1:15 At the end of the ten days their appearance was better and their bodies were healthier 1 than all the young men who had been eating the royal delicacies.
“Let the name of God 5 be praised 6 forever and ever,
for wisdom and power belong to him.
4:13 While I was watching in my mind’s visions 11 on my bed,
a holy sentinel 12 came down from heaven.
4:16 Let his mind 13 be altered from that of a human being,
and let an animal’s mind be given to him,
and let seven periods of time 14 go by for 15 him.
6:27 He rescues and delivers
and performs signs and wonders
in the heavens and on the earth.
He has rescued Daniel from the power 21 of the lions!”
7:23 “This is what he told me: 25
‘The fourth beast means that there will be a fourth kingdom on earth
that will differ from all the other kingdoms.
It will devour all the earth
and will trample and crush it.
7:24 The ten horns
mean that ten kings will arise from that kingdom.
Another king will arise after them,
but he will be different from the earlier ones.
He will humiliate 26 three kings.
1 tn Heb “fat of flesh”; KJV, ASV “fatter in flesh”; NASB, NRSV “fatter” (although this is no longer a sign of health in Western culture).
1 tn The Aramaic word מְהַחְצְפָה (mÿhakhtsÿfah) may refer to the severity of the king’s decree (i.e., “harsh”; so HALOT 1879 s.v. חצף; BDB 1093 s.v. חֲצַף), although it would seem that in a delicate situation such as this Daniel would avoid this kind of criticism of the king’s actions. The translation above understands the word to refer to the immediacy, not harshness, of the decree. See further, F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 50, §116; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 67.
1 tn Aram “Daniel.” The proper name is redundant here in English, and has not been included in the translation.
1 tn Aram “Daniel answered and said.”
2 sn As is often the case in the Bible, here the name represents the person.
3 tn Or “blessed.”
1 tn Aram “and Daniel sought from the king and he appointed.”
2 tn Aram “was at the gate of the king.”
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.
1 tn Aram “the visions of my head.”
2 tn Aram “a watcher and a holy one.” The expression is a hendiadys; so also in v. 23. This “watcher” is apparently an angel. The Greek OT (LXX) in fact has ἄγγελος (angelo", “angel”) here. Theodotion simply transliterates the Aramaic word (’ir). The term is sometimes rendered “sentinel” (NAB) or “messenger” (NIV, NLT).
1 tn Aram “its heart.” The metaphor of the tree begins to fade here and the reality behind the symbol (the king) begins to emerge.
2 sn The seven periods of time probably refer to seven years.
3 tn Aram “over” (also in vv. 23, 25, 32).
1 sn The reference to heaven here is a circumlocution for God. There was a tendency in Jewish contexts to avoid direct reference to God. Cf. the expression “kingdom of heaven” in the NT and such statements as “I have sinned against heaven and in your sight” (Luke 15:21).
1 tn Aram “in the mouth of the king.”
2 tn Aram “to you they say.”
1 tn Aram “heart.”
2 sn The point of describing Nebuchadnezzar as arrogant is that he had usurped divine prerogatives, and because of his immense arrogance God had dealt decisively with him.
1 tn Aram “hand.”
1 tn Aram “what is certain.”
2 tn Aram “and made known.”
3 tn Aram “matter,” but the matter at hand is of course the vision.
1 tn Aram “thus he said.”
1 tn Or “subjugate”; KJV, NASB, NIV “subdue”; ASV, NRSV “put down.”