Daniel 2:4

2:4 The wise men replied to the king: [What follows is in Aramaic¹] “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will disclose its² interpretation.”

Daniel 2:7

2:7 They again replied, “Let the king inform us³ of the dream; then we will disclose its⁴ interpretation.”

Daniel 2:12

2:12 Because of this the king got furiously angry⁵ and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

Daniel 2:16

2:16 So Daniel went in and⁶ requested the king to grant him time, that he might disclose the interpretation to the king.

Daniel 3:30

3:30 Then Nebuchadnezzar⁷ promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

Daniel 5:1

Belshazzar Sees Mysterious Handwriting on a Wall

5:1 King Belshazzar⁸ prepared a great banquet⁹ for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in front of¹⁰ them all.¹¹

Daniel 5:9

5:9 Then King Belshazzar was very terrified, and he was visibly shaken.¹² His nobles were completely dumbfounded.

Daniel 5:18

5:18 As for you, O king, the most high God bestowed on your father Nebuchadnezzar a kingdom, greatness, honor, and majesty.¹³

Daniel 6:9

6:9 So King Darius issued the written interdict.

Daniel 6:12

6:12 So they approached the king and said to him,¹⁴ “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,¹⁵ according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed.”

Daniel 6:19

God Rescues Daniel from the Lions

6:19 In the morning, at the earliest sign of daylight, the king got up and rushed to the lions’ den.

¹sn Contrary to common belief, the point here is not that the wise men (Chaldeans) replied to the king in the Aramaic language, or that this language was uniquely the language of the Chaldeans. It was this view that led in the past to Aramaic being referred to as “Chaldee.” Aramaic was used as a lingua franca during this period; its origins and usage were not restricted to the Babylonians. Rather, this phrase is better understood as an editorial note (cf. NAB) marking the fact that from 2:4b through 7:28 the language of the book shifts from Hebrew to Aramaic. In 8:1, and for the remainder of the book, the language returns to Hebrew. Various views have been advanced to account for this change of language, most of which are unconvincing. Most likely the change in language is a reflection of stages in the transmission history of the book of Daniel.

²tn Or “the.”

³tn Aram “his servants.”

⁴tn Or “the.”

⁵tn Aram “was angry and very furious.” The expression is a hendiadys (two words or phrases expressing a single idea).

⁷tc Theodotion and the Syriac lack the words “went in and.”

⁹tn Aram “and the king.” The proper name has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹¹sn As is clear from the extra-biblical records, it was actually Nabonidus (ca. 556-539 B.C.) who was king of Babylon at this time. However, Nabonidus spent long periods of time at Teima, and during those times Belshazzar his son was de facto king of Babylon. This arrangement may help to explain why later in this chapter Belshazzar promises that the successful interpreter of the handwriting on the wall will be made third ruler in the kingdom. If Belshazzar was in effect second ruler in the kingdom, this would be the highest honor he could grant.

¹²sn This scene of a Babylonian banquet calls to mind a similar grandiose event recorded in Esth 1:3-8. Persian kings were also renowned in the ancient Near Eastern world for their lavish banquets.

¹³sn The king probably sat at an elevated head table.

¹⁴tn Aram “the thousand.”

¹³tn Aram “his visage altered upon him.” So also in v. 10.

¹⁵tn Or “royal greatness and majestic honor,” if the four terms are understood as a double hendiadys.

¹⁷tc 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.

¹⁸tn Aram “the word is true.”