Daniel 2:4

2:4 The wise men replied to the king: [What follows is in Aramaic ¹ ] “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will disclose its ²  interpretation.”

Daniel 4:20

4:20 The tree that you saw that grew large and strong, whose top reached to the sky, and which could be seen ³  in all the land,

Daniel 8:14

8:14 He said to me, “To 2,300 evenings and mornings; ⁴  then the sanctuary will be put right again.” ⁵ 

Daniel 8:22

8:22 The horn that was broken ⁶  and in whose place there arose four others stands for four kingdoms that will arise from his nation, though they will not have his strength.

Daniel 10:7

10:7 Only I, Daniel, saw the vision; the men who were with me did not see it. ⁷  On the contrary, they were overcome with fright ⁸  and ran away to hide.

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¹ sn Contrary to common belief, the point here is not that the wise men (Chaldeans) replied to the king in the Aramaic language, or that this language was uniquely the language of the Chaldeans. It was this view that led in the past to Aramaic being referred to as “Chaldee.” Aramaic was used as a lingua franca during this period; its origins and usage were not restricted to the Babylonians. Rather, this phrase is better understood as an editorial note (cf. NAB) marking the fact that from 2:4b through 7:28 the language of the book shifts from Hebrew to Aramaic. In 8:1, and for the remainder of the book, the language returns to Hebrew. Various views have been advanced to account for this change of language, most of which are unconvincing. Most likely the change in language is a reflection of stages in the transmission history of the book of Daniel.

² tn Or “the.”

³ tn Aram “its sight.”

⁴ sn The language of evenings and mornings is reminiscent of the creation account in Genesis 1. Since “evening and morning” is the equivalent of a day, the reference here would be to 2,300 days. However, some interpreters understand the reference to be to the evening sacrifice and the morning sacrifice, in which case the reference would be to only 1,150 days. Either way, the event that marked the commencement of this period is unclear. The event that marked the conclusion of the period is the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem following the atrocious and sacrilegious acts that Antiochus implemented. This took place on December 25, 165 B.C. The Jewish celebration of Hanukkah each year commemorates this victory.

⁵ tn Heb “will be vindicated” or “will be justified.” This is the only occurrence of this verb in the Niphal in the OT. English versions interpret it as “cleansed” (KJV, ASV), “restored” (NASB, TEV, NLT), or “reconsecrated” (NIV).

⁶ tn Heb “the broken one.” The word “horn” has been supplied in the translation to clarify the referent.

⁷ tn Heb “the vision.”

⁸ tn Heb “great trembling fell on them.”