Daniel 8:1

¹ In the third year ²  of King Belshazzar’s reign, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that had appeared to me previously. ³ 

Da 7:1; Da 7:15,28; Da 8:15; Da 9:2; Da 10:2,7; Da 11:4

¹ sn Dan 8:1 marks the switch from Aramaic (= 2:4b-7:28) back to Hebrew as the language in which the book is written in its present form. The remainder of the book from this point on (8:1-12:13) is in Hebrew. The bilingual nature of the book has been variously explained, but it most likely has to do with the book’s transmission history.

² sn The third year of King Belshazzar’s reign would have been ca. 551 B.C. Daniel would have been approximately 69 years old at the time of this vision.

³ tn Heb “in the beginning.” This refers to the vision described in chapter seven.