Daniel Chapter 1 verse 11 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 11. - Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. The reading of the Septuagint differs from the Massoretic in two particulars - instead of "Melzar," the name given is "Abiesdri," as in the third verse; and the verb minnah (מִנָּה) is read מֻנָּה (munnoh), "set over." The Peshitta reads instead of "Melzar,' in this verse, "Mashitzar" (but see ver. 16). This confirms the idea that this is a proper name, not an official title. If the assumption of the Septuagint is correct, then the name in the Massoretic text ought to be Hammelzar. This might indicate the name to be Amil-Assur, corresponding to Amil-Merodach. Theodotion renders the name Ἀμέλσαδ. While a good deal can be said for making "Melzar" or "Ham-melzar" a proper name, something may also be said for the idea which has gained ground that "Melzar," since it has the article before it, is the name of an official. Lenormant ('La Divination,' p. 196) makes the name Amil-Ussur. Such, at any rate, is the name of an official in the court of a Ninevite king; it is supposed to mean "steward," but it may be doubted if this is the exact equivalent of such an official as the one here referred to. Hitzig suggests παιδαγωγός, and for this rendering there is much to be said. It is an indirect proof of the antiquity of the book, that an official is referred to by a title the exact force of which had been forgotten when the Septuagint translation was produced, not later certainly than the first century B.C. Theodotion and Jerome are as far at sea as is also the Peshitta. The critical hypothesis is that this Assyrian name for "steward" remained known among the Palestinian Jews from the fall of the Babyloniau Empire in B.C. 532 to B.C. 168, and then in less than a couple of centuries utterly disappeared. The reading of the Septuagint," Abiesdri," may be laid aside; it is a reading that would suggest itself to any one who appreciated the difficulty of the passage. In the previous verse we were made auditors to a conversation between Daniel and Ashpenaz, in which he does not consent to Daniel's request. In the verse before us Daniel addresses another request to a new but subordinate official. As the request is one that might naturally follow the refusal, mild but to all appearance firm, of the prince of the eunuchs, what could be more natural than to imagine that Amelzar was a misreading for Abiesdri? The story has been condensed. Had we the full narrative, we most likely would have seen that Daniel had to go over the argument with the subordinate that he had already had with the superior. It is not unlikely that the prince of the eunuchs was not expressly informed of the experiment being tried,of which the verse which follows informs us. This would help to save him from the responsibility of the thing; it is not inconceivable that he intentionally kept himself uninformed. Not only has Daniel secured a personal influence over the prince of the eunuchs, but also over this Melzar, or steward. There are people in the world who have this magnetic power over their fellows which compels their liking. When with this are united abilities of a man to do exploits and leave his mark on the world, we have a national hero. Napoleon the Great was eminently a man of this kind.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(11) Melzar.--(See Introduction, ? VI.) Not a proper name (Hamelsar), but a cellarman. The appeal of Daniel to the chief chamberlain having proved insufficient, he applies to the man with whom he was on more familiar terms.