4:18 “This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare its 7 interpretation, for none of the wise men in 8 my kingdom are able to make known to me the interpretation. But you can do so, for a spirit of the holy gods is in you.”
7:4 “The first one was like a lion with eagles’ wings. As I watched, its wings were pulled off and it was lifted up from the ground. It was made to stand on two feet like a human being, and a human mind 11 was given to it. 12
8:13 Then I heard a holy one 13 speaking. Another holy one said to the one who was speaking, “To what period of time does the vision pertain – this vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the destructive act of rebellion and the giving over of both the sanctuary and army to be trampled?”
9:24 “Seventy weeks 18 have been determined
concerning your people and your holy city
to put an end to 19 rebellion,
to bring sin 20 to completion, 21
to atone for iniquity,
to bring in perpetual 22 righteousness,
to seal up 23 the prophetic vision, 24
and to anoint a most holy place. 25
9:27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one week. 26
But in the middle of that week
he will bring sacrifices and offerings to a halt.
On the wing 27 of abominations will come 28 one who destroys,
until the decreed end is poured out on the one who destroys.”
“Three 29 more kings will arise for Persia. Then a fourth 30 king will be unusually rich, 31 more so than all who preceded him. When he has amassed power through his riches, he will stir up everyone against 32 the kingdom of Greece.
1 tn Heb “The overseer of the court officials.” The subject has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.
2 tn Heb “assigned.” See v. 5.
3 tn Heb “Why should he see your faces thin from the young men who are according to your age?” The term translated “thin” occurs only here and in Gen 40:6, where it appears to refer to a dejected facial expression. The word is related to an Arabic root meaning “be weak.” See HALOT 277 s.v. II זעף.
4 tn The words “if that happened” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Heb “my head.” Presumably this is an implicit reference to capital punishment (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT), although this is not entirely clear.
6 tn Aram “after this.”
11 tc The present translation reads פִּשְׁרֵהּ (pishreh, “its interpretation”) with the Qere and many medieval Hebrew
12 tn Aram “of.”
16 tn Aram “were trembling and fearing.” This can be treated as a hendiadys, “were trembling with fear.”
17 tn Aram “let live.” This Aramaic form is the aphel participle of חַיָה(khayah, “to live”). Theodotion and the Vulgate mistakenly take the form to be from מְחָא (mÿkha’, “to smite”).
21 tn Aram “heart of a man.”
22 sn The identity of the first animal, derived from v. 17 and the parallels in chap. 2, is Babylon. The reference to the plucking of its wings is probably a reference to the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity (cf. chap. 4). The latter part of v. 4 then describes the restoration of Nebuchadnezzar. The other animals have traditionally been understood to represent respectively Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome, although most of modern scholarship identifies them as Media, Persia, and Greece. For a biblical parallel to the mention of lion, bear, and leopard together, see Hos 13:7-8.
26 sn The holy one referred to here is presumably an angel. Cf. 4:13[10], 23 [20].
31 tn Heb “turn your ear.”
32 tn Heb “desolations.” The term refers here to the ruined condition of Judah’s towns.
33 tn Heb “over which your name is called.” Cf. v. 19. This expression implies that God is the owner of his city, Jerusalem. Note the use of the idiom in 2 Sam 12:28; Isa 4:1; Amos 9:12.
34 tn Heb “praying our supplications before you.”
36 tn Heb “sevens.” Elsewhere the term is used of a literal week (a period of seven days), cf. Gen 29:27-28; Exod 34:22; Lev 12:5; Num 28:26; Deut 16:9-10; 2 Chr 8:13; Jer 5:24; Dan 10:2-3. Gabriel unfolds the future as if it were a calendar of successive weeks. Most understand the reference here as periods of seventy “sevens” of years, or a total of 490 years.
37 tc Or “to finish.” The present translation reads the Qere (from the root תָּמַם, tamam) with many witnesses. The Kethib has “to seal up” (from the root הָתַם, hatam), a confusion with a reference later in the verse to sealing up the vision.
38 tc The present translation reads the Qere (singular), rather than the Kethib (plural).
39 tn The Hebrew phrase לְכַלֵּא (lÿkhalle’) is apparently an alternative (metaplastic) spelling of the root כָּלָה (kalah, “to complete, finish”), rather than a form of כָּלָא (kala’, “to shut up, restrain”), as has sometimes been supposed.
40 tn Or “everlasting.”
41 sn The act of sealing in the OT is a sign of authentication. Cf. 1 Kgs 21:8; Jer 32:10, 11, 44.
42 tn Heb “vision and prophecy.” The expression is a hendiadys.
43 tn Or “the most holy place” (NASB, NLT); or “a most holy one”; or “the most holy one,” though the expression is used of places or objects elsewhere, not people.
41 tn Heb “one seven” (also later in this line).
42 tn The referent of the Hebrew word כְּנַף (kÿnaf, “wing”) is unclear here. The LXX and Theodotion have “the temple.” Some English versions (e.g., NAB, NIV) take this to mean “a wing of the temple,” but this is not clear.
43 tn The Hebrew text does not have this verb, but it has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
46 sn Perhaps these three more kings are Cambyses (ca. 530-522
47 sn This fourth king is Xerxes I (ca. 486-465
48 tn Heb “rich with great riches.”
49 tn The text is difficult. The Hebrew has here אֶת (’et), the marker of a definite direct object. As it stands, this would suggest the meaning that “he will arouse everyone, that is, the kingdom of Greece.” The context, however, seems to suggest the idea that this Persian king will arouse in hostility against Greece the constituent elements of his own empire. This requires supplying the word “against,” which is not actually present in the Hebrew text.
51 tn Heb “heart.”
52 sn This king of the south was Ptolemy Philometer (ca. 181-145