1 tn Heb “extraordinarily he will destroy.”
2 tn Heb “he will succeed and act.”
3 tn See the corresponding Aramaic expression in 7:27. If the “holy ones” are angels, then this probably refers to the angels as protectors of God’s people. One could translate, “people belonging to (i.e., protected by) the holy ones.” If the “holy ones” are God’s people, then this is an appositional construction, “the people who are the holy ones.” One could translate simply “holy people.” For examples of a plural appositional genitive after “people,” see 11:15, 32. Because either interpretation is possible, the translation has deliberately preserved the ambiguity of the Hebrew grammar here.
4 tn Heb “the broken one.” The word “horn” has been supplied in the translation to clarify the referent.
7 tn Heb “did not remain in.”
8 tn Heb “was changed upon me for ruin.”
9 tn Heb “strength.”
10 tn Heb “the wrath of its strength.”
13 sn This well-fortified city is apparently Sidon. Its capture from the Ptolemies by Antiochus the Great was a strategic victory for the Seleucid kingdom.
14 tn Or “choice troops” (BDB 104 s.v. מִבְחָר), or “elite troops” (HALOT 542 s.v. מִבְחָר).
16 tn Heb “good of appearance.”
17 tn Heb “knowers of knowledge.”
18 tn Heb “understanders of knowledge.”
19 tn Heb “who had strength.”
20 tn Heb “to stand in the palace of the king.” Cf. vv. 5, 19.
21 sn The language of the Chaldeans referred to here is Akkadian, an East Semitic cuneiform language.
22 tn Heb “Chaldeans” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV). This is an ancient name for the Babylonians.
19 tn Heb “him.”
20 tn Heb “the ram.”
21 tn Heb “stand before him.”
22 tn Heb “he hurled him.” The referents of both pronouns (the male goat and the ram) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
23 sn The goat of Daniel’s vision represents Greece; the large horn represents Alexander the Great. The ram stands for Media-Persia. Alexander’s rapid conquest of the Persians involved three battles of major significance which he won against overwhelming odds: Granicus (334
22 tn Heb “Behold.”
23 tc So most Hebrew
24 tn Heb “my lord,” here a title of polite address. Cf. v. 19.
25 tn Heb “How is the servant of this my lord able to speak with this my lord?”
26 tn Heb “does not stand.”
28 sn Here they refers to Ptolemy II Philadelphus (ca. 285-246
29 sn The daughter refers to Berenice, who was given in marriage to Antiochus II Theos.
30 tn Heb “the strength of the arm.”
31 tn Heb “stand.” So also in vv. 7, 8, 11, 13.
32 tn Heb “and his arm.” Some understand this to refer to the descendants of the king of the north.
33 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.
34 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
31 tn Heb “heart.”
32 sn This king of the south was Ptolemy Philometer (ca. 181-145