5:5 At that very moment the fingers of a human hand appeared 1 and wrote on the plaster of the royal palace wall, opposite the lampstand. 2 The king was watching the back 3 of the hand that was writing.
7:1 In the first 4 year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had 5 a dream filled with visions 6 while he was lying on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream in summary fashion. 7
1 tn Aram “came forth.”
2 sn The mention of the lampstand in this context is of interest because it suggests that the writing was in clear view.
3 tn While Aramaic פַּס (pas) can mean the palm of the hand, here it seems to be the back of the hand that is intended.
4 sn The first year of Belshazzar’s reign would have been ca. 553
5 tn Aram “saw.”
6 tn Aram “and visions of his head.” The Aramaic is difficult here. Some scholars add a verb thought to be missing (e.g., “the visions of his head [were alarming him]”), but there is no external evidence to support such a decision and the awkwardness of the text at this point may be original.
7 tn Aram “head of words.” The phrase is absent in Theodotion. Cf. NIV “the substance of his dream.”