1:3 The king commanded 1 Ashpenaz, 2 who was in charge of his court officials, 3 to choose 4 some of the Israelites who were of royal and noble descent 5 –
1:18 When the time appointed by the king arrived, 6 the overseer of the court officials brought them into Nebuchadnezzar’s presence.
2:31 “You, O king, were watching as a great statue – one 7 of impressive size and extraordinary brightness – was standing before you. Its appearance caused alarm.
2:46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar bowed down with his face to the ground 8 and paid homage to Daniel. He gave orders to offer sacrifice and incense to him.
3:13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in a fit of rage 9 demanded that they bring 10 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before him. So they brought them 11 before the king.
5:1 King Belshazzar 12 prepared a great banquet 13 for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in front of 14 them all. 15
6:25 Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and language groups who were living in all the land: “Peace and prosperity! 25
8:1 26 In the third year 27 of King Belshazzar’s reign, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that had appeared to me previously. 28
9:1 In the first year of Darius 29 son of Ahasuerus, 30 who was of Median descent and who had been 31 appointed king over the Babylonian 32 empire –
11:5 “Then the king of the south 33 and one of his subordinates 34 will grow strong. His subordinate 35 will resist 36 him and will rule a kingdom greater than his. 37
1 tn Or “gave orders to.” Heb “said to.”
2 sn It is possible that the word Ashpenaz is not a proper name at all, but a general term for “innkeeper.” See J. J. Collins, Daniel (Hermeneia), 127, n. 9. However, the ancient versions understand the term to be a name, and the present translation (along with most English versions) understands the word in this way.
3 sn The word court official (Hebrew saris) need not mean “eunuch” in a technical sense (see Gen 37:36, where the term refers to Potiphar, who had a wife), although in the case of the book of Daniel there was in Jewish literature a common tradition to that effect. On the OT usage of this word see HALOT 769-70 s.v. סָרֹיס.
4 tn Heb “bring.”
5 tn Heb “and from the seed of royalty and from the nobles.”
6 tn Heb “at the end of the days which the king said to bring them.”
7 tn Aram “an image.”
8 tn Aram “fell on his face.”
9 tn Aram “in anger and wrath”; NASB “in rage and anger.” The expression is a hendiadys.
10 tn The Aramaic infinitive is active.
11 tn Aram “these men.” The pronoun is used in the translation to avoid undue repetition.
12 sn As is clear from the extra-biblical records, it was actually Nabonidus (ca. 556-539
13 sn This scene of a Babylonian banquet calls to mind a similar grandiose event recorded in Esth 1:3-8. Persian kings were also renowned in the ancient Near Eastern world for their lavish banquets.
14 sn The king probably sat at an elevated head table.
15 tn Aram “the thousand.”
16 tn Aram “[the king’s] brightness changed for him.”
17 tn Aram “his thoughts were alarming him.”
18 tn Aram “his loins went slack.”
19 tn Aram “giving an account.”
20 tn Aram “establish a written interdict and inscribe a written decree.”
21 tn Or “removed.”
22 tn Aram “those men”; the referent (the administrative officials who had earlier approached the king about the edict) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
23 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.
24 tn Aram “his sleep fled from him.”
25 tn Aram “May your peace be increased!”
26 sn Dan 8:1 marks the switch from Aramaic (= 2:4b-7:28) back to Hebrew as the language in which the book is written in its present form. The remainder of the book from this point on (8:1-12:13) is in Hebrew. The bilingual nature of the book has been variously explained, but it most likely has to do with the book’s transmission history.
27 sn The third year of King Belshazzar’s reign would have been ca. 551
28 tn Heb “in the beginning.” This refers to the vision described in chapter seven.
29 sn The identity of this Darius is a major problem in correlating the biblical material with the extra-biblical records of this period. Most modern scholars treat the reference as a mistaken allusion to Darius Hystaspes (ca. 522-486
30 tc The LXX reads “Xerxes.” This is the reading used by some English versions (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV). Most other English versions retain the Hebrew name “Ahasuerus.”
31 tc The present translation follows the MT in reading a Hophal (i.e., passive). Theodotion, the Syriac, and the Vulgate all presuppose the Hiphil (i.e., active). Even though this is the only occurrence of the Hophal of this verb in the Bible, there is no need to emend the vocalization to the Hiphil.
32 tn Heb “was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans.”
33 sn The king of the south is Ptolemy I Soter (ca. 323-285
34 tn Heb “princes.”
35 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the subordinate prince mentioned in the previous clause) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
36 tn Heb “be strong against.”
37 tn Heb “greater than his kingdom.”
38 tc The present translation reads יִשָׁטֵף (yishatef, passive) rather than the MT יִשְׁטוֹף (yishtof, active).