Daniel 1:2

1:2 Now the Lord ¹  delivered ²  King Jehoiakim of Judah into his power, ³  along with some of the vessels ⁴  of the temple of God. ⁵  He brought them to the land of Babylonia ⁶  to the temple of his god ⁷  and put ⁸  the vessels in the treasury of his god.

Daniel 1:5

1:5 So the king assigned them a daily ration ⁹  from his royal delicacies ¹⁰  and from the wine he himself drank. They were to be trained ¹¹  for the next three years. At the end of that time they were to enter the king’s service. ¹² 

Daniel 2:24

2:24 Then Daniel went in to see ¹³  Arioch (whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon). He came ¹⁴  and said to him, “Don’t destroy the wise men of Babylon! Escort me ¹⁵  to the king, and I will disclose the interpretation to him!” ¹⁶ 

Daniel 2:28

2:28 However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, ¹⁷  and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the times to come. ¹⁸  The dream and the visions you had while lying on your bed ¹⁹  are as follows.

Daniel 4:25

4:25 You will be driven ²⁰  from human society, ²¹  and you will live ²²  with the wild animals. You will be fed ²³  grass like oxen, ²⁴  and you will become damp with the dew of the sky. Seven periods of time will pass by for you, before ²⁵  you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.

Daniel 4:32

4:32 You will be driven from human society, and you will live with the wild animals. You will be fed grass like oxen, and seven periods of time will pass by for you before ²⁶  you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.”

Daniel 5:11

5:11 There is a man in your kingdom who has within him a spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, he proved to have ²⁷  insight, discernment, and wisdom like that ²⁸  of the gods. ²⁹  King Nebuchadnezzar your father appointed him chief of the magicians, astrologers, wise men, and diviners. ³⁰ 

Daniel 10:12

10:12 Then he said to me, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel, for from the very first day you applied your mind ³¹  to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard. I have come in response to your words.

Daniel 11:4

11:4 Shortly after his rise to power, ³²  his kingdom will be broken up and distributed toward the four winds of the sky ³³  – but not to his posterity or with the authority he exercised, for his kingdom will be uprooted and distributed to others besides these.

Daniel 11:40

11:40 “At the time of the end the king of the south will attack ³⁴  him. Then the king of the north will storm against him ³⁵  with chariots, horsemen, and a large armada of ships. ³⁶  He ³⁷  will invade lands, passing through them like an overflowing river. ³⁸ 

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¹ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

² tn Heb “gave.”

³ tn Heb “hand,” which is often used idiomatically for one’s power and authority. See BDB 390 s.v. יָד 2.

⁴ tn Or “utensils”; or “articles.”

⁵ tn Heb “house of God.”

⁶ sn The land of Babylonia (Heb “the land of Shinar”) is another name for Sumer and Akkad, where Babylon was located (cf. Gen 10:10; 11:2; 14:1, 9; Josh 7:21; Isa 11:11; Zech 5:11).

⁷ tn Or “gods” (NCV, NRSV, TEV; also later in this verse). The Hebrew term can be used as a numerical plural for many gods or as a plural of majesty for one particular god. Since Nebuchadnezzar was a polytheist, it is not clear if the reference here is to many gods or one particular deity. The plural of majesty, while normally used for Israel’s God, is occasionally used of foreign gods (cf. BDB 43 s.v. אֱלֹהִים 1, 2). See Judg 11:24 (of the Moabite god Chemosh); 1 Sam 5:7 (of the Philistine god Dagon); 1 Kgs 11:33 (of the Canaanite goddess Astarte, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god Milcom); 2 Kgs 19:37 (of the Assyrian god Nisroch). Since gods normally had their own individual temples, Dan 1:2 probably refers to a particular deity, perhaps Marduk, the supreme god of Babylon, or Marduk’s son Nabu, after whom Nebuchadnezzar was named. The name Nebuchadnezzar means “Nabu has protected the son who will inherit” (HALOT 660 s.v. נְבוּכַדְרֶאצַּר). For a discussion of how temples functioned in Babylonian religion see H. Ringgren, Religions of the Ancient Near East, 77-81.

⁸ tn Heb “brought.” Though the Hebrew verb “brought” is repeated in this verse, the translation uses “brought…put” for stylistic variation.

⁹ tn Heb “a thing of a day in its day.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “from the delicacies of the king.”

¹¹ tn Or “educated.” See HALOT 179 s.v. I גדל.

¹² tn Heb “stand before the king.”

¹³ tc The MT has עַל עַל (’al ’al, “he entered upon”). Several medieval Hebrew MSS lack the verb, although this may be due to haplography.

¹⁴ tc The LXX and Vulgate, along with one medieval Hebrew MS, lack this verb.

¹⁵ tn Aram “cause me to enter.” So also in v. 25.

¹⁶ tn Aram “the king.”

¹⁷ tn Aram “a revealer of mysteries.” The phrase serves as a quasi-title for God in Daniel.

¹⁸ tn Aram “in the latter days.”

¹⁹ tn Aram “your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed.”

²⁰ tn The Aramaic indefinite active plural is used here like the English passive. So also in v. 28, 29,32.

²¹ tn Aram “from mankind.” So also in v. 32.

²² tn Aram “your dwelling will be.” So also in v. 32.

²³ tn Or perhaps “be made to eat.”

²⁴ sn Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity has features that are associated with the mental disorder known as boanthropy, in which the person so afflicted imagines himself to be an ox or a similar animal and behaves accordingly.

²⁵ tn Aram “until.”

²⁶ tn Aram “until.”

²⁷ tn Aram “[there were] discovered to be in him.”

²⁸ tn Aram “wisdom like the wisdom.” This would be redundant in terms of English style.

²⁹ tc Theodotion lacks the phrase “and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods.”

³⁰ tc The MT includes a redundant reference to “your father the king” at the end of v. 11. None of the attempts to explain this phrase as original are very convincing. The present translation deletes the phrase, following Theodotion and the Syriac.

³¹ tn Heb “gave your heart.”

³² tn Heb “and when he stands.”

³³ tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

³⁴ tn Heb “engage in thrusting.”

³⁵ tn The referent of the pronoun is most likely the king of the south, in which case the text describes the king of the north countering the attack of the king of the south.

³⁶ tn Heb “many ships.”

³⁷ tn This most likely refers to the king of the north who, in response to the aggression of the king of the south, launches an invasion of the southern regions.

³⁸ tn Heb “and will overflow and pass over.”