Daniel 7:4

7:4 “The first one was like a lion with eagles’ wings. As I watched, its wings were pulled off and it was lifted up from the ground. It was made to stand on two feet like a human being, and a human mind 1  was given to it. 2 

Daniel 9:2

9:2 in the first year of his reign 3  I, Daniel, came to understand from the sacred books 4  that, according to the word of the LORD 5  disclosed to the prophet Jeremiah, the years for the fulfilling of the desolation of Jerusalem 6  were seventy in number.

Daniel 10:12

10:12 Then he said to me, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel, for from the very first day you applied your mind 7  to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard. I have come in response to your words.

1 tn Aram “heart of a man.”

2 sn The identity of the first animal, derived from v. 17 and the parallels in chap. 2, is Babylon. The reference to the plucking of its wings is probably a reference to the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity (cf. chap. 4). The latter part of v. 4 then describes the restoration of Nebuchadnezzar. The other animals have traditionally been understood to represent respectively Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome, although most of modern scholarship identifies them as Media, Persia, and Greece. For a biblical parallel to the mention of lion, bear, and leopard together, see Hos 13:7-8.

3 tc This phrase, repeated from v. 1, is absent in Theodotion.

4 tn The Hebrew text has “books”; the word “sacred” has been added in the translation to clarify that it is Scriptures that are referred to.

5 sn The tetragrammaton (the four Hebrew letters which constitute the divine Name, YHWH) appears eight times in this chapter, and nowhere else in the book of Daniel.

6 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

7 tn Heb “gave your heart.”