Daniel 1:1

Daniel Finds Favor in Babylon

1:1 In the third ¹  year of the reign of King Jehoiakim of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar ²  of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem ³  and laid it under siege. ⁴ 

Daniel 2:14

2:14 Then Daniel spoke with prudent counsel ⁵  to Arioch, who was in charge of the king’s executioners and who had gone out to execute the wise men of Babylon.

Daniel 2:18

2:18 He asked them to pray for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery so that he ⁶  and his friends would not be destroyed along with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

Daniel 2:49--3:1

2:49 And at Daniel’s request, the king ⁷  appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the administration of the province of Babylon. Daniel himself served in the king’s court. ⁸ 

Daniel’s Friends Are Tested

3:1 ⁹ King Nebuchadnezzar had a golden ¹⁰  statue made. ¹¹  It was ninety feet ¹²  tall and nine feet ¹³  wide. He erected it on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

Daniel 4:6

4:6 So I issued an order ¹⁴  for all the wise men of Babylon to be brought ¹⁵  before me so that they could make known to me the interpretation of the dream.

Daniel 4:30

4:30 The king uttered these words: “Is this not the great Babylon that I have built for a royal residence ¹⁶  by my own mighty strength ¹⁷  and for my majestic honor?”

Daniel 7:1

Daniel has a Vision of Four Animals Coming up from the Sea

7:1 In the first ¹⁸  year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had ¹⁹  a dream filled with visions ²⁰  while he was lying on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream in summary fashion. ²¹ 

¹ sn The third year of the reign of Jehoiakim would be ca. 605 B.C. At this time Daniel would have been a teenager. The reference to Jehoiakim’s third year poses a serious crux interpretum, since elsewhere these events are linked to his fourth year (Jer 25:1; cf. 2 Kgs 24:1; 2 Chr 36:5-8). Apparently Daniel is following an accession year chronology, whereby the first partial year of a king’s reign was reckoned as the accession year rather than as the first year of his reign. Jeremiah, on the other hand, is following a nonaccession year chronology, whereby the accession year is reckoned as the first year of the king’s reign. In that case, the conflict is only superficial. Most modern scholars, however, have concluded that Daniel is historically inaccurate here.

² sn King Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon from ca. 605-562 B.C.

³ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁴ sn This attack culminated in the first of three major deportations of Jews to Babylon. The second one occurred in 597 B.C. and included among many other Jewish captives the prophet Ezekiel. The third deportation occurred in 586 B.C., at which time the temple and the city of Jerusalem were thoroughly destroyed.

⁵ tn Aram “returned prudence and counsel.” The expression is a hendiadys.

⁹ tn Aram “Daniel.” The proper name is redundant here in English, and has not been included in the translation.

¹³ tn Aram “and Daniel sought from the king and he appointed.”

¹⁴ tn Aram “was at the gate of the king.”

¹⁷ sn The LXX introduces this chapter with the following chronological note: “in the eighteenth year of.” Such a date would place these events at about the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. (cf. 2 Kgs 25:8). However, there seems to be no real basis for associating the events of Daniel 3 with this date.

¹⁸ sn There is no need to think of Nebuchadnezzar’s image as being solid gold. No doubt the sense is that it was overlaid with gold (cf. Isa 40:19; Jer 10:3-4), with the result that it presented a dazzling self-compliment to the greatness of Nebuchadnezzar’s achievements.

¹⁹ sn According to a number of patristic authors, the image represented a deification of Nebuchadnezzar himself. This is not clear from the biblical text, however.

²⁰ tn Aram “sixty cubits.” Assuming a length of 18 inches for the standard cubit, the image would be 90 feet (27.4 m) high.

²¹ tn Aram “six cubits.” Assuming a length of 18 inches for the standard cubit, the image would be 9 feet (2.74 m) wide.

²¹ tn Aram “from me there was placed a decree.”

²² tn The Aramaic infinitive here is active.

²⁵ tn Aram “house.”

²⁶ tn Aram “by the might of my strength.”

²⁹ sn The first year of Belshazzar’s reign would have been ca. 553 B.C. Daniel would have been approximately 67 years old at the time of this vision.

³⁰ tn Aram “saw.”

³¹ tn Aram “and visions of his head.” The Aramaic is difficult here. Some scholars add a verb thought to be missing (e.g., “the visions of his head [were alarming him]”), but there is no external evidence to support such a decision and the awkwardness of the text at this point may be original.

³² tn Aram “head of words.” The phrase is absent in Theodotion. Cf. NIV “the substance of his dream.”