7:9 “While I was watching,
thrones were set up,
and the Ancient of Days 6 took his seat.
His attire was white like snow;
the hair of his head was like lamb’s 7 wool.
His throne was ablaze with fire
and its wheels were all aflame. 8
1 tn Aram “[there were] discovered to be in him.”
2 tn Aram “wisdom like the wisdom.” This would be redundant in terms of English style.
3 tc Theodotion lacks the phrase “and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods.”
4 tc The MT includes a redundant reference to “your father the king” at the end of v. 11. None of the attempts to explain this phrase as original are very convincing. The present translation deletes the phrase, following Theodotion and the Syriac.
5 tn Aram “prays a prayer.”
6 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.”
7 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.
8 tn Aram “a flaming fire.”