Discovery BoxDaniel 1:2 
Context1:2 Now the Lord 1 delivered 2 King Jehoiakim of Judah into his power, 3 along with some of the vessels 4 of the temple of God. 5 He brought them to the land of Babylonia 6 to the temple of his god 7 and put 8 the vessels in the treasury of his god.
Daniel 1:4
Context1:4 young men in whom there was no physical defect and who were handsome, 9 well versed in all kinds of wisdom, well educated 10 and having keen insight, 11 and who were capable 12 of entering the king’s royal service 13 – and to teach them the literature and language 14 of the Babylonians. 15
Daniel 2:23
Context2:23 O God of my fathers, I acknowledge and glorify you,
for you have bestowed wisdom and power on me.
Now you have enabled me to understand what I 16 requested from you.
For you have enabled me to understand the king’s dilemma.” 17
Daniel 2:28
Context2:28 However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, 18 and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the times to come. 19 The dream and the visions you had while lying on your bed 20 are as follows.
Daniel 2:45
Context2:45 You saw that a stone was cut from a mountain, but not by human hands; it smashed the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold into pieces. The great God has made known to the king what will occur in the future. 21 The dream is certain, and its interpretation is reliable.”
Daniel 3:7
Context3:7 Therefore when they all 22 heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, 23 and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations, and language groups began bowing down and paying homage to the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had erected.
Daniel 3:12
Context3:12 But there are Jewish men whom you appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego – and these men 24 have not shown proper respect to you, O king. They don’t serve your gods and they don’t pay homage to the golden statue that you have erected.”
Daniel 3:27-28
Context3:27 Once the satraps, prefects, governors, and ministers of the king had gathered around, they saw that those men were physically 25 unharmed by the fire. 26 The hair of their heads was not singed, nor were their trousers damaged. Not even the smell of fire was to be found on them!
3:28 Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, 27 “Praised be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent forth his angel 28 and has rescued his servants who trusted in him, ignoring 29 the edict of the king and giving up their bodies rather than 30 serve or pay homage to any god other than their God!
Daniel 4:18-19
Context4:18 “This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare its 31 interpretation, for none of the wise men in 32 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.”
4:19 Then Daniel (whose name is also Belteshazzar) was upset for a brief time; 33 his thoughts were alarming him. The king said, “Belteshazzar, don’t let the dream and its interpretation alarm you.” But Belteshazzar replied, “Sir, 34 if only the dream were for your enemies and its interpretation applied to your adversaries!
Daniel 5:2
Context5:2 While under the influence 35 of the wine, Belshazzar issued an order to bring in the gold and silver vessels – the ones that Nebuchadnezzar his father 36 had confiscated 37 from the temple in Jerusalem 38 – so that the king and his nobles, together with his wives and his concubines, could drink from them. 39
Daniel 5:11
Context5:11 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 40 insight, discernment, and wisdom like that 41 of the gods. 42 King Nebuchadnezzar your father appointed him chief of the magicians, astrologers, wise men, and diviners. 43
Daniel 6:7
Context6:7 To all the supervisors of the kingdom, the prefects, satraps, counselors, and governors it seemed like a good idea for a royal edict to be issued and an interdict to be enforced. For the next thirty days anyone who prays 44 to any god or human other than you, O king, should be thrown into a den of lions.
Daniel 6:24
Context6:24 The king gave another order, 45 and those men who had maliciously accused 46 Daniel were brought and thrown 47 into the lions’ den – they, their children, and their wives. 48 They did not even reach the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.
Daniel 11:2
Context11:2 Now I will tell you the truth.
“Three 49 more kings will arise for Persia. Then a fourth 50 king will be unusually rich, 51 more so than all who preceded him. When he has amassed power through his riches, he will stir up everyone against 52 the kingdom of Greece.
Daniel 11:17
Context11:17 His intention 53 will be to come with the strength of his entire kingdom, and he will form alliances. 54 He will give the king of the south 55 a daughter 56 in marriage in order to destroy the kingdom, but it will not turn out to his advantage.
Daniel 11:36
Context11:36 “Then the king 57 will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every deity and he will utter presumptuous things against the God of gods. He will succeed until the time of 58 wrath is completed, for what has been decreed must occur. 59
1 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
2 tn Heb “gave.”
3 tn Heb “hand,” which is often used idiomatically for one’s power and authority. See BDB 390 s.v. יָד 2.
4 tn Or “utensils”; or “articles.”
5 tn Heb “house of God.”
6 sn The land of Babylonia (Heb “the land of Shinar”) is another name for Sumer and Akkad, where Babylon was located (cf. Gen 10:10; 11:2; 14:1, 9; Josh 7:21; Isa 11:11; Zech 5:11).
7 tn Or “gods” (NCV, NRSV, TEV; also later in this verse). The Hebrew term can be used as a numerical plural for many gods or as a plural of majesty for one particular god. Since Nebuchadnezzar was a polytheist, it is not clear if the reference here is to many gods or one particular deity. The plural of majesty, while normally used for Israel’s God, is occasionally used of foreign gods (cf. BDB 43 s.v. אֱלֹהִים 1, 2). See Judg 11:24 (of the Moabite god Chemosh); 1 Sam 5:7 (of the Philistine god Dagon); 1 Kgs 11:33 (of the Canaanite goddess Astarte, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god Milcom); 2 Kgs 19:37 (of the Assyrian god Nisroch). Since gods normally had their own individual temples, Dan 1:2 probably refers to a particular deity, perhaps Marduk, the supreme god of Babylon, or Marduk’s son Nabu, after whom Nebuchadnezzar was named. The name Nebuchadnezzar means “Nabu has protected the son who will inherit” (HALOT 660 s.v. נְבוּכַדְרֶאצַּר). For a discussion of how temples functioned in Babylonian religion see H. Ringgren, Religions of the Ancient Near East, 77-81.
8 tn Heb “brought.” Though the Hebrew verb “brought” is repeated in this verse, the translation uses “brought…put” for stylistic variation.
9 tn Heb “good of appearance.”
10 tn Heb “knowers of knowledge.”
11 tn Heb “understanders of knowledge.”
12 tn Heb “who had strength.”
13 tn Heb “to stand in the palace of the king.” Cf. vv. 5, 19.
14 sn The language of the Chaldeans referred to here is Akkadian, an East Semitic cuneiform language.
15 tn Heb “Chaldeans” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV). This is an ancient name for the Babylonians.
16 tn Aram “we.” Various explanations have been offered for the plural, but it is probably best understood as the editorial plural; so also with “me” later in this verse.
17 tn Aram “the word of the king.”
18 tn Aram “a revealer of mysteries.” The phrase serves as a quasi-title for God in Daniel.
19 tn Aram “in the latter days.”
20 tn Aram “your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed.”
21 tn Aram “after this.”
22 tn Aram “all the peoples.”
23 tc Though not in the Aramaic text of BHS, this word appears in many medieval Hebrew
24 sn Daniel’s absence from this scene has sparked the imagination of commentators, some of whom have suggested that perhaps he was unable to attend the dedication due to sickness or due to being away on business. Hippolytus supposed that Daniel may have been watching from a distance.
25 tn Aram “in their bodies.”
26 tn Aram “the fire did not have power.”
27 tn Aram “answered and said.”
28 sn The king identifies the “son of the gods” (v. 25) as an angel. Comparable Hebrew expressions are used elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible for the members of God’s angelic assembly (see Gen 6:2, 4; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Pss 29:1; 89:6). An angel later comes to rescue Daniel from the lions (Dan 6:22).
29 tn Aram “they changed” or “violated.”
30 tn Aram “so that they might not.”
31 tc The present translation reads פִּשְׁרֵהּ (pishreh, “its interpretation”) with the Qere and many medieval Hebrew
32 tn Aram “of.”
33 tn Aram “about one hour.” The expression refers idiomatically to a brief period of time of undetermined length.
34 tn Aram “my lord.”
35 tn Or perhaps, “when he had tasted” (cf. NASB) in the sense of officially initiating the commencement of the banquet. The translation above seems preferable, however, given the clear evidence of inebriation in the context (cf. also CEV “he got drunk and ordered”).
36 tn Or “ancestor”; or “predecessor” (also in vv. 11, 13, 18). The Aramaic word translated “father” can on occasion denote these other relationships.
37 tn Or “taken.”
38 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
39 sn Making use of sacred temple vessels for an occasion of reveling and drunkenness such as this would have been a religious affront of shocking proportions to the Jewish captives.
40 tn Aram “[there were] discovered to be in him.”
41 tn Aram “wisdom like the wisdom.” This would be redundant in terms of English style.
42 tc Theodotion lacks the phrase “and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods.”
43 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.
44 tn Aram “prays a prayer.”
45 tn Aram “said.”
46 tn Aram “had eaten the pieces of.” The Aramaic expression is ironic, in that the accusers who had figuratively “eaten the pieces of Daniel” are themselves literally devoured by the lions.
47 tn The Aramaic active impersonal verb is often used as a substitute for the passive.
48 tc The LXX specifies only the two overseers, together with their families, as those who were cast into the lions’ den.
49 sn Perhaps these three more kings are Cambyses (ca. 530-522
50 sn This fourth king is Xerxes I (ca. 486-465
51 tn Heb “rich with great riches.”
52 tn The text is difficult. The Hebrew has here אֶת (’et), the marker of a definite direct object. As it stands, this would suggest the meaning that “he will arouse everyone, that is, the kingdom of Greece.” The context, however, seems to suggest the idea that this Persian king will arouse in hostility against Greece the constituent elements of his own empire. This requires supplying the word “against,” which is not actually present in the Hebrew text.
53 tn Heb “and he will set his face.” Cf. vv. 18, 19.
54 tc The present translation reads מֵישָׁרִים (mesharim, “alliances”) for the MT וִישָׁרִים (viysharim, “uprightness”).
55 tn Heb “him”; the referent (the king of the south) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
56 tn Heb “the daughter of the women.”
sn The daughter refers to Cleopatra, the daughter of Antiochus, who was given in marriage to Ptolemy V.
57 sn The identity of this king is problematic. If vv. 36-45 continue the description of Antiochus Epiphanes, the account must be viewed as erroneous, since the details do not match what is known of Antiochus’ latter days. Most modern scholars take this view, concluding that this section was written just shortly before the death of Antiochus and that the writer erred on several key points as he tried to predict what would follow the events of his own day. Conservative scholars, however, usually understand the reference to shift at this point to an eschatological figure, viz., the Antichrist. The chronological gap that this would presuppose to be in the narrative is not necessarily a problem, since by all accounts there are many chronological gaps throughout the chapter, as the historical figures intended by such expressions as “king of the north” and “king of the south” repeatedly shift.
58 tn The words “the time of” are added in the translation for clarification.
59 tn Heb “has been done.” The Hebrew verb used here is the perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of fulfillment.
