Daniel 4:17

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.’

Daniel 4:25

4:25 You will be driven ³  from human society, ⁴  and you will live ⁵  with the wild animals. You will be fed ⁶  grass like oxen, ⁷  and you will become damp with the dew of the sky. Seven periods of time will pass by for you, before ⁸  you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.

Daniel 4:32

4:32 You will be driven from human society, and you will live with the wild animals. You will be fed grass like oxen, and seven periods of time will pass by for you before ⁹  you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.”

Daniel 4:34

4:34 But at the end of the appointed time ¹⁰  I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up ¹¹  toward heaven, and my sanity returned to me.

I extolled the Most High,

and I praised and glorified the one who lives forever.

For his authority is an everlasting authority,

and his kingdom extends from one generation to the next.

Daniel 5:21

5:21 He was driven from human society, his mind ¹²  was changed to that of an animal, he lived ¹³  with the wild donkeys, he was fed grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until he came to understand that the most high God rules over human kingdoms, and he appoints over them whomever he wishes.

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 ¹⁴  of the Most High.

His kingdom is an eternal kingdom;

all authorities will serve him and obey him.’

Daniel 9:24

9:24 “Seventy weeks ¹⁵  have been determined

concerning your people and your holy city

to put an end to ¹⁶  rebellion,

to bring sin ¹⁷  to completion, ¹⁸ 

to atone for iniquity,

to bring in perpetual ¹⁹  righteousness,

to seal up ²⁰  the prophetic vision, ²¹ 

and to anoint a most holy place. ²² 

Daniel 11:24

11:24 In a time of prosperity for the most productive areas of the province he will come and accomplish what neither his fathers nor their fathers accomplished. He will distribute loot, spoils, and property to his followers, and he will devise plans against fortified cities, but not for long. ²³ 

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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 tn The Aramaic indefinite active plural is used here like the English passive. So also in v. 28, 29,32.

⁴ tn Aram “from mankind.” So also in v. 32.

⁵ tn Aram “your dwelling will be.” So also in v. 32.

⁶ tn Or perhaps “be made to eat.”

⁷ sn Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity has features that are associated with the mental disorder known as boanthropy, in which the person so afflicted imagines himself to be an ox or a similar animal and behaves accordingly.

⁸ tn Aram “until.”

⁹ tn Aram “until.”

¹⁰ tn Aram “days.”

¹¹ tn Aram “lifted up my eyes.”

¹² tn Aram “heart.”

¹³ tn Aram “his dwelling.”

¹⁴ 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.

¹⁵ tn Heb “sevens.” Elsewhere the term is used of a literal week (a period of seven days), cf. Gen 29:27-28; Exod 34:22; Lev 12:5; Num 28:26; Deut 16:9-10; 2 Chr 8:13; Jer 5:24; Dan 10:2-3. Gabriel unfolds the future as if it were a calendar of successive weeks. Most understand the reference here as periods of seventy “sevens” of years, or a total of 490 years.

¹⁶ tc Or “to finish.” The present translation reads the Qere (from the root תָּמַם, tamam) with many witnesses. The Kethib has “to seal up” (from the root הָתַם, hatam), a confusion with a reference later in the verse to sealing up the vision.

¹⁷ tc The present translation reads the Qere (singular), rather than the Kethib (plural).

¹⁸ tn The Hebrew phrase לְכַלֵּא (lÿkhalle’) is apparently an alternative (metaplastic) spelling of the root כָּלָה (kalah, “to complete, finish”), rather than a form of כָּלָא (kala’, “to shut up, restrain”), as has sometimes been supposed.

¹⁹ tn Or “everlasting.”

²⁰ sn The act of sealing in the OT is a sign of authentication. Cf. 1 Kgs 21:8; Jer 32:10, 11, 44.

²¹ tn Heb “vision and prophecy.” The expression is a hendiadys.

²² tn Or “the most holy place” (NASB, NLT); or “a most holy one”; or “the most holy one,” though the expression is used of places or objects elsewhere, not people.

²³ tn Heb “and unto a time.”