5:10 Due to the noise 8 caused by the king and his nobles, the queen mother 9 then entered the banquet room. She 10 said, “O king, live forever! Don’t be alarmed! Don’t be shaken!
11:36 “Then the king 11 will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every deity and he will utter presumptuous things against the God of gods. He will succeed until the time of 12 wrath is completed, for what has been decreed must occur. 13
8:9 From one of them came a small horn. 15 But it grew to be very big, toward the south and the east and toward the beautiful land. 16
9:17 “So now, our God, accept 17 the prayer and requests of your servant, and show favor to 18 your devastated sanctuary for your own sake. 19
11:7 “There will arise in his 25 place one from her family line 26 who will come against their army and will enter the stronghold of the king of the north and will move against them successfully. 27
2:24 Then Daniel went in to see 28 Arioch (whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon). He came 29 and said to him, “Don’t destroy the wise men of Babylon! Escort me 30 to the king, and I will disclose the interpretation to him!” 31
4:19 Then Daniel (whose name is also Belteshazzar) was upset for a brief time; 32 his thoughts were alarming him. The king said, “Belteshazzar, don’t let the dream and its interpretation alarm you.” But Belteshazzar replied, “Sir, 33 if only the dream were for your enemies and its interpretation applied to your adversaries!
1 tn Heb “in your name.” Another option is to translate, “as your representatives.”
2 tn Heb “our fathers” (also in vv. 8, 16). The Hebrew term translated “father” can refer to more distant relationships such as grandfathers or ancestors.
3 tn Heb “people.”
4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king of the north) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Heb “face.”
8 tn The Hebrew phrase translated “Lord God” here is אֲדֹנָי הָאֱלֹהִים (’adonay ha’elohim).
9 sn When lamenting, ancient Israelites would fast, wear sackcloth, and put ashes on their heads to show their sorrow and contrition.
10 tn Aram “words of the king.”
11 tn Aram “the queen” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). In the following discourse this woman is able to recall things about Daniel that go back to the days of Nebuchadnezzar, things that Belshazzar does not seem to recollect. It is likely that she was the wife not of Belshazzar but of Nabonidus or perhaps even Nebuchadnezzar. In that case, “queen” here means “queen mother” (cf. NCV “the king’s mother”).
12 tn Aram “The queen.” The translation has used the pronoun “she” instead because repetition of the noun here would be redundant in terms of English style.
13 sn The identity of this king is problematic. If vv. 36-45 continue the description of Antiochus Epiphanes, the account must be viewed as erroneous, since the details do not match what is known of Antiochus’ latter days. Most modern scholars take this view, concluding that this section was written just shortly before the death of Antiochus and that the writer erred on several key points as he tried to predict what would follow the events of his own day. Conservative scholars, however, usually understand the reference to shift at this point to an eschatological figure, viz., the Antichrist. The chronological gap that this would presuppose to be in the narrative is not necessarily a problem, since by all accounts there are many chronological gaps throughout the chapter, as the historical figures intended by such expressions as “king of the north” and “king of the south” repeatedly shift.
14 tn The words “the time of” are added in the translation for clarification.
15 tn Heb “has been done.” The Hebrew verb used here is the perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of fulfillment.
16 sn Having failed to convince the overseer, Daniel sought the favor of the warden whom the overseer had appointed to care for the young men.
19 sn This small horn is Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who controlled the Seleucid kingdom from ca. 175-164
20 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”).
22 tn Heb “hear.” Here the verb refers to hearing favorably, accepting the prayer and responding positively.
23 tn Heb “let your face shine.” This idiom pictures God smiling in favor. See Pss 31:16; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19.
24 tn Heb “for the sake of my Lord.” Theodotion has “for your sake.” Cf. v. 19.
25 tn Heb “for your name is called over your city and your people.” See the note on this expression in v 18.
28 tn Heb “mouth.”
29 sn Anointing oneself with oil (usually olive oil) was a common OT practice due to the severity of the Middle Eastern sun (cf. Ps 121:6). It was also associated with rejoicing (e.g., Prov 27:9) and was therefore usually not practiced during a period of mourning.
31 tn Heb “treasured man.”
32 tn Heb “my lord may speak.”
34 sn The reference is to the king of Egypt.
35 tn Heb “the stock of her roots.”
36 tn Heb “will deal with them and prevail.”
37 tc The MT has עַל עַל (’al ’al, “he entered upon”). Several medieval Hebrew
38 tc The LXX and Vulgate, along with one medieval Hebrew
39 tn Aram “cause me to enter.” So also in v. 25.
40 tn Aram “the king.”
40 tn Aram “about one hour.” The expression refers idiomatically to a brief period of time of undetermined length.
41 tn Aram “my lord.”
43 tc This phrase, repeated from v. 1, is absent in Theodotion.
44 tn The Hebrew text has “books”; the word “sacred” has been added in the translation to clarify that it is Scriptures that are referred to.
45 sn The tetragrammaton (the four Hebrew letters which constitute the divine Name, YHWH) appears eight times in this chapter, and nowhere else in the book of Daniel.
46 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
46 tn Heb “gave your heart.”
49 tn Heb “Behold.”
50 tc So most Hebrew
51 tn Heb “my lord,” here a title of polite address. Cf. v. 19.
52 sn Here they refers to Ptolemy II Philadelphus (ca. 285-246
53 sn The daughter refers to Berenice, who was given in marriage to Antiochus II Theos.
54 tn Heb “the strength of the arm.”
55 tn Heb “stand.” So also in vv. 7, 8, 11, 13.
56 tn Heb “and his arm.” Some understand this to refer to the descendants of the king of the north.
57 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.
58 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
55 tn Or “to the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
56 tc The present translation reads יַד־נֹפֵץ (yad-nofets, “hand of one who shatters”) rather than the MT נַפֵּץ־יַד (nappets-yad, “to shatter the hand”).