1:8 But Daniel made up his mind 1 that he would not defile 2 himself with the royal delicacies or the royal wine. 3 He therefore asked the overseer of the court officials for permission not to defile himself.
3:19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and his disposition changed 11 toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders 12 to heat the furnace seven times hotter than it was normally heated.
3:24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was startled and quickly got up. He said to his ministers, “Wasn’t it three men that we tied up and threw 13 into 14 the fire?” They replied to the king, “For sure, O king.”
4:16 Let his mind 17 be altered from that of a human being,
and let an animal’s mind be given to him,
and let seven periods of time 18 go by for 19 him.
4:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. 20
He does as he wishes with the army of heaven
and with those who inhabit the earth.
No one slaps 21 his hand
and says to him, ‘What have you done?’
5:10 Due to the noise 22 caused by the king and his nobles, the queen mother 23 then entered the banquet room. She 24 said, “O king, live forever! Don’t be alarmed! Don’t be shaken!
6:23 Then the king was delighted and gave an order to haul Daniel up from the den. So Daniel was hauled up out of the den. He had no injury of any kind, because he had trusted in his God.
7:1 In the first 27 year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had 28 a dream filled with visions 29 while he was lying on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream in summary fashion. 30
7:10 A river of fire was streaming forth
and proceeding from his presence.
Many thousands were ministering to him;
Many tens of thousands stood ready to serve him. 31
The court convened 32
and the books were opened.
9:20 While I was still speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and presenting my request before the LORD my God concerning his holy mountain 36 –
11:7 “There will arise in his 37 place one from her family line 38 who will come against their army and will enter the stronghold of the king of the north and will move against them successfully. 39
11:11 “Then the king of the south 43 will be enraged and will march out to fight against the king of the north, who will also muster a large army, but that army will be delivered into his hand.
11:21 “Then there will arise in his place a despicable person 47 to whom the royal honor has not been rightfully conferred. He will come on the scene in a time of prosperity and will seize the kingdom through deceit.
1 tn Heb “placed on his heart.”
2 tn Or “would not make himself ceremonially unclean”; TEV “become ritually unclean.”
sn Various reasons have been suggested as to why such food would defile Daniel. Perhaps it had to do with violations of Mosaic law with regard to unclean foods, or perhaps it had to do with such food having been offered to idols. Daniel’s practice in this regard is strikingly different from that of Esther, who was able successfully to conceal her Jewish identity.
3 tn Heb “with the delicacies of the king and with the wine of his drinking.”
4 tc The MT lacks the conjunction, reading the first word in the phrase as a construct (“wisdom of insight”). While this reading is not impossible, it seems better to follow Theodotion, the Syriac, the Vulgate, and the Sahidic Coptic, all of which have the conjunction.
5 tn Heb “hands.”
6 tn Heb “said.” So also in v. 12.
7 tn Heb “Chaldeans.” The term Chaldeans (Hebrew כַּשְׂדִּים, kasdim) is used in the book of Daniel both in an ethnic sense and, as here, to refer to a caste of Babylonian wise men and astrologers.
8 tn Heb “to explain to the king his dreams.”
9 tn Heb “stood before the king.”
10 tn Aram “Daniel.” The proper name is redundant here in English, and has not been included in the translation.
11 tn Aram “the appearance of his face was altered”; cf. NLT “his face became distorted with rage”; NAB “[his] face became livid with utter rage.”
12 tn Aram “he answered and said.”
13 tn Aram “we threw…bound.”
14 tn Aram “into the midst of.”
15 tn Aram “from me is placed an edict.”
16 tn Aram “speaks negligence.”
17 tn Aram “its heart.” The metaphor of the tree begins to fade here and the reality behind the symbol (the king) begins to emerge.
18 sn The seven periods of time probably refer to seven years.
19 tn Aram “over” (also in vv. 23, 25, 32).
20 tc The present translation reads כְּלָא (kÿla’), with many medieval Hebrew
21 tn Aram “strikes against.”
22 tn Aram “words of the king.”
23 tn Aram “the queen” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). In the following discourse this woman is able to recall things about Daniel that go back to the days of Nebuchadnezzar, things that Belshazzar does not seem to recollect. It is likely that she was the wife not of Belshazzar but of Nabonidus or perhaps even Nebuchadnezzar. In that case, “queen” here means “queen mother” (cf. NCV “the king’s mother”).
24 tn Aram “The queen.” The translation has used the pronoun “she” instead because repetition of the noun here would be redundant in terms of English style.
25 tn Aram “from the sons of the captivity [of].”
26 tn Aram “prays his prayer.”
27 sn The first year of Belshazzar’s reign would have been ca. 553
28 tn Aram “saw.”
29 tn Aram “and visions of his head.” The Aramaic is difficult here. Some scholars add a verb thought to be missing (e.g., “the visions of his head [were alarming him]”), but there is no external evidence to support such a decision and the awkwardness of the text at this point may be original.
30 tn Aram “head of words.” The phrase is absent in Theodotion. Cf. NIV “the substance of his dream.”
31 tn Aram “were standing before him.”
32 tn Aram “judgment sat.”
33 tn Heb “he has fulfilled his word(s) which he spoke.”
34 tn Heb “our judges.”
35 tn Heb “who judged.”
36 tn Heb “the holy mountain of my God.”
37 sn The reference is to the king of Egypt.
38 tn Heb “the stock of her roots.”
sn The reference to one from her family line is probably to Berenice’s brother, Ptolemy III Euergetes (ca. 246-221
39 tn Heb “will deal with them and prevail.”
40 sn The sons of Seleucus II Callinicus were Seleucus III Ceraunus (ca. 227-223
41 tn Heb “his”; the referent (the enemy of the king of the north) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
42 tn Heb “and he will certainly come and overflow and cross over and return and be aroused unto a fortress.” The translation has attempted to simplify the syntax of this difficult sequence.
43 sn This king of the south refers to Ptolemy IV Philopator (ca. 221-204
44 sn This well-fortified city is apparently Sidon. Its capture from the Ptolemies by Antiochus the Great was a strategic victory for the Seleucid kingdom.
45 tn Or “choice troops” (BDB 104 s.v. מִבְחָר), or “elite troops” (HALOT 542 s.v. מִבְחָר).
46 tn Heb “hand.”
47 sn This despicable person to whom the royal honor has not been rightfully conferred is Antiochus IV Epiphanes (ca. 175-164
48 sn The name Kittim has various designations in extra-biblical literature. It can refer to a location on the island of Cyprus, or more generally to the island itself, or it can be an inclusive term to refer to parts of the Mediterranean world that lay west of the Middle East (e.g., Rome). For ships of Kittim the Greek OT (LXX) has “Romans,” an interpretation followed by a few English versions (e.g., TEV). A number of times in the Dead Sea Scrolls the word is used in reference to the Romans. Other English versions are more generic: “[ships] of the western coastlands” (NIV, NLT); “from the west” (NCV, CEV).
49 sn This is apparently a reference to the Roman forces, led by Gaius Popilius Laenas, which confronted Antiochus when he came to Egypt and demanded that he withdraw or face the wrath of Rome. Antiochus wisely withdrew from Egypt, albeit in a state of bitter frustration.
50 tn Heb “show regard for.”
51 tn Heb “consider.”
52 tn Heb “[the one] desired by women.” The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.