Daniel 1:5

1:5 So the king assigned them a daily ration ¹  from his royal delicacies ²  and from the wine he himself drank. They were to be trained ³  for the next three years. At the end of that time they were to enter the king’s service. ⁴ 

Daniel 1:19

1:19 When the king spoke with them, he did not find among the entire group ⁵  anyone like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, or Azariah. So they entered the king’s service. ⁶ 

Daniel 2:2

2:2 The king issued an order ⁷  to summon the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and wise men ⁸  in order to explain his dreams to him. ⁹  So they came and awaited the king’s instructions. ¹⁰ 

Daniel 1:21

1:21 Now Daniel lived on until the first ¹¹  year of Cyrus the king.

Daniel 1:3

1:3 The king commanded ¹²  Ashpenaz, ¹³  who was in charge of his court officials, ¹⁴  to choose ¹⁵  some of the Israelites who were of royal and noble descent ¹⁶  –

Daniel 1:18

1:18 When the time appointed by the king arrived, ¹⁷  the overseer of the court officials brought them into Nebuchadnezzar’s presence.

Daniel 2:3

2:3 The king told them, “I have had a dream, ¹⁸  and I ¹⁹  am anxious to understand the dream.”

Daniel 8:21

8:21 The male goat ²⁰  is the king of Greece, ²¹  and the large horn between its eyes is the first king.

Daniel 9:1

Daniel Prays for His People

9:1 In the first year of Darius ²²  son of Ahasuerus, ²³  who was of Median descent and who had been ²⁴  appointed king over the Babylonian ²⁵  empire –

Daniel 1:8

1:8 But Daniel made up his mind ²⁶  that he would not defile ²⁷  himself with the royal delicacies or the royal wine. ²⁸  He therefore asked the overseer of the court officials for permission not to defile himself.

Daniel 1:13

1:13 Then compare our appearance ²⁹  with that of ³⁰  the young men who are eating the royal delicacies; ³¹  deal with us ³²  in light of what you see.”

Daniel 1:15

1:15 At the end of the ten days their appearance was better and their bodies were healthier ³³  than all the young men who had been eating the royal delicacies.

Daniel 1:20

1:20 In every matter of wisdom and ³⁴  insight the king asked them about, he found them to be ten times ³⁵  better than any of the magicians and astrologers that were in his entire empire.

Daniel 8:1

Daniel Has a Vision of a Goat and a Ram

8:1 ³⁶ In the third year ³⁷  of King Belshazzar’s reign, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that had appeared to me previously. ³⁸ 

Daniel 8:27

8:27 I, Daniel, was exhausted ³⁹  and sick for days. Then I got up and again carried out the king’s business. But I was astonished at the vision, and there was no one to explain it.

Daniel 1:4

1:4 young men in whom there was no physical defect and who were handsome, ⁴⁰  well versed in all kinds of wisdom, well educated ⁴¹  and having keen insight, ⁴²  and who were capable ⁴³  of entering the king’s royal service ⁴⁴  – and to teach them the literature and language ⁴⁵  of the Babylonians. ⁴⁶ 

Daniel 1:10

1:10 But he ⁴⁷  responded to Daniel, “I fear my master the king. He is the one who has decided ⁴⁸  your food and drink. What would happen if he saw that you looked malnourished in comparison to the other young men your age? ⁴⁹  If that happened, ⁵⁰  you would endanger my life ⁵¹  with the king!”

Daniel 11:36

11:36 “Then the king ⁵²  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 ⁵³  wrath is completed, for what has been decreed must occur. ⁵⁴ 

[1:5]  ¹ tn Heb “a thing of a day in its day.”

[1:5]  ² tn Heb “from the delicacies of the king.”

[1:5]  ³ tn Or “educated.” See HALOT 179 s.v. I גדל.

[1:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “stand before the king.”

[1:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “from all of them.”

[1:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “stood before the king.”

[2:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “said.” So also in v. 12.

[2:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Chaldeans.” The term Chaldeans (Hebrew כַּשְׂדִּים, kasdim) is used in the book of Daniel both in an ethnic sense and, as here, to refer to a caste of Babylonian wise men and astrologers.

[2:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to explain to the king his dreams.”

[2:2]  ¹² tn Heb “stood before the king.”

[1:21]  ¹³ sn The Persian king Cyrus’ first year in control of Babylon was 539 B.C. Daniel actually lived beyond the first year of Cyrus, as is clear from 10:1. The purpose of the statement in 1:21 is merely to say that Daniel’s life spanned the entire period of the neo-Babylonian empire. His life span also included the early years of the Persian control of Babylon. However, by that time his age was quite advanced; he probably died sometime in the 530’s B.C.

[1:3]  ¹⁷ tn Or “gave orders to.” Heb “said to.”

[1:3]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Heb “bring.”

[1:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “and from the seed of royalty and from the nobles.”

[1:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “at the end of the days which the king said to bring them.”

[2:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “I have dreamed a dream” (so KJV, ASV).

[2:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “my spirit.”

[8:21]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the he-goat, the buck.” The expression is odd, and the second word may be an explanatory gloss.

[8:21]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Javan.”

[9:1]  ³³ sn The identity of this Darius is a major problem in correlating the biblical material with the extra-biblical records of this period. Most modern scholars treat the reference as a mistaken allusion to Darius Hystaspes (ca. 522-486 B.C.). Others have maintained instead that this name is a reference to the Persian governor Gubaru. Still others understand the reference to be to the Persian king Cyrus (cf. 6:28, where the vav (ו) may be understood as vav explicativum, meaning “even”). Under either of these latter two interpretations, the first year of Darius would have been ca. 538 B.C. Daniel would have been approximately eighty-two years old at this time.

[9:1]  ³⁴ tc The LXX reads “Xerxes.” This is the reading used by some English versions (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV). Most other English versions retain the Hebrew name “Ahasuerus.”

[9:1]  ³⁵ tc The present translation follows the MT in reading a Hophal (i.e., passive). Theodotion, the Syriac, and the Vulgate all presuppose the Hiphil (i.e., active). Even though this is the only occurrence of the Hophal of this verb in the Bible, there is no need to emend the vocalization to the Hiphil.

[9:1]  ³⁶ tn Heb “was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans.”

[1:8]  ³⁷ tn Heb “placed on his heart.”

[1:8]  ³⁸ tn Or “would not make himself ceremonially unclean”; TEV “become ritually unclean.”

[1:8]  ³⁹ tn Heb “with the delicacies of the king and with the wine of his drinking.”

[1:13]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “let our appearance be seen before you.”

[1:13]  ⁴² tn Heb “the appearance of.”

[1:13]  ⁴³ tn Heb “delicacies of the king.” So also in v. 15.

[1:13]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “your servants.”

[1:15]  ⁴⁵ 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).

[1:20]  ⁴⁹ tc The MT lacks the conjunction, reading the first word in the phrase as a construct (“wisdom of insight”). While this reading is not impossible, it seems better to follow Theodotion, the Syriac, the Vulgate, and the Sahidic Coptic, all of which have the conjunction.

[1:20]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “hands.”

[8:1]  ⁵³ sn Dan 8:1 marks the switch from Aramaic (= 2:4b-7:28) back to Hebrew as the language in which the book is written in its present form. The remainder of the book from this point on (8:1-12:13) is in Hebrew. The bilingual nature of the book has been variously explained, but it most likely has to do with the book’s transmission history.

[8:1]  ⁵⁴ sn The third year of King Belshazzar’s reign would have been ca. 551 B.C. Daniel would have been approximately 69 years old at the time of this vision.

[8:1]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “in the beginning.” This refers to the vision described in chapter seven.

[8:27]  ⁵⁷ tn The Hebrew word here is נִהְיֵיתִי (nihyetiy). Its meaning is not entirely clear. Hebrew הָיָה (hayah) normally has meanings such as “to be” or “become.” Here, however, it describes Daniel’s emotional and physical response to the enigmatic vision that he has seen. It is parallel to the following verb, which refers to illness, and seems to refer to a state of utter exhaustion due to the amazing things that Daniel has just seen. The LXX lacks the word. On the meaning of the word see further, BDB 227-28 s.v. הָיָה Niph.2; DCH 2:540 s.v. היה I Ni.3.

[1:4]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “good of appearance.”

[1:4]  ⁶² tn Heb “knowers of knowledge.”

[1:4]  ⁶³ tn Heb “understanders of knowledge.”

[1:4]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “who had strength.”

[1:4]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “to stand in the palace of the king.” Cf. vv. 5, 19.

[1:4]  ⁶⁶ sn The language of the Chaldeans referred to here is Akkadian, an East Semitic cuneiform language.

[1:4]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “Chaldeans” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV). This is an ancient name for the Babylonians.

[1:10]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “The overseer of the court officials.” The subject has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:10]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “assigned.” See v. 5.

[1:10]  ⁶⁷ 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.

[1:10]  ⁶⁸ tn The words “if that happened” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

[1:10]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “my head.” Presumably this is an implicit reference to capital punishment (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT), although this is not entirely clear.

[11:36]  ⁶⁹ 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.

[11:36]  ⁷⁰ tn The words “the time of” are added in the translation for clarification.

[11:36]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “has been done.” The Hebrew verb used here is the perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of fulfillment.