Discovery BoxDaniel 3:17 
Context3:17 If 1 our God whom we are serving exists, 2 he is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will rescue us, O king, from your power as well.
Daniel 3:24
Context3:24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was startled and quickly got up. He said to his ministers, “Wasn’t it three men that we tied up and threw 3 into 4 the fire?” They replied to the king, “For sure, O king.”
Daniel 9:6
Context9:6 We have not paid attention to your servants the prophets, who spoke by your authority 5 to our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors, 6 and to all the inhabitants 7 of the land as well.
Daniel 9:11
Context9:11 “All Israel has broken 8 your law and turned away by not obeying you. 9 Therefore you have poured out on us the judgment solemnly threatened 10 in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against you. 11
Daniel 9:14-15
Context9:14 The LORD was mindful of the calamity, and he brought it on us. For the LORD our God is just 12 in all he has done, 13 and we have not obeyed him. 14
9:15 “Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with great power 15 and made a name for yourself that is remembered to this day – we have sinned and behaved wickedly.
1 tc The ancient versions typically avoid the conditional element of v. 17.
2 tn The Aramaic expression used here is very difficult to interpret. The question concerns the meaning and syntax of אִיתַי (’itay, “is” or “exist”). There are several possibilities. (1) Some interpreters take this word closely with the participle later in the verse יָכִל (yakhil, “able”), understanding the two words to form a periphrastic construction (“if our God is…able”; cf. H. Bauer and P. Leander, Grammatik des Biblisch-Aramäischen, 365, §111b). But the separation of the two elements from one another is not an argument in favor of this understanding. (2) Other interpreters take the first part of v. 17 to mean “If it is so, then our God will deliver us” (cf. KJV, ASV, RSV, NASB). However, the normal sense of ’itay is existence; on this point see F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 45, §95. The present translation maintains the sense of existence for the verb (“If our God…exists”), even though the statement is admittedly difficult to understand in this light. The statement may be an implicit reference back to Nebuchadnezzar’s comment in v. 15, which denies the existence of a god capable of delivering from the king’s power.
3 tn Aram “we threw…bound.”
4 tn Aram “into the midst of.”
5 tn Heb “in your name.” Another option is to translate, “as your representatives.”
6 tn Heb “our fathers” (also in vv. 8, 16). The Hebrew term translated “father” can refer to more distant relationships such as grandfathers or ancestors.
7 tn Heb “people.”
8 tn Or “transgressed.” The Hebrew verb has the primary sense of crossing a boundary, in this case, God’s law.
9 tn Heb “by not paying attention to your voice.”
10 tn Heb “the curse and the oath which is written.” The term “curse” refers here to the judgments threatened in the Mosaic law (see Deut 28) for rebellion. The expression “the curse and the oath” is probably a hendiadys (cf. Num 5:21; Neh 10:29) referring to the fact that the covenant with its threatened judgments was ratified by solemn oath and made legally binding upon the covenant community.
11 tn Heb “him.”
12 tn Or “righteous.”
13 tn Heb “in all his deeds which he has done.”
14 tn Heb “we have not listened to his voice.”
15 tn Heb “with a powerful hand.”
