Daniel 1:4

1:4 young men in whom there was no physical defect and who were handsome, 1  well versed in all kinds of wisdom, well educated 2  and having keen insight, 3  and who were capable 4  of entering the king’s royal service 5  – and to teach them the literature and language 6  of the Babylonians. 7 

Daniel 8:7

8:7 I saw it approaching the ram. It went into a fit of rage against the ram 8  and struck it 9  and broke off its two horns. The ram had no ability to resist it. 10  The goat hurled the ram 11  to the ground and trampled it. No one could deliver the ram from its power. 12 

Daniel 10:16-17

10:16 Then 13  one who appeared to be a human being 14  was touching my lips. I opened my mouth and started to speak, saying to the one who was standing before me, “Sir, 15  due to the vision, anxiety has gripped me and I have no strength. 10:17 How, sir, am I able to speak with you? 16  My strength is gone, 17  and I am breathless.”

Daniel 11:6

11:6 After some years have passed, they 18  will form an alliance. Then the daughter 19  of the king of the south will come to the king of the north to make an agreement, but she will not retain her power, 20  nor will he continue 21  in his strength. 22  She, together with the one who brought her, her child, 23  and her benefactor will all be delivered over at that time. 24 

Daniel 11:25

11:25 He will rouse his strength and enthusiasm 25  against the king of the south 26  with a large army. The king of the south will wage war with a large and very powerful army, but he will not be able to prevail because of the plans devised against him.

1 tn Heb “good of appearance.”

2 tn Heb “knowers of knowledge.”

3 tn Heb “understanders of knowledge.”

4 tn Heb “who had strength.”

5 tn Heb “to stand in the palace of the king.” Cf. vv. 5, 19.

6 sn The language of the Chaldeans referred to here is Akkadian, an East Semitic cuneiform language.

7 tn Heb “Chaldeans” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV). This is an ancient name for the Babylonians.

8 tn Heb “him.”

9 tn Heb “the ram.”

10 tn Heb “stand before him.”

11 tn Heb “he hurled him.” The referents of both pronouns (the male goat and the ram) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

12 sn The goat of Daniel’s vision represents Greece; the large horn represents Alexander the Great. The ram stands for Media-Persia. Alexander’s rapid conquest of the Persians involved three battles of major significance which he won against overwhelming odds: Granicus (334 B.C.), Isus (333 B.C.), and Gaugemela (331 B.C.).

15 tn Heb “Behold.”

16 tc So most Hebrew MSS; one Hebrew MS along with the Dead Sea Scrolls and LXX read “something that looked like a man’s hand.”

17 tn Heb “my lord,” here a title of polite address. Cf. v. 19.

22 tn Heb “How is the servant of this my lord able to speak with this my lord?”

23 tn Heb “does not stand.”

29 sn Here they refers to Ptolemy II Philadelphus (ca. 285-246 B.C.) and Antiochus II Theos (ca. 262-246 B.C.).

30 sn The daughter refers to Berenice, who was given in marriage to Antiochus II Theos.

31 tn Heb “the strength of the arm.”

32 tn Heb “stand.” So also in vv. 7, 8, 11, 13.

33 tn Heb “and his arm.” Some understand this to refer to the descendants of the king of the north.

34 tc The present translation reads יַלְדָּה (yaldah, “her child”) rather than the MT יֹלְדָהּ (yolÿdah, “the one who begot her”). Cf. Theodotion, the Syriac, and the Vulgate.

35 sn Antiochus II eventually divorced Berenice and remarried his former wife Laodice, who then poisoned her husband, had Berenice put to death, and installed her own son, Seleucus II Callinicus (ca. 246-227 B.C.), as the Seleucid king.

36 tn Heb “heart.”

37 sn This king of the south was Ptolemy Philometer (ca. 181-145 B.C.).