7:9 “While I was watching,
thrones were set up,
and the Ancient of Days 9 took his seat.
His attire was white like snow;
the hair of his head was like lamb’s 10 wool.
His throne was ablaze with fire
and its wheels were all aflame. 11
1 tn Aram “a revealer of mysteries.” The phrase serves as a quasi-title for God in Daniel.
2 tn Aram “in the latter days.”
3 tn Aram “your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed.”
4 tn Or perhaps, “when he had tasted” (cf. NASB) in the sense of officially initiating the commencement of the banquet. The translation above seems preferable, however, given the clear evidence of inebriation in the context (cf. also CEV “he got drunk and ordered”).
5 tn Or “ancestor”; or “predecessor” (also in vv. 11, 13, 18). The Aramaic word translated “father” can on occasion denote these other relationships.
6 tn Or “taken.”
7 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
8 sn Making use of sacred temple vessels for an occasion of reveling and drunkenness such as this would have been a religious affront of shocking proportions to the Jewish captives.
9 tn Or “the Ancient One” (NAB, NRSV, NLT), although the traditional expression has been retained in the present translation because it is familiar to many readers. Cf. TEV “One who had been living for ever”; CEV “the Eternal God.”
10 tn Traditionally the Aramaic word נְקֵא (nÿqe’) has been rendered “pure,” but here it more likely means “of a lamb.” Cf. the Syriac neqya’ (“a sheep, ewe”). On this word see further, M. Sokoloff, “’amar neqe’, ‘Lamb’s Wool’ (Dan 7:9),” JBL 95 (1976): 277-79.
11 tn Aram “a flaming fire.”