Daniel 1:8

1:8 But Daniel made up his mind ¹  that he would not defile ²  himself with the royal delicacies or the royal wine. ³  He therefore asked the overseer of the court officials for permission not to defile himself.

Daniel 1:13

1:13 Then compare our appearance ⁴  with that of ⁵  the young men who are eating the royal delicacies; ⁶  deal with us ⁷  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 ⁸  than all the young men who had been eating the royal delicacies.

Daniel 1:20

1:20 In every matter of wisdom and ⁹  insight the king asked them about, he found them to be ten times ¹⁰  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 ¹¹ In the third year ¹²  of King Belshazzar’s reign, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that had appeared to me previously. ¹³ 

Daniel 8:27

8:27 I, Daniel, was exhausted ¹⁴  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.

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

[1:8]  ² tn Or “would not make himself ceremonially unclean”; TEV “become ritually unclean.”

[1:8]  ³ tn Heb “with the delicacies of the king and with the wine of his drinking.”

[1:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “let our appearance be seen before you.”

[1:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “the appearance of.”

[1:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “delicacies of the king.” So also in v. 15.

[1:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “your servants.”

[1:15]  ⁷ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “hands.”

[8:1]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in the beginning.” This refers to the vision described in chapter seven.

[8:27]  ¹⁶ 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.