Daniel 7:25

7:25 He will speak words against the Most High.

He will harass¹ the holy ones of the Most High continually.

His intention² will be to change times established by law.³

They will be delivered into his hand

For a time, times,⁴ and half a time.

Daniel 7:12

7:12 As for the rest of the beasts, their ruling authority had already been removed, though they were permitted to go on living⁵ for a time and a season.

Daniel 2:21

2:21 He changes times and seasons,

deposing some kings

and establishing others.⁶

He gives wisdom to the wise;

he imparts knowledge to those with understanding;⁷

Daniel 4:16

4:16 Let his mind⁸ be altered from that of a human being,

and let an animal’s mind be given to him,

and let seven periods of time⁹ go by for¹⁰ him.

Daniel 2:8-9

2:8 The king replied, “I know for sure that you are attempting to gain time, because you see that my decision is firm. 2:9 If you don’t inform me of the dream, there is only one thing that is going to happen to you.¹¹ For you have agreed among yourselves to report to me something false and deceitful¹² until such time as things might change. So tell me the dream, and I will have confidence¹³ that you can disclose its interpretation.”

Daniel 3:5

3:5 When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither,¹⁴ trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must¹⁵ bow down and pay homage to the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has erected.

Daniel 4:32

4:32 You will be driven from human society, and you will live with the wild animals. You will be fed grass like oxen, and seven periods of time will pass by for you before¹⁶ you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.”

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’ –

Daniel 4:25

4:25 You will be driven¹⁷ from human society,¹⁸ and you will live¹⁹ with the wild animals. You will be fed²⁰ grass like oxen,²¹ and you will become damp with the dew of the sky. Seven periods of time will pass by for you, before²² you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.

Daniel 3:15

3:15 Now if you are ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must bow down and pay homage to the statue that I had made. If you don’t pay homage to it, you will immediately be thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. Now, who is that god who can rescue you from my power?”²³

¹tn Aram “wear out” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV); NASB, NLT “wear down.” The word is a hapax legomenon in biblical Aramaic, but in biblical Hebrew it especially refers to wearing out such things as garments. Here it is translated “harass…continually.”

²tn Aram “he will think.”

³tn Aram “times and law.” The present translation is based on the understanding that the expression is a hendiadys.

⁴sn Although the word times is vocalized in the MT as a plural, it probably should be regarded as a dual. The Masoretes may have been influenced here by the fact that in late Aramaic (and Syriac) the dual forms fall out of use. The meaning would thus be three and a half “times.”

⁵tn Aram “a prolonging of life was granted to them.”

⁹tn Aram “kings.”

¹⁰tn Aram “the knowers of understanding.”

¹³tn Aram “its heart.” The metaphor of the tree begins to fade here and the reality behind the symbol (the king) begins to emerge.

¹⁴sn The seven periods of time probably refer to seven years.

¹⁵tn Aram “over” (also in vv. 23, 25, 32).

¹⁷tn Aram “one is your law,” i.e., only one thing is applicable to you.

¹⁸tn Aram “a lying and corrupt word.”

¹⁹tn Aram “I will know.”

²¹sn The word zither (Aramaic קִיתָרוֹס [qitaros]), and the words for harp (Aramaic פְּסַנְתֵּרִין [pÿsanterin]) and pipes (Aramaic סוּמְפֹּנְיָה [sumponÿyah]), are of Greek derivation. Though much has been made of this in terms of suggesting a date in the Hellenistic period for the writing of the book, it is not surprising that a few Greek cultural terms, all of them the names of musical instruments, should appear in this book. As a number of scholars have pointed out, the bigger surprise (if, in fact, the book is to be dated to the Hellenistic period) may be that there are so few Greek loanwords in Daniel.

²²tn The imperfect Aramaic verbs have here an injunctive nuance.

²⁵tn Aram “until.”

²⁹tn The Aramaic indefinite active plural is used here like the English passive. So also in v. 28, 29,32.

³⁰tn Aram “from mankind.” So also in v. 32.

³¹tn Aram “your dwelling will be.” So also in v. 32.

³²tn Or perhaps “be made to eat.”

³³sn 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.

³⁴tn Aram “until.”

³³tn Aram “hand.” So also in v. 17.