Daniel 1:7-8

1:7 But the overseer of the court officials renamed them. He gave ¹  Daniel the name Belteshazzar, Hananiah he named Shadrach, Mishael he named Meshach, and Azariah he named Abednego. ² 

1:8 But Daniel made up his mind ³  that he would not defile ⁴  himself with the royal delicacies or the royal wine. ⁵  He therefore asked the overseer of the court officials for permission not to defile himself.

Daniel 1:11

1:11 Daniel then spoke to the warden ⁶  whom the overseer of the court officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:

Daniel 9:6

9:6 We have not paid attention to your servants the prophets, who spoke by your authority ⁷  to our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors, ⁸  and to all the inhabitants ⁹  of the land as well.

Daniel 10:21

10:21 However, I will first tell you what is written in a dependable book. ¹⁰  (There is no one who strengthens me against these princes, ¹¹  except Michael your ¹²  prince.

¹ tc The LXX and Vulgate lack the verb here.

² sn The meanings of the Babylonian names are more conjectural than is the case with the Hebrew names. The probable etymologies are as follows: Belteshazzar means “protect his life,” although the MT vocalization may suggest “Belti, protect the king” (cf. Dan 4:8); Shadrach perhaps means “command of Aku”; Meshach is of uncertain meaning; Abednego means “servant of Nego.” Assigning Babylonian names to the Hebrew youths may have been an attempt to erase from their memory their Israelite heritage.

³ tn Heb “placed on his heart.”

⁴ tn Or “would not make himself ceremonially unclean”; TEV “become ritually unclean.”

⁵ tn Heb “with the delicacies of the king and with the wine of his drinking.”

⁵ 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.

⁷ tn Heb “in your name.” Another option is to translate, “as your representatives.”

⁸ tn Heb “our fathers” (also in vv. 8, 16). The Hebrew term translated “father” can refer to more distant relationships such as grandfathers or ancestors.

⁹ tn Heb “people.”

⁹ tn Heb “a book of truth.” Several English versions treat this as a title of some sort (cf. NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT), although the NAB’s rendering “the truthful book” regards “truth” as an attributive adjective, as does the present translation.

¹⁰ tn The word “princes” is supplied for clarity.

¹¹ tn The pronoun is plural in Hebrew, suggesting that Michael is the angelic prince of Daniel and his people.