The king: referred to here is still Nebuchadnezzar. Since he is said to have given orders in verse 3 above, it may be more natural to add the word “also” to the verb in this verse (as in Good News Translation). The pronoun them refers to the young men who had been chosen according to the standards outlined in verse 4.

A daily portion of the rich food which the king ate: the Hebrew expression does not mean that the amount of food given to the king would be diminished in order to feed the young men. Rather these youths would be served the same kind of food as that which was served to members of the royal household. Since the use of the word portion may give the wrong impression, this should probably be translated something like “the king commanded that his servants give them the same kind of food that they gave to the king and his family every day.” The adjective rich used to describe the food here is unnecessary, since it does not reflect anything in the original text, and it would probably be understood that the royal meals would be of good quality.

The wine which he drank: as in the case of the food, this indicates the same kind of wine that the king and other members of the royal court drank. The word for wine here indicates a fermented drink made from the juice of grapes. It was considered a luxurious and sometimes dangerous drink (see Pro 23.29-35). But here the emphasis is on the fact that it was fit for a king. In areas where grapes and wine are unknown, it may be necessary to borrow the term from a major world language. In such cases it will be essential to provide a glossary explanation.

In many languages it will be advisable to put the food and drink elements together in a more natural way. Revised English Bible says “a daily allowance of food and wine from the royal table,” while New Revised Standard Version has “a daily portion of the royal rations of food and wine.”

They were to be educated …: the passive form in this verse will have to be made active in many languages. In such cases the subject of the verb “educate,” “train,” or “teach” should probably be rather general: “teachers should train them….” The King James Version (King James Version) rendering of the verb as “nourish” is not correct.

They were to stand before the king: the Hebrew expression “to stand before someone” usually means “to be or to enter in service to someone” (compare Deut 10.8), and this should be made clear in the translation. Consider, for example, “they would enter royal service” (New Jerusalem Bible), “they were to enter the king’s service” (New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, and New International Version), or “the young men would become counselors to the king.”

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René & Ellington, John. A Handbook on Daniel. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .