2:25 So Arioch quickly ushered Daniel into the king’s presence, saying to him, “I 1 have found a man from the captives of Judah who can make known the interpretation to the king.”
4:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. 5
He does as he wishes with the army of heaven
and with those who inhabit the earth.
No one slaps 6 his hand
and says to him, ‘What have you done?’
9:15 “Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with great power 14 and made a name for yourself that is remembered to this day – we have sinned and behaved wickedly.
1 sn Arioch’s claim is self-serving and exaggerated. It is Daniel who came to him, and not the other way around. By claiming to have found one capable of solving the king’s dilemma, Arioch probably hoped to ingratiate himself to the king.
2 sn Much of modern scholarship views this chapter as a distortion of traditions that were originally associated with Nabonidus rather than with Nebuchadnezzar. A Qumran text, the Prayer of Nabonidus, is often cited for parallels to these events.
3 tn Aram “house.”
4 tn Aram “by the might of my strength.”
5 tc The present translation reads כְּלָא (kÿla’), with many medieval Hebrew
6 tn Aram “strikes against.”
7 tn Heb “the broken one.” The word “horn” has been supplied in the translation to clarify the referent.
8 tn Heb “in your name.” Another option is to translate, “as your representatives.”
9 tn Heb “our fathers” (also in vv. 8, 16). The Hebrew term translated “father” can refer to more distant relationships such as grandfathers or ancestors.
10 tn Heb “people.”
11 tn Or “righteous.”
12 tn Heb “in all his deeds which he has done.”
13 tn Heb “we have not listened to his voice.”
14 tn Heb “with a powerful hand.”
15 tn Or “a precious treasure”; KJV “greatly beloved”; NASB, NIV “highly esteemed.”
16 tn This sentence is perhaps a compound hendiadys (“give serious consideration to the revelatory vision”).
17 sn The question is rhetorical, intended to encourage reflection on Daniel’s part.
18 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.
19 tn Or “choice troops” (BDB 104 s.v. מִבְחָר), or “elite troops” (HALOT 542 s.v. מִבְחָר).
20 tn The words “your way” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
21 tc The LXX lacks “until the end.”
22 tn The word “receive” is added in the translation for clarification.
23 sn The deuterocanonical writings known as the Story of Susanna and Bel and the Dragon appear respectively as chapters 13 and 14 of the book of Daniel in the Greek version of this book. Although these writings are not part of the Hebrew/Aramaic text of Daniel, they were popular among certain early communities who valued traditions about the life of Daniel.