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The Diet Consumed by Daniel and His Friends As Clarified in the Commentary of Abraham Ibn Ezra

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The Diet Consumed by Daniel and His Friends As Clarified in the Commentary of Abraham Ibn Ezra HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies ISSN: (Online) 2072-8050, (Print) 0259-9422 Page 1 of 7 Original Research ‘Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink’: The diet consumed by Daniel and his friends as clarified in the commentary of Abraham Ibn Ezra Author: According to the biblical story, Daniel, Hananya, Mishael and Azarya refused to eat the food 1 Abraham O. Shemesh produced by the Babylonian royal kitchen, asking instead to be provided with vegetables Affiliation: (Dn 1:1–21). The current paper examines Abraham Ibn Ezra’s (c. 1090–1164) interpretation of 1Department of Israel the boys’ diet based on contemporary culinary and nutritional habits. Ibn Ezra’s basic claim Heritage, Faculty of Social is that Daniel and his friends appeared healthy and well-disposed because they ate rice and Sciences and Humanities, chickpea dishes that have a high nutritional value. Ibn Ezra rules out R. Saadya Gaon’s Ariel University, Israel approach that it was a supernatural miracle and suggests an interpretation whereby this is Corresponding author: a completely natural health outcome. Based on nutritional and medical knowledge, Ibn Ezra Abraham Shemesh, claims that the diet consumed by Daniel and his friends was fairly nourishing, and thus it is [email protected] no surprise that they appeared healthy. Ibn Ezra was strongly influenced by the crops and Dates: dishes of Muslim cuisine, as well as by the nutritional-medical outlooks common in the Received: 06 May 2018 medieval Arab region. Accepted: 25 July 2018 Published: 23 Oct. 2018 How to cite this article: Introduction Shemesh, A.O., 2018, ‘“Let us Daniel, Hananya, Mishael and Azarya were skilled boys from King David’s lineage and from the be given vegetables to eat and water to drink”: The diet Judean aristocracy who were brought to the palace of the Babylonian king to receive an education. consumed by Daniel and his The four, who were healthy, good complexioned and educated, were to receive three years of friends as clarified in the training, at the end of which they would be integrated into the royal hierarchy. The Scriptures commentary of Abraham Ibn relate (Dn 1:5) that they were to have been fed by the royal kitchens, and served choice and Ezra’, HTS Teologiese Studies/ 1 Theological Studies 74(1), refined food. a5083. https://doi.org/ 10.4102/hts.v74i1.5083 Royalty, the nobility and the wealthy enjoyed high-quality food, such as meat, and larger quantities than the average population. They were naturally fatter and healthier, and therefore Copyright: © 2018. The Authors. obesity was a status symbol of the high classes and was also considered an indication of health Licensee: AOSIS. This work and abundance. Daniel and his friends forwent the nutritional benefits and refused to eat the food is licensed under the produced by the royal kitchens, asking instead to be provided with vegetables (in the text: zeronim, Creative Commons i.e. seeds) (Dn 1:12, 16). Attribution License. To the surprise of the chief of the eunuchs, who was in charge of their nourishment, his concern that their health would be affected and that their complexion would seem poorly and sad (Dn 1:10) was disproved, and the new diet had the opposite effect: ‘they were better in appearance’ and they were ‘fatter in flesh’ (Dn 1:15). The quotations are according to the Revised Standard Version (RSV), that is, their good appearance remained as it was and they were fairly healthy-fat. The effect of a lack of food on one’s appearance is described in the Bible in contexts of extreme hunger. The author of the Scroll of Lamentations speaks of the drastic change in the appearance of residents of Jerusalem as a result of the hunger they suffered during its siege and destruction. To begin with, they had light coloured skin, but the hunger they suffered darkened and toughened it (Lm 4:8). The purpose of the current paper is to examine R. Abraham Ibn Ezra’s interpretation of the boys’ diet based on contemporary culinary and nutritional habits. As I shall show, Ibn Ezra was strongly influenced by the crops and dishes of Muslim cuisine, as well as by the nutritional-medical outlooks common in the medieval Arab region. Read online: R. Abraham Ibn Ezra (c. 1090–1164) was born in Toledo, in Muslim Spain. He operated in Spain Scan this QR code with your for the first five decades of his life, and during this period he travelled to different countries in smart phone or mobile device 1.On the serving of bread, types of meat originating from various animals and fine wine at royal feasts, see: I Kings 5:2–3; Esther 1:7. to read online. On the provision of food and feasts in palaces with an emphasis on the Mesopotamian region, see Finet 1992:31–43; Grayson 1991:292–293; Postgate & Fales 1992:31–32. http://www.hts.org.za Open Access Page 2 of 7 Original Research North Africa, such as Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria. compiled not before the religious persecutions which took Following the occupation of Al-Andalus (Muslim Spain or place in Judea in 167–164 BC when Antiochus IV Epiphanes ,tribes in 1090, and (c. 215 BC – 164 BC), the Greek king of the Seleucid Empire (مرابطون ) Islamic Iberia) by the Mura¯bit·u¯ n in 1145, many threatened to destroy traditional Jewish worship in Jerusalem (الموحدون then the Al-Mohads (al-Muwah· h· idu¯n Jews and Christians, among them Ibn Ezra, were compelled (Koch 2001:421–446). Accordingly, the story on Daniel in the to migrate to Christian countries. For the next three decades Babylonian palace and the visions (chapters 7–12) neither he travelled to Christian countries in Western Europe – Italy, reported a miracle nor a nutritional consequence but served France and England – where he utilised the knowledge he to encourage Jews to refuse to compromise to Hellenistic had amassed in his youth and adulthood to interpret biblical culture in the time. Hence, the message of the Book of Daniel is literature.2 Ibn Ezra, an intellectual and fertile man of science, that, just as the God of Israel saved Daniel and his friends engaged in varied fields: Biblical commentary, linguistics, from their enemies, so he would save Israel from their present philosophy, liturgical poems, mathematics, astronomy and oppressors, that is, the Greeks (Segal 1967:729–756). Against astrology.3 that background, it is not necessary to explain whether the diet of the boys had a beneficial effect, although it would Daniel 1:1–21: Review of have been important for Ibn Ezra and other Jewish interpretations commentators who would not have doubted its historicity. Beginning from the post-biblical period, scholars and Diet consisting of ‘seeds’ – Rice and commentators proposed various explanations of how Daniel and his friends maintained their health while avoiding basic chickpeas foods such as bread and wine. The major approach in Jewish Based on the nutritional and medical knowledge at his sources is that this was a supernatural miracle. Midrash disposal, Ibn Ezra claims in his long commentary on Daniel Tanhuma presents the outlook whereby Daniel and his 1:15 that the diet consumed by Daniel and his friends was friends were given this miracle as a reward for overcoming fairly nourishing, and thus it is no surprise that they appeared temptation and not eating the king’s dishes (Tanhuma 1883: healthy. He says: Parashat va-Year, 29). A similar approach is also evident The reason for their appearance, the Gaon said: this was a great in the literature of late traditional Jewish commentators, miracle, but this is not necessary because they were accustomed for example, R. Moshe Alsheikh (Turkey and Land of to eating rice called aroz in the Arabic language and it is very Israel, 16th century) and R. Meir Leibush son of R. Yehiel substantial and more agreeable than wheat and it generates pure Michel Wisser (Malbim, Ukraine, 19th century) in their blood and it is the food of the people of India and they have no commentaries on the Book of Daniel (Alsheikh 1876, Dn 1:15; wheat and it is used to prepare cooked dishes and this rice is Wisser 2017, Dn1:15). superb when cooked in milk and the rule is that a small amount is filling and its weight is heavy and its kernels are very thin and not round and its outcome is hot and moist. (Dn 1:15, [Author’s A compromising approach that combines miracles and own translation]) nature appears in the commentary of R. Tanchum ben Yosef ha-Yerushalmi, a 13th century biblical commentator and Ibn Izra states that according to R. Saadya Gaon (Rasag, lexicographer. He claims that divine supervision indeed had 882/892 – 942), the continued health of Daniel and his friends a part in this but there were also natural influences. According is to be considered a miracle. Nevertheless, it is notable that to his outlook, eating even a small quantity of food in a state the claim attributed to R. Saadya Gaon does not appear in his of mental composure and comfort is more nourishing and commentary on Daniel 1:15 as we have it (Rasag 1981:22–23). beneficial for the body than the most nourishing and fat food And this has already been noted by Yosef Kapach who eaten with a sense of abhorrence and revulsion (Tanhum mentioned that this section is missing from the commentary 1981:24). In other words, Daniel and his friends desired the as we know it (Rasag 1981:23–24). simplest diet and thus it was better for their health than the food served by the royal kitchens.
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