5:29 Then, on Belshazzar’s orders, 10 Daniel was clothed in purple, a golden collar was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed third ruler in the kingdom.
6:27 He rescues and delivers
and performs signs and wonders
in the heavens and on the earth.
He has rescued Daniel from the power 13 of the lions!”
2:25 So Arioch quickly ushered Daniel into the king’s presence, saying to him, “I 19 have found a man from the captives of Judah who can make known the interpretation to the king.”
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?
10:1 24 In the third 25 year of King Cyrus of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel (who was also called Belteshazzar). This message was true and concerned a great war. 26 He understood the message and gained insight by the vision.
1 tn Or “blessed.”
2 tn Aram “those men”; the referent (the administrative officials who had earlier approached the king about the edict) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Aram “said.” So also in vv. 24, 25.
4 sn The den was perhaps a pit below ground level which could be safely observed from above.
5 tn Aram “answered and said [to Daniel].”
4 tn Aram “The king answered and said to Daniel.” This phrase has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons; it is redundant in English.
5 tc The LXX and Vulgate lack the verb here.
6 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.
6 tn The Aramaic word מְהַחְצְפָה (mÿhakhtsÿfah) may refer to the severity of the king’s decree (i.e., “harsh”; so HALOT 1879 s.v. חצף; BDB 1093 s.v. חֲצַף), although it would seem that in a delicate situation such as this Daniel would avoid this kind of criticism of the king’s actions. The translation above understands the word to refer to the immediacy, not harshness, of the decree. See further, F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 50, §116; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 67.
7 tn Aram “Belshazzar spoke.”
8 tn Aram “were saying.”
9 tn Aram “unless we find [it] against him.”
9 tn Aram “hand.”
10 tn Heb “The overseer of the court officials.” The subject has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.
11 tn Heb “assigned.” See v. 5.
12 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.
13 tn The words “if that happened” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Heb “my head.” Presumably this is an implicit reference to capital punishment (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT), although this is not entirely clear.
11 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.
12 tn Aram “looking to find.”
13 tn Aram “from the side of the kingdom.”
14 tn Aram “pretext and corruption.”
15 tn Aram “no negligence or corruption was found in him.” The Greek version of Theodotion lacks the phrase “and no negligence or corruption was found in him.”
13 sn This chapter begins the final unit in the book of Daniel, consisting of chapters 10-12. The traditional chapter divisions to some extent obscure the relationship of these chapters.
14 tc The LXX has “first.”
15 tn The meaning of the Hebrew word צָבָא (tsava’) is uncertain in this context. The word most often refers to an army or warfare. It may also mean “hard service,” and many commentators take that to be the sense here (i.e., “the service was great”). The present translation assumes the reference to be to the spiritual conflicts described, for example, in 10:16–11:1.