Daniel 1:21
1:21 Now Daniel lived on until the first 1 year of Cyrus the king.
Daniel 2:36
2:36 This was the dream. Now we 2 will set forth before the king its interpretation.
Daniel 5:9
5:9 Then King Belshazzar was very terrified, and he was visibly shaken. 3 His nobles were completely dumbfounded.
Daniel 5:30
5:30 And in that very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, 4 was killed. 5
Daniel 11:3
11:3 Then a powerful king 6 will arise, exercising great authority and doing as he pleases.
1 sn The Persian king Cyrus’ first year in control of Babylon was 539 B.C. Daniel actually lived beyond the first year of Cyrus, as is clear from 10:1. The purpose of the statement in 1:21 is merely to say that Daniel’s life spanned the entire period of the neo-Babylonian empire. His life span also included the early years of the Persian control of Babylon. However, by that time his age was quite advanced; he probably died sometime in the 530’s B.C.
2 tn Various suggestions have been made concerning the plural “we.” It is probably the editorial plural and could be translated here as “I.”
3 tn Aram “his visage altered upon him.” So also in v. 10.
4 tn Aram “king of the Chaldeans.”
5 sn The year was 539 B.C. At this time Daniel would have been approximately eighty-one years old. The relevant extra-biblical records describing the fall of Babylon include portions of Herodotus, Xenophon, Berossus (cited in Josephus), the Cyrus Cylinder, and the Babylonian Chronicle.
6 sn The powerful king mentioned here is Alexander the Great (ca. 336-323 B.C.).