Daniel 5:22

5:22 “But you, his son ¹  Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, ²  although you knew all this.

Daniel 9:1

Daniel Prays for His People

9:1 In the first year of Darius ³  son of Ahasuerus, ⁴  who was of Median descent and who had been ⁵  appointed king over the Babylonian ⁶  empire –

Daniel 11:10

11:10 His sons ⁷  will wage war, mustering a large army which will advance like an overflowing river and carrying the battle all the way to the enemy’s ⁸  fortress. ⁹ 

Daniel 8:17

8:17 So he approached the place where I was standing. As he came, I felt terrified and fell flat on the ground. ¹⁰  Then he said to me, “Understand, son of man, ¹¹  that the vision pertains to the time of the end.”

Daniel 3:25

3:25 He answered, “But I see four men, untied and walking around in the midst of the fire! No harm has come to them! And the appearance of the fourth is like that of a god!” ¹² 

Daniel 7:13

7:13 I was watching in the night visions,

“And with ¹³  the clouds of the sky ¹⁴ 

one like a son of man ¹⁵  was approaching.

He went up to the Ancient of Days

and was escorted ¹⁶  before him.

Daniel 1:6

1:6 As it turned out, ¹⁷  among these young men ¹⁸  were some from Judah: ¹⁹  Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. ²⁰ 

Daniel 10:16

10:16 Then ²¹  one who appeared to be a human being ²²  was touching my lips. I opened my mouth and started to speak, saying to the one who was standing before me, “Sir, ²³  due to the vision, anxiety has gripped me and I have no strength.

Daniel 5:31

5:31 (6:1) ²⁴  So Darius the Mede took control of the kingdom when he was about sixty-two years old.

Daniel 12:1

12:1 “At that time Michael,

the great prince who watches over your people, ²⁵ 

will arise. ²⁶ 

There will be a time of distress

unlike any other from the nation’s beginning ²⁷ 

up to that time.

But at that time your own people,

all those whose names are ²⁸  found written in the book,

will escape.

Daniel 1:3

1:3 The king commanded ²⁹  Ashpenaz, ³⁰  who was in charge of his court officials, ³¹  to choose ³²  some of the Israelites who were of royal and noble descent ³³  –

Daniel 11:41

11:41 Then he will enter the beautiful land. ³⁴  Many ³⁵  will fall, but these will escape: ³⁶  Edom, Moab, and the Ammonite leadership.

Daniel 5:21

5:21 He was driven from human society, his mind ³⁷  was changed to that of an animal, he lived ³⁸  with the wild donkeys, he was fed grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until he came to understand that the most high God rules over human kingdoms, and he appoints over them whomever he wishes.

Daniel 2:38

2:38 Wherever human beings, ³⁹  wild animals, ⁴⁰  and birds of the sky live – he has given them into your power. ⁴¹  He has given you authority over them all. You are the head of gold.

Daniel 11:6

11:6 After some years have passed, they ⁴²  will form an alliance. Then the daughter ⁴³  of the king of the south will come to the king of the north to make an agreement, but she will not retain her power, ⁴⁴  nor will he continue ⁴⁵  in his strength. ⁴⁶  She, together with the one who brought her, her child, ⁴⁷  and her benefactor will all be delivered over at that time. ⁴⁸ 

¹ tn Or “descendant”; or “successor.”

² tn Aram “your heart.”

³ sn The identity of this Darius is a major problem in correlating the biblical material with the extra-biblical records of this period. Most modern scholars treat the reference as a mistaken allusion to Darius Hystaspes (ca. 522-486 B.C.). Others have maintained instead that this name is a reference to the Persian governor Gubaru. Still others understand the reference to be to the Persian king Cyrus (cf. 6:28, where the vav (ו) may be understood as vav explicativum, meaning “even”). Under either of these latter two interpretations, the first year of Darius would have been ca. 538 B.C. Daniel would have been approximately eighty-two years old at this time.

⁴ tc The LXX reads “Xerxes.” This is the reading used by some English versions (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV). Most other English versions retain the Hebrew name “Ahasuerus.”

⁵ tc The present translation follows the MT in reading a Hophal (i.e., passive). Theodotion, the Syriac, and the Vulgate all presuppose the Hiphil (i.e., active). Even though this is the only occurrence of the Hophal of this verb in the Bible, there is no need to emend the vocalization to the Hiphil.

⁶ tn Heb “was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans.”

⁵ sn The sons of Seleucus II Callinicus were Seleucus III Ceraunus (ca. 227-223 B.C.) and Antiochus III the Great (ca. 223-187 B.C.).

⁶ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the enemy of the king of the north) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Heb “and he will certainly come and overflow and cross over and return and be aroused unto a fortress.” The translation has attempted to simplify the syntax of this difficult sequence.

⁷ tn Heb “on my face.”

⁸ tn Or “human one.”

⁹ sn The phrase like that of a god is in Aramaic “like that of a son of the gods.” Many patristic writers understood this phrase in a christological sense (i.e., “the Son of God”). But it should be remembered that these are words spoken by a pagan who is seeking to explain things from his own polytheistic frame of reference; for him the phrase “like a son of the gods” is equivalent to “like a divine being.”

¹¹ tc The LXX has ἐπί (epi, “upon”) here (cf. Matt 24:30; 26:64). Theodotion has μετά (meta, “with”) here (cf. Mark 14:62; Rev 1:7).

¹² tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

¹³ sn This text is probably the main OT background for Jesus’ use of the term “son of man.” In both Jewish and Christian circles the reference in the book of Daniel has traditionally been understood to refer to an individual, usually in a messianic sense. Many modern scholars, however, understand the reference to have a corporate identity. In this view, the “son of man” is to be equated with the “holy ones” (vv. 18, 21, 22, 25) or the “people of the holy ones” (v. 27) and understood as a reference to the Jewish people. Others understand Daniel’s reference to be to the angel Michael.

¹⁴ tn Aram “they brought him near.”

¹³ tn Heb “and it happened that.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “among them”; the referent (the young men taken captive from Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁵ tn Heb “the sons of Judah.”

¹⁶ sn The names reflect a Jewish heritage. In Hebrew Daniel means “God is my judge”; Hananiah means “the Lord is gracious”; Mishael means “who is what God is?”; Azariah means “the Lord has helped.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “Behold.”

¹⁶ tc So most Hebrew MSS; one Hebrew MS along with the Dead Sea Scrolls and LXX read “something that looked like a man’s hand.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “my lord,” here a title of polite address. Cf. v. 19.

¹⁷ sn Beginning with 5:31, the verse numbers through 6:28 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Aramaic text (BHS), with 5:31 ET = 6:1 AT, 6:1 ET = 6:2 AT, 6:2 ET = 6:3 AT, 6:3 ET = 6:4 AT, etc., through 6:28 ET = 6:29 AT. Beginning with 7:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Aramaic text are again the same.

¹⁹ tn Heb “stands over the sons of your people.”

²⁰ tn Heb “will stand up.”

²¹ tn Or “from the beginning of a nation.”

²² tn The words “whose names are” are added in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.

²¹ tn Or “gave orders to.” Heb “said to.”

²² sn It is possible that the word Ashpenaz is not a proper name at all, but a general term for “innkeeper.” See J. J. Collins, Daniel (Hermeneia), 127, n. 9. However, the ancient versions understand the term to be a name, and the present translation (along with most English versions) understands the word in this way.

²³ sn The word court official (Hebrew saris) need not mean “eunuch” in a technical sense (see Gen 37:36, where the term refers to Potiphar, who had a wife), although in the case of the book of Daniel there was in Jewish literature a common tradition to that effect. On the OT usage of this word see HALOT 769-70 s.v. סָרֹיס.

²⁴ tn Heb “bring.”

²⁵ tn Heb “and from the seed of royalty and from the nobles.”

²³ sn The beautiful land is a cryptic reference to the land of Israel.

²⁴ tn This can be understood as “many people” (cf. NRSV) or “many countries” (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT).

²⁵ tn Heb “be delivered from his hand.”

²⁵ tn Aram “heart.”

²⁶ tn Aram “his dwelling.”

²⁷ tn Aram “the sons of man.”

²⁸ tn Aram “the beasts of the field.”

²⁹ tn Aram “hand.”

²⁹ sn Here they refers to Ptolemy II Philadelphus (ca. 285-246 B.C.) and Antiochus II Theos (ca. 262-246 B.C.).

³⁰ sn The daughter refers to Berenice, who was given in marriage to Antiochus II Theos.

³¹ tn Heb “the strength of the arm.”

³² tn Heb “stand.” So also in vv. 7, 8, 11, 13.

³³ tn Heb “and his arm.” Some understand this to refer to the descendants of the king of the north.

³⁴ tc The present translation reads יַלְדָּה (yaldah, “her child”) rather than the MT יֹלְדָהּ (yolÿdah, “the one who begot her”). Cf. Theodotion, the Syriac, and the Vulgate.

³⁵ sn Antiochus II eventually divorced Berenice and remarried his former wife Laodice, who then poisoned her husband, had Berenice put to death, and installed her own son, Seleucus II Callinicus (ca. 246-227 B.C.), as the Seleucid king.