3:4 Then the herald 5 made a loud 6 proclamation: “To you, O peoples, nations, and language groups, the following command is given: 7
5:1 King Belshazzar 8 prepared a great banquet 9 for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in front of 10 them all. 11
7:26 But the court will convene, 13 and his ruling authority will be removed –
destroyed and abolished forever!
10:15 While he was saying this to me, 14 I was flat on 15 the ground and unable to speak.
1 tn Heb “and it happened that.”
2 tn Heb “among them”; the referent (the young men taken captive from Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “the sons of Judah.”
4 sn The names reflect a Jewish heritage. In Hebrew Daniel means “God is my judge”; Hananiah means “the Lord is gracious”; Mishael means “who is what God is?”; Azariah means “the Lord has helped.”
5 tn According to BDB 1097 s.v. כָּרוֹז the Aramaic word used here is a Greek loanword, but other scholars have argued instead for a Persian derivation (HALOT 1902 s.v. *כָּרוֹז).
6 tn Aram “in strength.”
7 tn Aram “they are saying.”
8 sn As is clear from the extra-biblical records, it was actually Nabonidus (ca. 556-539
9 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.
10 sn The king probably sat at an elevated head table.
11 tn Aram “the thousand.”
12 sn The expression holy ones is either a reference to angels or to human beings devoted to God.
13 tn Aram “judgment will sit” (KJV similar).
14 tn Heb “speaking to me according to these words.”
15 tn Heb “I placed my face toward.”