4:16 Let his mind 1 be altered from that of a human being,
and let an animal’s mind be given to him,
and let seven periods of time 2 go by for 3 him.
3:19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and his disposition changed 4 toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders 5 to heat the furnace seven times hotter than it was normally heated.
9:25 So know and understand:
From the issuing of the command 6 to restore and rebuild
Jerusalem 7 until an anointed one, a prince arrives, 8
there will be a period of seven weeks 9 and sixty-two weeks.
It will again be built, 10 with plaza and moat,
but in distressful times.
9:27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one week. 18
But in the middle of that week
he will bring sacrifices and offerings to a halt.
On the wing 19 of abominations will come 20 one who destroys,
until the decreed end is poured out on the one who destroys.”
4:34 But at the end of the appointed time 23 I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up 24 toward heaven, and my sanity returned to me.
I extolled the Most High,
and I praised and glorified the one who lives forever.
For his authority is an everlasting authority,
and his kingdom extends from one generation to the next.
9:24 “Seventy weeks 25 have been determined
concerning your people and your holy city
to put an end to 26 rebellion,
to bring sin 27 to completion, 28
to atone for iniquity,
to bring in perpetual 29 righteousness,
to seal up 30 the prophetic vision, 31
and to anoint a most holy place. 32
9:26 Now after the sixty-two weeks,
an anointed one will be cut off and have nothing. 33
As for the city and the sanctuary,
the people of the coming prince will destroy 34 them.
But his end will come speedily 35 like a flood. 36
Until the end of the war that has been decreed
there will be destruction.
1 tn Aram “its heart.” The metaphor of the tree begins to fade here and the reality behind the symbol (the king) begins to emerge.
2 sn The seven periods of time probably refer to seven years.
3 tn Aram “over” (also in vv. 23, 25, 32).
4 tn Aram “the appearance of his face was altered”; cf. NLT “his face became distorted with rage”; NAB “[his] face became livid with utter rage.”
5 tn Aram “he answered and said.”
7 tn Or “decree” (NASB, NIV); or “word” (NAB, NRSV).
8 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
9 tn The word “arrives” is added in the translation for clarification.
10 tn Heb “sevens” (also later in this line and in v. 26).
11 tn Heb “it will return and be built.” The expression is a verbal hendiadys.
10 tn Aram “until.”
13 tn The Aramaic indefinite active plural is used here like the English passive. So also in v. 28, 29,32.
14 tn Aram “from mankind.” So also in v. 32.
15 tn Aram “your dwelling will be.” So also in v. 32.
16 tn Or perhaps “be made to eat.”
17 sn Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity has features that are associated with the mental disorder known as boanthropy, in which the person so afflicted imagines himself to be an ox or a similar animal and behaves accordingly.
18 tn Aram “until.”
16 tn Heb “one seven” (also later in this line).
17 tn The referent of the Hebrew word כְּנַף (kÿnaf, “wing”) is unclear here. The LXX and Theodotion have “the temple.” Some English versions (e.g., NAB, NIV) take this to mean “a wing of the temple,” but this is not clear.
18 tn The Hebrew text does not have this verb, but it has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
19 sn 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.
20 tn Or “the.”
22 tn Aram “days.”
23 tn Aram “lifted up my eyes.”
25 tn Heb “sevens.” Elsewhere the term is used of a literal week (a period of seven days), cf. Gen 29:27-28; Exod 34:22; Lev 12:5; Num 28:26; Deut 16:9-10; 2 Chr 8:13; Jer 5:24; Dan 10:2-3. Gabriel unfolds the future as if it were a calendar of successive weeks. Most understand the reference here as periods of seventy “sevens” of years, or a total of 490 years.
26 tc Or “to finish.” The present translation reads the Qere (from the root תָּמַם, tamam) with many witnesses. The Kethib has “to seal up” (from the root הָתַם, hatam), a confusion with a reference later in the verse to sealing up the vision.
27 tc The present translation reads the Qere (singular), rather than the Kethib (plural).
28 tn The Hebrew phrase לְכַלֵּא (lÿkhalle’) is apparently an alternative (metaplastic) spelling of the root כָּלָה (kalah, “to complete, finish”), rather than a form of כָּלָא (kala’, “to shut up, restrain”), as has sometimes been supposed.
29 tn Or “everlasting.”
30 sn The act of sealing in the OT is a sign of authentication. Cf. 1 Kgs 21:8; Jer 32:10, 11, 44.
31 tn Heb “vision and prophecy.” The expression is a hendiadys.
32 tn Or “the most holy place” (NASB, NLT); or “a most holy one”; or “the most holy one,” though the expression is used of places or objects elsewhere, not people.
28 sn The expression have nothing is difficult. Presumably it refers to an absence of support or assistance for the anointed one at the time of his “cutting off.” The KJV rendering “but not for himself,” apparently suggesting a vicarious death, cannot be defended.
29 tc Some witnesses (e.g., the Syriac) understand a passive verb and the preposition עִם (’im, “with) rather than the noun עַם (’am, “people”), thus reading “the city and the sanctuary will be destroyed with the coming prince.”
30 tn The words “will come speedily” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.
31 sn Flood here is a metaphor for sudden destruction.