Daniel 2:5

2:5 The king replied ¹  to the wise men, “My decision is firm. ²  If you do not inform me of both the dream and its interpretation, you will be dismembered ³  and your homes reduced to rubble!

Daniel 4:26

4:26 They said to leave the taproot of the tree, for your kingdom will be restored to you when you come to understand that heaven ⁴  rules.

Daniel 4:31

4:31 While these words were still on the king’s lips, ⁵  a voice came down from heaven: “It is hereby announced to you, ⁶  King Nebuchadnezzar, that your kingdom has been removed from you!

Daniel 6:16

6:16 So the king gave the order, ⁷  and Daniel was brought and thrown into a den ⁸  of lions. The king consoled ⁹  Daniel by saying, “Your God whom you continually serve will rescue you!”

Daniel 6:20

6:20 As he approached the den, he called out to Daniel in a worried voice, ¹⁰  “Daniel, servant of the living God, was your God whom you continually serve able to rescue you from the lions?”

Daniel 10:20

10:20 He said, “Do you know why I have come to you? ¹¹  Now I am about to return to engage in battle with the prince of Persia. When I go, the prince of Greece is coming.

[2:5]  ¹ tn Aram “answered and said,” a common idiom to indicate a reply, but redundant in contemporary English.

[2:5]  ² tn It seems clear from what follows that Nebuchadnezzar clearly recalls the content of the dream, although obviously he does not know what to make of it. By not divulging the dream itself to the would-be interpreters, he intends to find out whether they are simply leading him on. If they can tell him the dream’s content, which he is able to verify, he then can have confidence in their interpretation, which is what eludes him. The translation “the matter is gone from me” (cf. KJV, ASV), suggesting that the king had simply forgotten the dream, is incorrect. The Aramaic word used here (אַזְדָּא, ’azda’) is probably of Persian origin; it occurs in the OT only here and in v. 8. There are two main possibilities for the meaning of the word: “the matter is promulgated by me” (see KBL 1048 s.v.) and therefore “publicly known” (cf. NRSV; F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 62-63, §189), or “the matter is irrevocable” (cf. NAB, NIV, TEV, CEV, NLT; HALOT 1808 s.v. אזד; cf. also BDB 1079 s.v.). The present translation reflects this latter option. See further E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 3.

[2:5]  ³ tn Aram “made limbs.” Cf. 3:29.

[4:26]  ⁴ sn The reference to heaven here is a circumlocution for God. There was a tendency in Jewish contexts to avoid direct reference to God. Cf. the expression “kingdom of heaven” in the NT and such statements as “I have sinned against heaven and in your sight” (Luke 15:21).

[4:31]  ⁷ tn Aram “in the mouth of the king.”

[4:31]  ⁸ tn Aram “to you they say.”

[6:16]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “said.” So also in vv. 24, 25.

[6:16]  ¹¹ sn The den was perhaps a pit below ground level which could be safely observed from above.

[6:16]  ¹² tn Aram “answered and said [to Daniel].”

[6:20]  ¹³ tn Aram “The king answered and said to Daniel.” This phrase has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons; it is redundant in English.

[10:20]  ¹⁶ sn The question is rhetorical, intended to encourage reflection on Daniel’s part.