Daniel 2:10-11

2:10 The wise men replied to the king, “There is no man on earth who is able to disclose the king’s secret, 1  for no king, regardless of his position and power, has ever requested such a thing from any magician, astrologer, or wise man. 2:11 What the king is asking is too difficult, and no one exists who can disclose it to the king, except for the gods – but they don’t live among mortals!” 2 

Daniel 2:24-25

2:24 Then Daniel went in to see 3  Arioch (whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon). He came 4  and said to him, “Don’t destroy the wise men of Babylon! Escort me 5  to the king, and I will disclose the interpretation to him!” 6 

2:25 So Arioch quickly ushered Daniel into the king’s presence, saying to him, “I 7  have found a man from the captives of Judah who can make known the interpretation to the king.”

Daniel 5:13

5:13 So Daniel was brought in before the king. The king said to Daniel, “Are you that Daniel who is one of the captives of Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah?

Daniel 6:13

6:13 Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the captives 8  from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the edict that you issued. Three times daily he offers his prayer.” 9 

Daniel 6:10

6:10 When Daniel realized 10  that a written decree had been issued, he entered his home, where the windows 11  in his upper room opened toward Jerusalem. 12  Three 13  times daily he was 14  kneeling 15  and offering prayers and thanks to his God just as he had been accustomed to do previously.

Daniel 6:26

6:26 I have issued an edict that throughout all the dominion of my kingdom people are to revere and fear the God of Daniel.

“For he is the living God;

he endures forever.

His kingdom will not be destroyed;

his authority is forever. 16 

Daniel 6:12

6:12 So they approached the king and said to him, 17  “Did you not issue an edict to the effect that for the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human other than to you, O king, would be thrown into a den of lions?” The king replied, “That is correct, 18  according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed.”

1 tn Aram “matter, thing.”

2 tn Aram “whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

3 tc The MT has עַל עַל (’al ’al, “he entered upon”). Several medieval Hebrew MSS lack the verb, although this may be due to haplography.

4 tc The LXX and Vulgate, along with one medieval Hebrew MS, lack this verb.

5 tn Aram “cause me to enter.” So also in v. 25.

6 tn Aram “the king.”

4 sn Arioch’s claim is self-serving and exaggerated. It is Daniel who came to him, and not the other way around. By claiming to have found one capable of solving the king’s dilemma, Arioch probably hoped to ingratiate himself to the king.

5 tn Aram “from the sons of the captivity [of].”

6 tn Aram “prays his prayer.”

6 tn Aram “knew.”

7 sn In later rabbinic thought this verse was sometimes cited as a proof text for the notion that one should pray only in a house with windows. See b. Berakhot 34b.

8 map For the location of Jerusalem see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

9 sn This is apparently the only specific mention in the OT of prayer being regularly offered three times a day. The practice was probably not unique to Daniel, however.

10 tc Read with several medieval Hebrew MSS and printed editions הֲוָה (havah) rather than the MT הוּא (hu’).

11 tn Aram “kneeling on his knees” (so NASB).

7 tn Aram “until the end.”

8 tc The MT also has “about the edict of the king,” but this phrase is absent in the LXX and the Syriac. The present translation deletes the expression.

9 tn Aram “the word is true.”