¹ sn The Persian king Cyrus’ first year in control of Babylon was 539 B.C. Daniel actually lived beyond the first year of Cyrus, as is clear from 10:1. The purpose of the statement in 1:21 is merely to say that Daniel’s life spanned the entire period of the neo-Babylonian empire. His life span also included the early years of the Persian control of Babylon. However, by that time his age was quite advanced; he probably died sometime in the 530’s B.C.

² tn Various suggestions have been made concerning the plural “we.” It is probably the editorial plural and could be translated here as “I.”

³ tc This expression is absent in Theodotion.

⁴ tn Aram “men.”

⁵ tn Aram “ate the pieces of.” This is a rather vivid idiom for slander.