1:1-7 Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, took Jerusalem, and carried whom and what he pleased away. From this first captivity, most think the seventy years are to be dated. It is the interest of princes to employ wise men; and it is their wisdom to find out and train up such. Nebuchadnezzar ordered that these chosen youths should be taught. All their Hebrew names had something of God in them; but to make them forget the God of their fathers, the Guide of their youth, the heathen gave them names that savoured of idolatry. It is painful to reflect how often public education tends to corrupt the principles and morals.

5. king's meat—It is usual for an Eastern king to entertain, from the food of his table, many retainers and royal captives (Jer 52:33, 34). The Hebrew for "meat" implies delicacies.

stand before the king—as attendant courtiers; not as eunuchs.