Refusing the king’s portion: A reexamination of Daniel’s dietary reaction in Daniel 1

In Dan. 1, scholarship has proposed a range of plausible answers to the question, why did Daniel and his friends refuse the king’s provision of food and drink? Given that such a refusal was not absolutely necessary for a faithful Israelite living in exile (e.g. Jehoiachin, Esther, and Nehemiah), uncertainty remains regarding Daniel’s exact motivation. The suggested answers range from a concern for Pentateuchal dietary regulations to political subversion. This article surveys the relevant textual data points and several of the major proposed interpretations, and proposes that an underappreciated allusion to Exod. 15-16 points to the multi-layered significance of Daniel’s abstention from the king’s portion, namely, both a ritual concern attending the exiles and a statement from Daniel that Yahweh is his only provider, contrary to Nebuchadnezzar’s claims.