7:28 “This is the conclusion of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts troubled me greatly, and the color drained from my face. 5 But I kept the matter to myself.” 6
8:27 I, Daniel, was exhausted 7 and sick for days. Then I got up and again carried out the king’s business. But I was astonished at the vision, and there was no one to explain it.
1 tn Aram “and Daniel sought from the king and he appointed.”
2 tn Aram “was at the gate of the king.”
3 tn Aram “into the midst of the furnace.” For stylistic reasons the words “the midst of” have been left untranslated.
4 sn The deuterocanonical writings known as The Prayer of Azariah and The Song of the Three present at this point a confession and petition for God’s forgiveness and a celebration of God’s grace for the three Jewish youths in the fiery furnace. Though not found in the Hebrew/Aramaic text of Daniel, these compositions do appear in the ancient Greek versions.
5 tn Aram “my brightness was changing on me.”
6 tn Aram “in my heart.”
7 tn The Hebrew word here is נִהְיֵיתִי (nihyetiy). Its meaning is not entirely clear. Hebrew הָיָה (hayah) normally has meanings such as “to be” or “become.” Here, however, it describes Daniel’s emotional and physical response to the enigmatic vision that he has seen. It is parallel to the following verb, which refers to illness, and seems to refer to a state of utter exhaustion due to the amazing things that Daniel has just seen. The LXX lacks the word. On the meaning of the word see further, BDB 227-28 s.v. הָיָה Niph.2; DCH 2:540 s.v. היה I Ni.3.
9 tn Heb “mouth.”
10 sn Anointing oneself with oil (usually olive oil) was a common OT practice due to the severity of the Middle Eastern sun (cf. Ps 121:6). It was also associated with rejoicing (e.g., Prov 27:9) and was therefore usually not practiced during a period of mourning.
11 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.
12 tn The word “princes” is supplied for clarity.
13 tn The pronoun is plural in Hebrew, suggesting that Michael is the angelic prince of Daniel and his people.