appeared” comes from ראה, “to see.” Psalm 34:8 brings the same roots together: taste, see, and good, making goodness something encountered and visible.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us