Daniel 7:1

Daniel has a Vision of Four Animals Coming up from the Sea

7:1 In the first ¹  year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had ²  a dream filled with visions ³  while he was lying on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream in summary fashion. ⁴ 

Daniel 4:5

4:5 I saw a dream that ⁵  frightened me badly. The things I imagined while lying on my bed – these visions of my mind – were terrifying me.

Daniel 7:15

An Angel Interprets Daniel’s Vision

7:15 “As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed, ⁶  and the visions of my mind ⁷  were alarming me.

Daniel 2:32

2:32 As for that statue, its head was of fine gold, its chest and arms were of silver, its belly and thighs were of bronze.

Daniel 4:10

4:10 Here are the visions of my mind ⁸  while I was on my bed.

While I was watching,

there was a tree in the middle of the land. ⁹ 

It was enormously tall. ¹⁰ 

Daniel 4:13

4:13 While I was watching in my mind’s visions ¹¹  on my bed,

a holy sentinel ¹²  came down from heaven.

Daniel 2:28

2:28 However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, ¹³  and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the times to come. ¹⁴  The dream and the visions you had while lying on your bed ¹⁵  are as follows.

Daniel 2:38

2:38 Wherever human beings, ¹⁶  wild animals, ¹⁷  and birds of the sky live – he has given them into your power. ¹⁸  He has given you authority over them all. You are the head of gold.

Daniel 3:27

3:27 Once the satraps, prefects, governors, and ministers of the king had gathered around, they saw that those men were physically ¹⁹  unharmed by the fire. ²⁰  The hair of their heads was not singed, nor were their trousers damaged. Not even the smell of fire was to be found on them!

Daniel 7:6

7:6 “After these things, ²¹  as I was watching, another beast ²²  like a leopard appeared, with four bird-like wings on its back. ²³  This beast had four heads, ²⁴  and ruling authority was given to it.

Daniel 7:9

7:9 “While I was watching,

thrones were set up,

and the Ancient of Days ²⁵  took his seat.

His attire was white like snow;

the hair of his head was like lamb’s ²⁶  wool.

His throne was ablaze with fire

and its wheels were all aflame. ²⁷ 

Daniel 7:20

7:20 I also wanted to know ²⁸  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 ²⁹  and a mouth speaking arrogant things, whose appearance was more formidable than the others. ³⁰ 

[7:1]  ¹ sn The first year of Belshazzar’s reign would have been ca. 553 B.C. Daniel would have been approximately 67 years old at the time of this vision.

[7:1]  ² tn Aram “saw.”

[7:1]  ³ tn Aram “and visions of his head.” The Aramaic is difficult here. Some scholars add a verb thought to be missing (e.g., “the visions of his head [were alarming him]”), but there is no external evidence to support such a decision and the awkwardness of the text at this point may be original.

[7:1]  ⁴ tn Aram “head of words.” The phrase is absent in Theodotion. Cf. NIV “the substance of his dream.”

[4:5]  ⁵ tn Aram “and it.”

[7:15]  ⁹ tn The Aramaic text includes the phrase “in its sheath,” apparently viewing the body as a container or receptacle for the spirit somewhat like a sheath or scabbard is for a knife or a sword (cf. NAB “within its sheath of flesh”). For this phrase the LXX and Vulgate have “in these things.”

[7:15]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “head.”

[4:10]  ¹³ tc The LXX lacks the first two words (Aram “the visions of my head”) of the Aramaic text.

[4:10]  ¹⁴ tn Instead of “in the middle of the land,” some English versions render this phrase “a tree at the center of the earth” (NRSV); NAB, CEV “of the world”; NLT “in the middle of the earth.” The Hebrew phrase can have either meaning.

[4:10]  ¹⁵ tn Aram “its height was great.”

[4:13]  ¹⁷ tn Aram “the visions of my head.”

[4:13]  ¹⁸ tn Aram “a watcher and a holy one.” The expression is a hendiadys; so also in v. 23. This “watcher” is apparently an angel. The Greek OT (LXX) in fact has ἄγγελος (angelo", “angel”) here. Theodotion simply transliterates the Aramaic word (’ir). The term is sometimes rendered “sentinel” (NAB) or “messenger” (NIV, NLT).

[2:28]  ²¹ tn Aram “a revealer of mysteries.” The phrase serves as a quasi-title for God in Daniel.

[2:28]  ²² tn Aram “in the latter days.”

[2:28]  ²³ tn Aram “your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed.”

[2:38]  ²⁵ tn Aram “the sons of man.”

[2:38]  ²⁶ tn Aram “the beasts of the field.”

[2:38]  ²⁷ tn Aram “hand.”

[3:27]  ²⁹ tn Aram “in their bodies.”

[3:27]  ³⁰ tn Aram “the fire did not have power.”

[7:6]  ³³ tn Aram “this.” So also in v. 7.

[7:6]  ³⁴ tn Aram “and behold, another one.”

[7:6]  ³⁵ tn Or “sides.”

[7:6]  ³⁶ sn If the third animal is Greece, the most likely identification of these four heads is the four-fold division of the empire of Alexander the Great following his death. See note on Dan 8:8.

[7:9]  ³⁷ tn Or “the Ancient One” (NAB, NRSV, NLT), although the traditional expression has been retained in the present translation because it is familiar to many readers. Cf. TEV “One who had been living for ever”; CEV “the Eternal God.”

[7:9]  ³⁸ tn Traditionally the Aramaic word נְקֵא (nÿqe’) has been rendered “pure,” but here it more likely means “of a lamb.” Cf. the Syriac neqya’ (“a sheep, ewe”). On this word see further, M. Sokoloff, “’amar neqe’, ‘Lamb’s Wool’ (Dan 7:9),” JBL 95 (1976): 277-79.

[7:9]  ³⁹ tn Aram “a flaming fire.”

[7:20]  ⁴¹ tn The words “I also wanted to know” are added in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:20]  ⁴² tc The conjunction in the MT before “eyes” is odd. The ancient versions do not seem to presuppose it.

[7:20]  ⁴³ tn Aram “greater than its companions.”