Daniel 4:16

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.

Daniel 5:29

5:29 Then, on Belshazzar’s orders, ⁴  Daniel was clothed in purple, a golden collar was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed third ruler in the kingdom.

Daniel 6:5

6:5 So these men concluded, ⁵  “We won’t find any pretext against this man Daniel unless it is ⁶  in connection with the law of his God.”

Daniel 6:18

6:18 Then the king departed to his palace. But he spent the night without eating, and no diversions ⁷  were brought to him. He was unable to sleep. ⁸ 

Daniel 6:4

6:4 Consequently the supervisors and satraps were trying to find ⁹  some pretext against Daniel in connection with administrative matters. ¹⁰  But they were unable to find any such damaging evidence, ¹¹  because he was trustworthy and guilty of no negligence or corruption. ¹² 

Daniel 6:14

6:14 When the king heard this, ¹³  he was very upset and began thinking about ¹⁴  how he might rescue Daniel. Until late afternoon ¹⁵  he was struggling to find a way to rescue him.

Daniel 6:23

6:23 Then the king was delighted and gave an order to haul Daniel up from the den. So Daniel was hauled up out of the den. He had no injury of any kind, because he had trusted in his God.

Daniel 3:28

3:28 Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, ¹⁶  “Praised be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent forth his angel ¹⁷  and has rescued his servants who trusted in him, ignoring ¹⁸  the edict of the king and giving up their bodies rather than ¹⁹  serve or pay homage to any god other than their God!

Daniel 4:23

4:23 As for the king seeing a holy sentinel coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave its taproot in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze around it, surrounded by the grass of the field. Let it become damp with the dew of the sky, and let it live with the wild animals, until seven periods of time go by for him’ –

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 “Belshazzar spoke.”

⁷ tn Aram “were saying.”

⁸ tn Aram “unless we find [it] against him.”

¹⁰ tn The meaning of Aramaic דַּחֲוָה (dakhavah) is a crux interpretum. Suggestions include “music,” “dancing girls,” “concubines,” “table,” “food” – all of which are uncertain. The translation employed here, suggested by earlier scholars, is deliberately vague. A number of recent English versions follow a similar approach with “entertainment” (e.g., NASB, NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT). On this word see further, HALOT 1849-50 s.v.; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 37.

¹¹ tn Aram “his sleep fled from him.”

¹³ tn Aram “looking to find.”

¹⁴ tn Aram “from the side of the kingdom.”

¹⁵ tn Aram “pretext and corruption.”

¹⁶ 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.”

¹⁶ tn Aram “the word.”

¹⁷ tn Aram “placed his mind on.”

¹⁸ tn Aram “the entrances of the sun.”

¹⁹ tn Aram “answered and said.”

²⁰ sn The king identifies the “son of the gods” (v. 25) as an angel. Comparable Hebrew expressions are used elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible for the members of God’s angelic assembly (see Gen 6:2, 4; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Pss 29:1; 89:6). An angel later comes to rescue Daniel from the lions (Dan 6:22).

²¹ tn Aram “they changed” or “violated.”

²² tn Aram “so that they might not.”