Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, {o} ten days; and let them give us {p} pulse to eat, and water to drink.

(o) Meaning that within this space he might have the test, and that no man would be able to know about it: and thus he spoke, being moved by the Spirit of God.

(p) Not that it was a thing abominable to eat dainty meats, and to drink wine, as both before and after they did, but if they would have by this been won to the King, and had refused their own religion, that meat and drink would have been accursed.

King James Translators' Notes

pulse: Heb. of pulse

to eat...: Heb. that we may eat, etc

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

12. pulse-The Hebrew expresses any vegetable grown from seeds, that is, vegetable food in general [Gesenius].

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

1:8-16 The interest we think we make for ourselves, we must acknowledge to be God's gift. Daniel was still firm to his religion. Whatever they called him, he still held fast the spirit of an Israelite. These youths scrupled concerning the meat, lest it should be sinful. When God's people are in Babylon they need take special care that they partake not of her sins. It is much to the praise of young people, not to covet or seek the delights of sense. Those who would excel in wisdom and piety, must learn betimes to keep the body under. Daniel avoided defiling himself with sin; and we should more fear that than any outward trouble. It is easier to keep temptation at a distance, than to resist it when near. And we cannot better improve our interest in any with whom we have found favour, than to use it to keep us from sin. People will not believe the benefit of avoiding excess, and of a spare diet, nor how much they contribute to the health of the body, unless they try. Conscientious temperance will always do more, even for the comfort of this life, than sinful indulgence.