3:4 Then the herald 4 made a loud 5 proclamation: “To you, O peoples, nations, and language groups, the following command is given: 6
1 tn Aram “his servants.”
2 tn Or “the.”
3 tn Various suggestions have been made concerning the plural “we.” It is probably the editorial plural and could be translated here as “I.”
5 tn According to BDB 1097 s.v. כָּרוֹז the Aramaic word used here is a Greek loanword, but other scholars have argued instead for a Persian derivation (HALOT 1902 s.v. *כָּרוֹז).
6 tn Aram “in strength.”
7 tn Aram “they are saying.”
7 tn Aram “answered and said,” a common Aramaic idiom that occurs repeatedly in this chapter.
8 sn O king, live forever! is a comment of typical court courtesy that is not necessarily indicative of the real sentiments of the speaker. Ancient oriental court protocol could sometimes require a certain amount of hypocrisy.