Daniel 1:18-20

‘And at the completion of the days which the king had appointed for bringing them before him, the prince of the chief officers brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king had discussions with them and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Misahel and Azariah. And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his realm.'

The final test came when they were all brought in before the king. He was not so concerned with how they looked but with what they had learned. And as he listened to the four he was impressed by their knowledge and wisdom. ‘Ten times better' must clearly not be taken too literally. It is a typical exaggeration.

The point is probably twofold. Firstly that their remarkable wisdom and understanding shone through, so that as Nebuchadnezzar listened to them, their breadth of knowledge, and their discernment and ability to seize on what was most important, and interpret it, impressed him. He felt as he heard their answers that he had never met the like, even among his own magicians and enchanters, those men with their seeming knowledge of mysterious arts.

And secondly that in fact his opinion of his own enchanters and magicians was not very high. He thought of them sceptically as men with limited vision and understanding. There is here the very definite suggestion that they did not impress him, as will come out in the next chapter.