10:2 In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three whole weeks. 1
8:1 2 In the third year 3 of King Belshazzar’s reign, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that had appeared to me previously. 4
8:15 While I, Daniel, was watching the vision, I sought to understand it. Now one who appeared to be a man was standing before me.
9:20 While I was still speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and presenting my request before the LORD my God concerning his holy mountain 5 – 9:21 yes, while I was still praying, 6 the man Gabriel, whom I had seen previously 7 in a vision, was approaching me in my state of extreme weariness, 8 around the time of the evening offering.
12:5 I, Daniel, watched as two others stood there, one on each side of the river. 9
10:7 Only I, Daniel, saw the vision; the men who were with me did not see it. 19 On the contrary, they were overcome with fright 20 and ran away to hide.
1 tn Heb “three weeks of days.” The inclusion of “days” here and in v. 3 is perhaps intended to call attention to the fact that these weeks are very different in nature from those of chap. 9, which are “weeks of years.”
2 sn Dan 8:1 marks the switch from Aramaic (= 2:4b-7:28) back to Hebrew as the language in which the book is written in its present form. The remainder of the book from this point on (8:1-12:13) is in Hebrew. The bilingual nature of the book has been variously explained, but it most likely has to do with the book’s transmission history.
3 sn The third year of King Belshazzar’s reign would have been ca. 551
4 tn Heb “in the beginning.” This refers to the vision described in chapter seven.
3 tn Heb “the holy mountain of my God.”
4 tn Heb “speaking in prayer.”
5 tn Heb “in the beginning.”
6 tn The Hebrew expression בִּיעָף מֻעָף (mu’af bi’af) is very difficult. The issue is whether the verb derives from עוּף (’uf, “to fly”) or from יָעַף (ya’af, “to be weary”). Many ancient versions and modern commentators take the first of these possibilities and understand the reference to be to the swift flight of the angel Gabriel in his coming to Daniel. The words more likely refer to the extreme weariness, not of the angel, but of Daniel. Cf. 7:28; 8:27; 10:8-9, 16-17; also NASB.
5 tn Heb “one to this edge of the river and one to that edge of the river.”
6 tn Heb “The overseer of the court officials.” The subject has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.
7 tn Heb “assigned.” See v. 5.
8 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.
9 tn The words “if that happened” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Heb “my head.” Presumably this is an implicit reference to capital punishment (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT), although this is not entirely clear.
7 tc This phrase, repeated from v. 1, is absent in Theodotion.
8 tn The Hebrew text has “books”; the word “sacred” has been added in the translation to clarify that it is Scriptures that are referred to.
9 sn The tetragrammaton (the four Hebrew letters which constitute the divine Name, YHWH) appears eight times in this chapter, and nowhere else in the book of Daniel.
10 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
8 tn Heb “the vision.”
9 tn Heb “great trembling fell on them.”