¹ tn Aram “answered and said,” a common idiom to indicate a reply, but redundant in contemporary English.

² tn It seems clear from what follows that Nebuchadnezzar clearly recalls the content of the dream, although obviously he does not know what to make of it. By not divulging the dream itself to the would-be interpreters, he intends to find out whether they are simply leading him on. If they can tell him the dream’s content, which he is able to verify, he then can have confidence in their interpretation, which is what eludes him. The translation “the matter is gone from me” (cf. KJV, ASV), suggesting that the king had simply forgotten the dream, is incorrect. The Aramaic word used here (אַזְדָּא, ’azda’) is probably of Persian origin; it occurs in the OT only here and in v. 8. There are two main possibilities for the meaning of the word: “the matter is promulgated by me” (see KBL 1048 s.v.) and therefore “publicly known” (cf. NRSV; F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 62-63, §189), or “the matter is irrevocable” (cf. NAB, NIV, TEV, CEV, NLT; HALOT 1808 s.v. אזד; cf. also BDB 1079 s.v.). The present translation reflects this latter option. See further E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 3.

³ tn Aram “made limbs.” Cf. 3:29.

⁴ sn Arioch’s claim is self-serving and exaggerated. It is Daniel who came to him, and not the other way around. By claiming to have found one capable of solving the king’s dilemma, Arioch probably hoped to ingratiate himself to the king.

⁵ tn Aram “not for any wisdom which is in me more than [in] any living man.”

⁶ tn Aram “they might cause the king to know.” The impersonal plural is used here to refer to the role of God’s spirit in revealing the dream and its interpretation to the king. As J. A. Montgomery says, “it appropriately here veils the mysterious agency” (Daniel [ICC], 164-65).

⁷ tn Aram “heart.”

⁸ tn Aram “from me there was placed a decree.”

⁹ tn The Aramaic infinitive here is active.

¹⁰ tc The present translation assumes the reading חֲזִי (khazi, “consider”) rather than the MT חֶזְוֵי (khezvey, “visions”). The MT implies that the king required Daniel to disclose both the dream and its interpretation, as in chapter 2. But in the following verses Nebuchadnezzar recounts his dream, while Daniel presents only its interpretation.

¹¹ tc The translation reads מִפְשַׁר (mifshar) rather than the MT מְפַשַּׁר (mÿfashar) and later in the verse reads וּמִשְׁרֵא (mishre’) rather than the MT וּמְשָׁרֵא (mÿshare’). The Masoretes have understood these Aramaic forms to be participles, but they are more likely to be vocalized as infinitives. As such, they have an epexegetical function in the syntax of their clause.

¹² tn Aram “to loose knots.”

¹³ tn Aram “let [Daniel] be summoned.”

¹⁴ tn Or “the.”

¹⁵ tn Aram “what is certain.”

¹⁶ tn Aram “and made known.”

¹⁷ tn Aram “matter,” but the matter at hand is of course the vision.

¹⁸ tn Aram “one is your law,” i.e., only one thing is applicable to you.

¹⁹ tn Aram “a lying and corrupt word.”

²⁰ tn Aram “I will know.”

²¹ tc The MT has עַל עַל (’al ’al, “he entered upon”). Several medieval Hebrew MSS lack the verb, although this may be due to haplography.

²² tc The LXX and Vulgate, along with one medieval Hebrew MS, lack this verb.

²³ tn Aram “cause me to enter.” So also in v. 25.

²⁴ tn Aram “the king.”

²⁵ tn Aram “after this.”

²⁶ tn Aram “in strength.”

²⁷ tn Aram “cause to enter.”

²⁸ tn Aram “answered and said.”

²⁹ sn Purple was a color associated with royalty in the ancient world.

³⁰ tn The term translated “golden collar” here probably refers to something more substantial than merely a gold chain (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT) or necklace (cf. NASB).

³¹ tn The Aramaic text has also the words “about you.”

³² tn Or perhaps “one of three rulers,” in the sense of becoming part of a triumvir. So also v. 29.