Daniel 1:11

1:11 Daniel then spoke to the warden ¹  whom the overseer of the court officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:

Daniel 1:6

1:6 As it turned out, ²  among these young men ³  were some from Judah: ⁴  Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. ⁵ 

Daniel 1:21

1:21 Now Daniel lived on until the first ⁶  year of Cyrus the king.

Daniel 2:13

2:13 So a decree went out, and the wise men were about ⁷  to be executed. They also sought ⁸  Daniel and his friends so that they could be executed.

¹ sn Having failed to convince the overseer, Daniel sought the favor of the warden whom the overseer had appointed to care for the young men.

² tn Heb “and it happened that.”

³ tn Heb “among them”; the referent (the young men taken captive from Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Heb “the sons of Judah.”

⁵ sn The names reflect a Jewish heritage. In Hebrew Daniel means “God is my judge”; Hananiah means “the Lord is gracious”; Mishael means “who is what God is?”; Azariah means “the Lord has helped.”

³ sn The Persian king Cyrus’ first year in control of Babylon was 539 B.C. Daniel actually lived beyond the first year of Cyrus, as is clear from 10:1. The purpose of the statement in 1:21 is merely to say that Daniel’s life spanned the entire period of the neo-Babylonian empire. His life span also included the early years of the Persian control of Babylon. However, by that time his age was quite advanced; he probably died sometime in the 530’s B.C.

⁴ tn The Aramaic participle is used here to express the imminent future.

⁵ tn The impersonal active plural (“they sought”) of the Aramaic verb could also be translated as an English passive: “Daniel and his friends were sought” (cf. NAB).