Aphrahat the Persian Sage : Be quiet, you who exalt yourself. Do not think you are better than you are! For if your wealth has caused your heart to be proud, it still is not more abundant than that of Hezekiah. He went in and boasted of his wealth before the Babylonians, yet it was all carried away to Babylon. And, if you glory in your children, they shall be led away from you to the beast, as the children of King Hezekiah were led away, and became eunuchs in the palace of the King of Babylon. — DEMONSTRATION 5:7 Jerome : Therefore, Isaiah delivers the judgment of God's word: 'Listen to the word of the Lord of Hosts: A time will come when all these things that are in your house, acquired not by your own labor but by the labor of your fathers, will be transferred to Babylon, and from your descendants they will become eunuchs in the royal palace.' From where the Hebrews want Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who were of royal descent, to become eunuchs, it is beyond doubt that they served in the ministry of King Nebuchadnezzar. So Hezekiah said: It is a good word of the Lord that he has spoken. In this, he is criticized by the Hebrews for not imitating the goodness of Moses, who said to the Lord: Either forgive them this crime, or if you do not, then erase me from your book which you have written (Exodus 32:32). And so the Apostle Paul wishes to be accursed from Christ for his brethren who are Israelites (Rom. IX); and therefore, Hezekiah was not approved by God in His words who spoke in the following: 'Console, console my people,' says your God, so that by whom He had not prayed, they may be consoled by the mercy of the Lord. — Commentary on Isaiah Jerome : Verse 3. "And the king said to Ashpenaz the overseer of his eunuchs, that he should out of the number of the children of Israel and, of the royal seed and (the seed of) the rulers bring in some young lads who were free from all blemish." Instead of Ashpenaz ("Asphanez") I found Abriesdri written in the Vulgate edition. For the word phorlhommin which Theodotion uses, the Septuagint and Aquila translated "the chosen ones," whereas Symmachus rendered "Parthians," understanding it as the name of a nation instead of a common noun. This is in disagreement with the Hebrew edition as it is accurately read; I have translated it as "rulers," especially because it is preceded by the words "of the seed royal." From this passage the Hebrews think that Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were eunuchs, thus fulfilling that prophecy which is spoken by Isaiah regarding Hezekiah: "And they shall take of thy seed and make eunuchs of them in the house of the king of Babylon" (Isaiah 39:7). If however they were of the seed royal, there is no doubt but what they were of the line of David. But perhaps the following words are opposed to this interpretation: "...lads, or youths, who were free from all blemish, in order that he might teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans." Philo supposes that Chaldee is the same thing as the Hebrew language, because Abraham came from the Chaldeans. But if we accept this we must ask how the Hebrew lads could now be bidden to be taught a language which they already knew; unless, perchance, we should say, as some believe, that Abraham was acquainted with two languages. — St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER ONE