1:3 The king commanded 3 Ashpenaz, 4 who was in charge of his court officials, 5 to choose 6 some of the Israelites who were of royal and noble descent 7 –
11:5 “Then the king of the south 12 and one of his subordinates 13 will grow strong. His subordinate 14 will resist 15 him and will rule a kingdom greater than his. 16
1:15 At the end of the ten days their appearance was better and their bodies were healthier 22 than all the young men who had been eating the royal delicacies.
8:9 From one of them came a small horn. 23 But it grew to be very big, toward the south and the east and toward the beautiful land. 24
8:5 While I was contemplating all this, 37 a male goat 38 was coming from the west over the surface of all the land 39 without touching the ground. This goat had a conspicuous horn 40 between its eyes.
9:25 So know and understand:
From the issuing of the command 41 to restore and rebuild
Jerusalem 42 until an anointed one, a prince arrives, 43
there will be a period of seven weeks 44 and sixty-two weeks.
It will again be built, 45 with plaza and moat,
but in distressful times.
1 tn Traditionally, “host.” The term refers to God’s heavenly angelic assembly, which he sometimes leads into battle as an army.
2 sn In prescientific Israelite thinking the stars were associated with the angelic members of God’s heavenly assembly. See Judg 5:20; Job 38:7; Isa 40:26. In west Semitic mythology the stars were members of the high god’s divine assembly (see Isa 14:13).
3 tn Or “gave orders to.” Heb “said to.”
4 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.
5 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.
6 tn Heb “bring.”
7 tn Heb “and from the seed of royalty and from the nobles.”
5 sn Clay refers to baked clay, which – though hard – was also fragile. Cf. the reference in v. 41 to “wet clay.”
7 sn The prince of the army may refer to God (cf. “whose sanctuary” later in the verse) or to the angel Michael (cf. 12:1).
8 tn Or perhaps “and by him,” referring to Antiochus rather than to God.
9 sn Here the sanctuary is a reference to the temple of God in Jerusalem.
9 sn The king of the south is Ptolemy I Soter (ca. 323-285
10 tn Heb “princes.”
11 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the subordinate prince mentioned in the previous clause) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 tn Heb “be strong against.”
13 tn Heb “greater than his kingdom.”
11 tn The preposition מִן (min) is probably temporal here (so BDB 583 s.v. 7.c; cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV), although it could also be understood here as indicating means (so J. Goldingay, Daniel [WBC], 279, n. 23a; cf. TEV, NLT).
12 tn Heb “nation.”
13 tn Heb “arms.”
14 tn Heb “the sanctuary, the fortress.”
15 tn Heb “will give.”
15 tn Heb “fat of flesh”; KJV, ASV “fatter in flesh”; NASB, NRSV “fatter” (although this is no longer a sign of health in Western culture).
17 sn This small horn is Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who controlled the Seleucid kingdom from ca. 175-164
18 sn The expression the beautiful land (Heb. הַצֶּבִי [hatsÿvi] = “the beauty”) is a cryptic reference to the land of Israel. Cf. 11:16, 41, where it is preceded by the word אֶרֶץ (’erets, “land”).
19 tn Heb “The overseer of the court officials.” The subject has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.
20 tn Heb “assigned.” See v. 5.
21 tn Heb “Why should he see your faces thin from the young men who are according to your age?” The term translated “thin” occurs only here and in Gen 40:6, where it appears to refer to a dejected facial expression. The word is related to an Arabic root meaning “be weak.” See HALOT 277 s.v. II זעף.
22 tn The words “if that happened” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.
23 tn Heb “my head.” Presumably this is an implicit reference to capital punishment (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT), although this is not entirely clear.
21 tc The LXX lacks “and toes.”
22 tn Aram “potter’s clay.”
23 tn Aram “clay of clay” (also in v. 43).
23 tn Heb “lifted my eyes.”
24 tn Heb “and behold.”
25 tn Heb “one.” The Hebrew numerical adjective occasionally functions like an English indefinite article. See GKC 401 §125.b.
26 tn Heb “high” (also “higher” later in this verse).
25 tn The words “all this” are added in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.
26 tn Heb “and behold, a he-goat of the goats.”
27 tn Or “of the whole earth” (NAB, ASV, NASB, NRSV).
28 tn Heb “a horn of vision” [or “conspicuousness”], i.e., “a conspicuous horn,” one easily seen.
27 tn Or “decree” (NASB, NIV); or “word” (NAB, NRSV).
28 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
29 tn The word “arrives” is added in the translation for clarification.
30 tn Heb “sevens” (also later in this line and in v. 26).
31 tn Heb “it will return and be built.” The expression is a verbal hendiadys.
29 tn Heb “gave your heart.”