12:1 “At that time Michael,
the great prince who watches over your people, 6
will arise. 7
There will be a time of distress
unlike any other from the nation’s beginning 8
up to that time.
But at that time your own people,
all those whose names are 9 found written in the book,
will escape.
1 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.
2 tn The word “princes” is supplied for clarity.
3 tn The pronoun is plural in Hebrew, suggesting that Michael is the angelic prince of Daniel and his people.
4 tn Heb “and behold.”
5 tc The Greek version of Theodotion reads “I left him [i.e., Michael] there,” and this is followed by a number of English translations (cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT).
7 tn Heb “stands over the sons of your people.”
8 tn Heb “will stand up.”
9 tn Or “from the beginning of a nation.”
10 tn The words “whose names are” are added in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.