2:12 Because of this the king got furiously angry 1 and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
2:24 Then Daniel went in to see 4 Arioch (whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon). He came 5 and said to him, “Don’t destroy the wise men of Babylon! Escort me 6 to the king, and I will disclose the interpretation to him!” 7
1:1 In the third 8 year of the reign of King Jehoiakim of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar 9 of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem 10 and laid it under siege. 11
2:14 Then Daniel spoke with prudent counsel 12 to Arioch, who was in charge of the king’s executioners and who had gone out to execute the wise men of Babylon.
3:1 16 King Nebuchadnezzar had a golden 17 statue made. 18 It was ninety feet 19 tall and nine feet 20 wide. He erected it on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
7:1 In the first 25 year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had 26 a dream filled with visions 27 while he was lying on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream in summary fashion. 28
1 tn Aram “was angry and very furious.” The expression is a hendiadys (two words or phrases expressing a single idea).
2 tn Aram “and the king.” The proper name has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
3 tn The word “battlements” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied from context. Many English versions supply “roof” here (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); cf. NLT “on the flat roof.”
4 tc The MT has עַל עַל (’al ’al, “he entered upon”). Several medieval Hebrew
5 tc The LXX and Vulgate, along with one medieval Hebrew
6 tn Aram “cause me to enter.” So also in v. 25.
7 tn Aram “the king.”
5 sn The third year of the reign of Jehoiakim would be ca. 605
6 sn King Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon from ca. 605-562
7 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
8 sn This attack culminated in the first of three major deportations of Jews to Babylon. The second one occurred in 597
6 tn Aram “returned prudence and counsel.” The expression is a hendiadys.
7 tn Aram “Daniel.” The proper name is redundant here in English, and has not been included in the translation.
8 tn Aram “and Daniel sought from the king and he appointed.”
9 tn Aram “was at the gate of the king.”
9 sn The LXX introduces this chapter with the following chronological note: “in the eighteenth year of.” Such a date would place these events at about the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in 586
10 sn There is no need to think of Nebuchadnezzar’s image as being solid gold. No doubt the sense is that it was overlaid with gold (cf. Isa 40:19; Jer 10:3-4), with the result that it presented a dazzling self-compliment to the greatness of Nebuchadnezzar’s achievements.
11 sn According to a number of patristic authors, the image represented a deification of Nebuchadnezzar himself. This is not clear from the biblical text, however.
12 tn Aram “sixty cubits.” Assuming a length of 18 inches for the standard cubit, the image would be 90 feet (27.4 m) high.
13 tn Aram “six cubits.” Assuming a length of 18 inches for the standard cubit, the image would be 9 feet (2.74 m) wide.
10 tn Aram “from me there was placed a decree.”
11 tn The Aramaic infinitive here is active.
11 tn Aram “house.”
12 tn Aram “by the might of my strength.”
12 sn The first year of Belshazzar’s reign would have been ca. 553
13 tn Aram “saw.”
14 tn Aram “and visions of his head.” The Aramaic is difficult here. Some scholars add a verb thought to be missing (e.g., “the visions of his head [were alarming him]”), but there is no external evidence to support such a decision and the awkwardness of the text at this point may be original.
15 tn Aram “head of words.” The phrase is absent in Theodotion. Cf. NIV “the substance of his dream.”
13 sn Daniel’s absence from this scene has sparked the imagination of commentators, some of whom have suggested that perhaps he was unable to attend the dedication due to sickness or due to being away on business. Hippolytus supposed that Daniel may have been watching from a distance.
14 tn Aram “in strength.”
15 tn Aram “cause to enter.”
16 tn Aram “answered and said.”
17 sn Purple was a color associated with royalty in the ancient world.
18 tn The term translated “golden collar” here probably refers to something more substantial than merely a gold chain (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT) or necklace (cf. NASB).