1:18 When the time appointed by the king arrived, 1 the overseer of the court officials brought them into Nebuchadnezzar’s presence.
3:13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in a fit of rage 2 demanded that they bring 3 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before him. So they brought them 4 before the king.
1 tn Heb “at the end of the days which the king said to bring them.”
2 tn Aram “in anger and wrath”; NASB “in rage and anger.” The expression is a hendiadys.
3 tn The Aramaic infinitive is active.
4 tn Aram “these men.” The pronoun is used in the translation to avoid undue repetition.
5 tn Or “word” or “event.” See HALOT 1915 s.v. מִלָּה.
6 tn The Aramaic term מְנֵא (mÿne’) is a noun referring to a measure of weight. The linkage here to the verb “to number” (Aram. מְנָה, mÿnah) is a case of paronomasia rather than strict etymology. So also with תְּקֵל (tÿqel) and פַרְסִין (farsin). In the latter case there is an obvious wordplay with the name “Persian.”
7 tn The meaning of Aramaic דַּחֲוָה (dakhavah) is a crux interpretum. Suggestions include “music,” “dancing girls,” “concubines,” “table,” “food” – all of which are uncertain. The translation employed here, suggested by earlier scholars, is deliberately vague. A number of recent English versions follow a similar approach with “entertainment” (e.g., NASB, NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT). On this word see further, HALOT 1849-50 s.v.; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 37.
8 tn Aram “his sleep fled from him.”