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Melzar

Man living at the time of Exile and Return

Melzar, the steward appointed by the chief eunuch to oversee Daniel and his companions.

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Also known as steward · guard

Melzar, also referred to as "the steward," was a Babylonian official appointed by Ashpenaz, the chief eunuch, to oversee Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (Dan.1.11). He was responsible for providing them with their daily provisions and monitoring their well-being. When Daniel requested a diet of vegetables and water instead of the king's food and wine, Melzar initially hesitated, fearing for his own life if the young men's appearance suffered (Dan.1.11). However, he agreed to a ten-day test, and when Daniel and his friends appeared healthier than those who ate the king's food, Melzar allowed them to continue with their chosen diet (Dan.1.16).

Bible dictionary

Melzar Easton Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)

Probably a Persian word meaning master of wine, i.e., chief butler; the title of an officer at the Babylonian court (Dan. 1:11, 16) who had charge of the diet of the Hebrew youths.

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Melzar Smith Smith’s Bible Dictionary (1863)

(steward). The Authorized Version is wrong in regarding melzar as a proper name; it is rather an official title, (Daniel 1:11,16) the marginal reading, “the steward,” is therefore more correct.

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Melzar Hitchcock Hitchcock’s Bible Names Dictionary (1869)

circumcision of a narrow place, or of a bond

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Melzar Hastings Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible (1898)

MEL'ZAR (probably of Persian origin, and signifying head cup-bearer), not a proper name, but the title of an officer, corresponding at once to our "steward" and "tutor." Dan 1:11, Ex 17:16.

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Melzar Schaff Schaff’s Dictionary of the Bible

MEL'ZAR (probably of Persian origin, and signifying head cup-bearer), not a proper name, but the title of an officer, corresponding at once to our "steward" and "tutor." Dan 1:11, Ex 17:16.

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Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.

Where Melzar appears

2 verses in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H4453

Daniel2

Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.