10:22 The sons of Shem were Elam, 1 Asshur, 2 Arphaxad, 3 Lud, 4 and Aram. 5
14:1 At that time 6 Amraphel king of Shinar, 7 Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations 8
21:2 I have received a distressing message: 18
“The deceiver deceives,
the destroyer destroys.
Attack, you Elamites!
Lay siege, you Medes!
I will put an end to all the groaning!” 19
1 sn The Hebrew name Elam (עֵילָם, ’elam) means “highland.” The Elamites were a non-Semitic people who lived east of Babylon.
2 sn Asshur is the name for the Assyrians. Asshur was the region in which Nimrod expanded his power (see v. 11, where the name is also mentioned). When names appear in both sections of a genealogical list, it probably means that there were both Hamites and Shemites living in that region in antiquity, especially if the name is a place name.
3 sn The descendants of Arphaxad may have lived northeast of Nineveh.
4 sn Lud may have been the ancestor of the Ludbu, who lived near the Tigris River.
5 sn Aram became the collective name of the northern tribes living in the steppes of Mesopotamia and speaking Aramaic dialects.
6 tn The sentence begins with the temporal indicator וַיְהִי (vayÿhi) followed by “in the days of.”
7 sn Shinar (also in v. 9) is the region of Babylonia.
8 tn Or “king of Goyim.” The Hebrew term גּוֹיִם (goyim) means “nations,” but a number of modern translations merely transliterate the Hebrew (cf. NEB “Goyim”; NIV, NRSV “Goiim”).
9 tn Or “in that day” (KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
10 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).
11 tc The Hebrew text reads, “the sovereign master will again, a second time, his hand.” The auxiliary verb יוֹסִיף (yosif), which literally means “add,” needs a main verb to complete it. Consequently many emend שֵׁנִית (shenit, “a second time”) to an infinitive. Some propose the form שַׁנֹּת (shannot, a Piel infinitive construct from שָׁנָה, shanah) and relate it semantically to an Arabic cognate meaning “to be high.” If the Hebrew text is retained a verb must be supplied. “Second time” would allude back to the events of the Exodus (see vv. 15-16).
12 tn Or “acquire”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV “recover.”
13 tn Heb “the remnant of his people who remain.”
14 sn Perhaps a reference to Upper (i.e., southern) Egypt (so NIV, NLT; NCV “South Egypt”).
15 tn Or “Ethiopia” (NAB, NRSV, NLT).
16 tn Or “Babylonia” (NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).
17 tn Or perhaps, “the islands of the sea.”
18 tn Heb “a severe revelation has been related to me.”
19 sn This is often interpreted to mean “all the groaning” that Babylon has caused others.
20 tn Heb “the.”
21 sn Susa (Heb. שׁוּשַׁן, shushan), located some 230 miles (380 km) east of Babylon, was a winter residence for Persian kings during the Achaemenid period. The language of v. 2 seems to suggest that Daniel may not have been physically present at Susa, but only saw himself there in the vision. However, the Hebrew is difficult, and some have concluded that the first four words of v. 2 in the MT are a later addition (cf. Theodotion).
22 tn The Hebrew word בִּירָה (birah, “castle, palace”) usually refers to a fortified structure within a city, but here it is in apposition to the city name Susa and therefore has a broader reference to the entire city (against this view, however, see BDB 108 s.v. 2). Cf. NAB “the fortress of Susa”; TEV “the walled city of Susa.”
23 tn The term אוּבַל (’uval = “stream, river”) is a relatively rare word in biblical Hebrew, found only here and in vv. 3 and 6. The Ulai was apparently a sizable artificial canal in Susa (cf. NASB, NIV, NCV), and not a river in the ordinary sense of that word.