Pulse

Pulse (Hebrew zeru'im) refers to vegetables or legumes — seeds sown, hence things that grow from seed. In Daniel 1:12–16, Daniel and his three companions requested to eat only pulse (vegetables) and drink water rather than the king's rich food and wine, which may have been either unclean under Jewish dietary law or offered to Babylonian gods. At the end of ten days they appeared healthier than those who ate the royal diet, and their overseer permitted the arrangement. The episode illustrates both the practical wisdom and the covenant faithfulness of maintaining dietary observance even in foreign captivity.