Daniel 8:1

Daniel Has a Vision of a Goat and a Ram

8:1 ¹ In the third year ²  of King Belshazzar’s reign, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that had appeared to me previously. ³ 

Daniel 9:21

9:21 yes, while I was still praying, ⁴  the man Gabriel, whom I had seen previously ⁵  in a vision, was approaching me in my state of extreme weariness, ⁶  around the time of the evening offering.

Daniel 9:23

9:23 At the beginning of your requests a message went out, and I have come to convey it to you, for you are of great value in God’s sight. ⁷  Therefore consider the message and understand the vision: ⁸ 

[8:1]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “in the beginning.” This refers to the vision described in chapter seven.

[9:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “speaking in prayer.”

[9:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the beginning.”

[9:21]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew expression בִּיעָף מֻעָף (mu’af bi’af) is very difficult. The issue is whether the verb derives from עוּף (’uf, “to fly”) or from יָעַף (ya’af, “to be weary”). Many ancient versions and modern commentators take the first of these possibilities and understand the reference to be to the swift flight of the angel Gabriel in his coming to Daniel. The words more likely refer to the extreme weariness, not of the angel, but of Daniel. Cf. 7:28; 8:27; 10:8-9, 16-17; also NASB.

[9:23]  ⁷ tn Or “a precious treasure”; KJV “greatly beloved”; NASB, NIV “highly esteemed.”

[9:23]  ⁸ tn This sentence is perhaps a compound hendiadys (“give serious consideration to the revelatory vision”).