Daniel 4:17-18

4:17 This announcement is by the decree of the sentinels;

this decision is by the pronouncement of the holy ones,

so that ¹  those who are alive may understand

that the Most High has authority over human kingdoms, ² 

and he bestows them on whomever he wishes.

He establishes over them even the lowliest of human beings.’

4:18 “This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare its ³  interpretation, for none of the wise men in ⁴  my kingdom are able to make known to me the interpretation. But you can do so, for a spirit of the holy gods is in you.”

Daniel 5:11

5:11 There is a man in your kingdom who has within him a spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, he proved to have ⁵  insight, discernment, and wisdom like that ⁶  of the gods. ⁷  King Nebuchadnezzar your father appointed him chief of the magicians, astrologers, wise men, and diviners. ⁸ 

Daniel 7:25

7:25 He will speak words against the Most High.

He will harass ⁹  the holy ones of the Most High continually.

His intention ¹⁰  will be to change times established by law. ¹¹ 

They will be delivered into his hand

For a time, times, ¹²  and half a time.

Daniel 7:27

7:27 Then the kingdom, authority,

and greatness of the kingdoms under all of heaven

will be delivered to the people of the holy ones ¹³  of the Most High.

His kingdom is an eternal kingdom;

all authorities will serve him and obey him.’

Daniel 9:16

9:16 O Lord, according to all your justice, ¹⁴  please turn your raging anger ¹⁵  away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. For due to our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people are mocked by all our neighbors.

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¹ tc The present translation follows an underlying reading of עַל־דִּבְרַת (’al-divrat, “so that”) rather than MT עַד־דִּבְרַת (’ad-divrat, “until”).

² tn Aram “the kingdom of man”; NASB “the realm of mankind”; NCV “every kingdom on earth.”

³ tc The present translation reads פִּשְׁרֵהּ (pishreh, “its interpretation”) with the Qere and many medieval Hebrew MSS; the Kethib is פִּשְׁרָא (pishra’, “the interpretation”); so also v. 16.

⁴ tn Aram “of.”

⁵ tn Aram “[there were] discovered to be in him.”

⁶ tn Aram “wisdom like the wisdom.” This would be redundant in terms of English style.

⁷ tc Theodotion lacks the phrase “and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods.”

⁸ 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.

⁹ tn Aram “wear out” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV); NASB, NLT “wear down.” The word is a hapax legomenon in biblical Aramaic, but in biblical Hebrew it especially refers to wearing out such things as garments. Here it is translated “harass…continually.”

¹⁰ tn Aram “he will think.”

¹¹ tn Aram “times and law.” The present translation is based on the understanding that the expression is a hendiadys.

¹² sn Although the word times is vocalized in the MT as a plural, it probably should be regarded as a dual. The Masoretes may have been influenced here by the fact that in late Aramaic (and Syriac) the dual forms fall out of use. The meaning would thus be three and a half “times.”

¹³ tn If the “holy ones” are angels, then this probably refers to the angels as protectors of God’s people. If the “holy ones” are God’s people, then this is an appositional construction, “the people who are the holy ones.” See 8:24 for the corresponding Hebrew phrase and the note there.

¹⁴ tn Or “righteousness.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “your anger and your rage.” The synonyms are joined here to emphasize the degree of God’s anger. This is best expressed in English by making one of the terms adjectival (cf. NLT “your furious anger”; CEV “terribly angry”).