Daniel 11:13

11:13 For the king of the north will again muster an army, one larger than before. At the end of some years he will advance with a huge army and enormous supplies.

Daniel 11:3

11:3 Then a powerful king ¹  will arise, exercising great authority and doing as he pleases.

Daniel 1:3

1:3 The king commanded ²  Ashpenaz, ³  who was in charge of his court officials, ⁴  to choose ⁵  some of the Israelites who were of royal and noble descent ⁶  –

Daniel 5:1

Belshazzar Sees Mysterious Handwriting on a Wall

5:1 King Belshazzar ⁷  prepared a great banquet ⁸  for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in front of ⁹  them all. ¹⁰ 

Daniel 11:5

11:5 “Then the king of the south ¹¹  and one of his subordinates ¹²  will grow strong. His subordinate ¹³  will resist ¹⁴  him and will rule a kingdom greater than his. ¹⁵ 

Daniel 2:14

2:14 Then Daniel spoke with prudent counsel ¹⁶  to Arioch, who was in charge of the king’s executioners and who had gone out to execute the wise men of Babylon.

Daniel 2:31

2:31 “You, O king, were watching as a great statue – one ¹⁷  of impressive size and extraordinary brightness – was standing before you. Its appearance caused alarm.

Daniel 11:11

11:11 “Then the king of the south ¹⁸  will be enraged and will march out to fight against the king of the north, who will also muster a large army, but that army will be delivered into his hand.

Daniel 2:10

2:10 The wise men replied to the king, “There is no man on earth who is able to disclose the king’s secret, ¹⁹  for no king, regardless of his position and power, has ever requested such a thing from any magician, astrologer, or wise man.

Daniel 2:45

2:45 You saw that a stone was cut from a mountain, but not by human hands; it smashed the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold into pieces. The great God has made known to the king what will occur in the future. ²⁰  The dream is certain, and its interpretation is reliable.”

Daniel 4:9

4:9 saying, “Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, in whom I know there to be a spirit of the holy gods and whom no mystery baffles, consider ²¹  my dream that I saw and set forth its interpretation!

Daniel 5:11

5:11 There is a man in your kingdom who has within him a spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, he proved to have ²²  insight, discernment, and wisdom like that ²³  of the gods. ²⁴  King Nebuchadnezzar your father appointed him chief of the magicians, astrologers, wise men, and diviners. ²⁵ 

Daniel 7:20

7:20 I also wanted to know ²⁶  the meaning of the ten horns on its head, and of that other horn which came up and before which three others fell. This was the horn that had eyes ²⁷  and a mouth speaking arrogant things, whose appearance was more formidable than the others. ²⁸ 

Daniel 2:35

2:35 Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were broken in pieces without distinction ²⁹  and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors that the wind carries away. Not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a large mountain that filled the entire earth.

[11:3]  ¹ sn The powerful king mentioned here is Alexander the Great (ca. 336-323 B.C.).

[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.”

[5:1]  ¹ sn As is clear from the extra-biblical records, it was actually Nabonidus (ca. 556-539 B.C.) who was king of Babylon at this time. However, Nabonidus spent long periods of time at Teima, and during those times Belshazzar his son was de facto king of Babylon. This arrangement may help to explain why later in this chapter Belshazzar promises that the successful interpreter of the handwriting on the wall will be made third ruler in the kingdom. If Belshazzar was in effect second ruler in the kingdom, this would be the highest honor he could grant.

[5:1]  ² sn This scene of a Babylonian banquet calls to mind a similar grandiose event recorded in Esth 1:3-8. Persian kings were also renowned in the ancient Near Eastern world for their lavish banquets.

[5:1]  ³ sn The king probably sat at an elevated head table.

[5:1]  ⁴ tn Aram “the thousand.”

[11:5]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “princes.”

[11:5]  ³ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the subordinate prince mentioned in the previous clause) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “be strong against.”

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

[2:14]  ¹ tn Aram “returned prudence and counsel.” The expression is a hendiadys.

[2:31]  ¹ tn Aram “an image.”

[11:11]  ¹ sn This king of the south refers to Ptolemy IV Philopator (ca. 221-204 B.C.).

[2:10]  ¹ tn Aram “matter, thing.”

[2:45]  ¹ tn Aram “after this.”

[4:9]  ¹ tc The present translation assumes the reading חֲזִי (khazi, “consider”) rather than the MT חֶזְוֵי (khezvey, “visions”). The MT implies that the king required Daniel to disclose both the dream and its interpretation, as in chapter 2. But in the following verses Nebuchadnezzar recounts his dream, while Daniel presents only its interpretation.

[5:11]  ¹ tn Aram “[there were] discovered to be in him.”

[5:11]  ² tn Aram “wisdom like the wisdom.” This would be redundant in terms of English style.

[5:11]  ³ tc Theodotion lacks the phrase “and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods.”

[5:11]  ⁴ tc The MT includes a redundant reference to “your father the king” at the end of v. 11. None of the attempts to explain this phrase as original are very convincing. The present translation deletes the phrase, following Theodotion and the Syriac.

[7:20]  ¹ tn The words “I also wanted to know” are added in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:20]  ² tc The conjunction in the MT before “eyes” is odd. The ancient versions do not seem to presuppose it.

[7:20]  ³ tn Aram “greater than its companions.”

[2:35]  ¹ tn Aram “as one.” For the meaning “without distinction” see the following: F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 36, §64, and p. 93; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 60.