Daniel 1:3

1:3 The king commanded ¹  Ashpenaz, ²  who was in charge of his court officials, ³  to choose ⁴  some of the Israelites who were of royal and noble descent ⁵  –

Daniel 2:33

2:33 Its legs were of iron; its feet were partly of iron and partly of clay. ⁶ 

Daniel 8:11

8:11 It also acted arrogantly against the Prince of the army, ⁷  from whom ⁸  the daily sacrifice was removed and whose sanctuary ⁹  was thrown down.

Daniel 11:5

11:5 “Then the king of the south ¹⁰  and one of his subordinates ¹¹  will grow strong. His subordinate ¹²  will resist ¹³  him and will rule a kingdom greater than his. ¹⁴ 

Daniel 11:23

11:23 After ¹⁵  entering into an alliance with him, he will behave treacherously; he will ascend to power with only a small force. ¹⁶ 

Daniel 11:31

11:31 His forces ¹⁷  will rise up and profane the fortified sanctuary, ¹⁸  stopping the daily sacrifice. In its place they will set up ¹⁹  the abomination that causes desolation.

[1:3]  ¹ tn Or “gave orders to.” Heb “said to.”

[1:3]  ² 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.

[1:3]  ³ 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.

[1:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “bring.”

[1:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “and from the seed of royalty and from the nobles.”

[2:33]  ⁶ sn Clay refers to baked clay, which – though hard – was also fragile. Cf. the reference in v. 41 to “wet clay.”

[8:11]  ¹¹ 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).

[8:11]  ¹² tn Or perhaps “and by him,” referring to Antiochus rather than to God.

[8:11]  ¹³ sn Here the sanctuary is a reference to the temple of God in Jerusalem.

[11:5]  ¹⁶ sn The king of the south is Ptolemy I Soter (ca. 323-285 B.C.). The following reference to one of his subordinates apparently has in view Seleucus I Nicator (ca. 311-280 B.C.). Throughout the remainder of chap. 11 the expressions “king of the south” and “king of the north” repeatedly occur. It is clear, however, that these terms are being used generically to describe the Ptolemaic king (i.e., “of the south”) or the Seleucid king (i.e., “of the north”) who happens to be in power at any particular time. The specific identity of these kings can be established more or less successfully by a comparison of this chapter with the available extra-biblical records that discuss the history of the intertestamental period. In the following notes the generally accepted identifications are briefly mentioned.

[11:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “princes.”

[11:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the subordinate prince mentioned in the previous clause) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “be strong against.”

[11:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “greater than his kingdom.”

[11:23]  ²¹ 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).

[11:23]  ²² tn Heb “nation.”

[11:31]  ²⁶ tn Heb “arms.”

[11:31]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the sanctuary, the fortress.”

[11:31]  ²⁸ tn Heb “will give.”