¹ sn Having failed to convince the overseer, Daniel sought the favor of the warden whom the overseer had appointed to care for the young men.

² tn Heb “let our appearance be seen before you.”

³ tn Heb “the appearance of.”

⁴ tn Heb “delicacies of the king.” So also in v. 15.

⁵ tn Heb “your servants.”

⁶ tn The Aramaic word מְהַחְצְפָה (mÿhakhtsÿfah) may refer to the severity of the king’s decree (i.e., “harsh”; so HALOT 1879 s.v. חצף; BDB 1093 s.v. חֲצַף), although it would seem that in a delicate situation such as this Daniel would avoid this kind of criticism of the king’s actions. The translation above understands the word to refer to the immediacy, not harshness, of the decree. See further, F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 50, §116; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 67.

⁷ sn The identity of the first kingdom is clearly Babylon. The identification of the following three kingdoms is disputed. The common view is that they represent Media, Persia, and Greece. Most conservative scholars identify them as Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome.

⁸ tn Aram “fell on his face.”

⁹ tn Aram “in anger and wrath”; NASB “in rage and anger.” The expression is a hendiadys.

¹⁰ tn The Aramaic infinitive is active.

¹¹ tn Aram “these men.” The pronoun is used in the translation to avoid undue repetition.

¹² tn Aram “[the king’s] brightness changed for him.”

¹³ tn Aram “his thoughts were alarming him.”

¹⁴ tn Aram “his loins went slack.”

¹⁵ tn Aram “Belshazzar spoke.”

¹⁶ tn Aram “those men”; the referent (the administrative officials who had earlier approached the king about the edict) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁷ tn The meaning of Aramaic דַּחֲוָה (dakhavah) is a crux interpretum. Suggestions include “music,” “dancing girls,” “concubines,” “table,” “food” – all of which are uncertain. The translation employed here, suggested by earlier scholars, is deliberately vague. A number of recent English versions follow a similar approach with “entertainment” (e.g., NASB, NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT). On this word see further, HALOT 1849-50 s.v.; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 37.

¹⁸ tn Aram “his sleep fled from him.”

¹⁹ tn Aram “May your peace be increased!”

²⁰ sn The only angels whose names are given in the OT are Gabriel (Dan 8:16; 9:21; cf. Luke 1:19, 26) and Michael (Dan 10:13, 21; 12:1; cf. Jude 9; Rev 12:7). The name Gabriel means in Hebrew “man of God,” and Michael means “who is like God?”

²¹ sn The king of the south is Ptolemy I Soter (ca. 323-285 B.C.). The following reference to one of his subordinates apparently has in view Seleucus I Nicator (ca. 311-280 B.C.). Throughout the remainder of chap. 11 the expressions “king of the south” and “king of the north” repeatedly occur. It is clear, however, that these terms are being used generically to describe the Ptolemaic king (i.e., “of the south”) or the Seleucid king (i.e., “of the north”) who happens to be in power at any particular time. The specific identity of these kings can be established more or less successfully by a comparison of this chapter with the available extra-biblical records that discuss the history of the intertestamental period. In the following notes the generally accepted identifications are briefly mentioned.

²² tn Heb “princes.”

²³ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the subordinate prince mentioned in the previous clause) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁴ tn Heb “be strong against.”

²⁵ tn Heb “greater than his kingdom.”

²⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king of the north) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁷ tn Or “corrupt.”

²⁸ tn Heb “acted wickedly toward.”

²⁹ tn Heb “know.” The term “know” sometimes means “to recognize.” In relational contexts it can have the connotation “recognize the authority of, be loyal to,” as it does here.

³⁰ sn This is an allusion to the Maccabean revolt, which struggled to bring about Jewish independence in the second century B.C.