Daniel 9:11-13

9:11 “All Israel has broken ¹  your law and turned away by not obeying you. ²  Therefore you have poured out on us the judgment solemnly threatened ³  in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against you. ⁴  9:12 He has carried out his threats ⁵  against us and our rulers ⁶  who were over ⁷  us by bringing great calamity on us – what has happened to Jerusalem has never been equaled under all heaven! 9:13 Just as it is written in the law of Moses, so all this calamity has come on us. Still we have not tried to pacify ⁸  the LORD our God by turning back from our sin and by seeking wisdom ⁹  from your reliable moral standards. ¹⁰ 

Daniel 10:1

An Angel Appears to Daniel

10:1 ¹¹ In the third ¹²  year of King Cyrus of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel (who was also called Belteshazzar). This message was true and concerned a great war. ¹³  He understood the message and gained insight by the vision.

Daniel 10:8

10:8 I alone was left to see this great vision. My strength drained from ¹⁴  me, and my vigor disappeared; ¹⁵  I was without energy. ¹⁶ 

Daniel 10:11-12

10:11 He said to me, “Daniel, you are of great value. ¹⁷  Understand the words that I am about to ¹⁸  speak to you. So stand up, ¹⁹  for I have now been sent to you.” When he said this ²⁰  to me, I stood up shaking. 10:12 Then he said to me, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel, for from the very first day you applied your mind ²¹  to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard. I have come in response to your words.

Daniel 11:2

11:2 Now I will tell you the truth.

The Angel Gives a Message to Daniel

“Three ²²  more kings will arise for Persia. Then a fourth ²³  king will be unusually rich, ²⁴  more so than all who preceded him. When he has amassed power through his riches, he will stir up everyone against ²⁵  the kingdom of Greece.

Daniel 12:7

12:7 Then I heard the man clothed in linen who was over the waters of the river as he raised both his right and left hands to the sky ²⁶  and made an oath by the one who lives forever: “It is for a time, times, and half a time. Then, when the power of the one who shatters ²⁷  the holy people has been exhausted, all these things will be finished.”

[9:11]  ¹ tn Or “transgressed.” The Hebrew verb has the primary sense of crossing a boundary, in this case, God’s law.

[9:11]  ² tn Heb “by not paying attention to your voice.”

[9:11]  ³ tn Heb “the curse and the oath which is written.” The term “curse” refers here to the judgments threatened in the Mosaic law (see Deut 28) for rebellion. The expression “the curse and the oath” is probably a hendiadys (cf. Num 5:21; Neh 10:29) referring to the fact that the covenant with its threatened judgments was ratified by solemn oath and made legally binding upon the covenant community.

[9:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “him.”

[9:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “he has fulfilled his word(s) which he spoke.”

[9:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “our judges.”

[9:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “who judged.”

[9:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “we have not pacified the face of.”

[9:13]  ¹⁰ tn Or “by gaining insight.”

[9:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “by your truth.” The Hebrew term does not refer here to abstract truth, however, but to the reliable moral guidance found in the covenant law. See vv 10-11.

[10:1]  ¹³ sn This chapter begins the final unit in the book of Daniel, consisting of chapters 10-12. The traditional chapter divisions to some extent obscure the relationship of these chapters.

[10:1]  ¹⁴ tc The LXX has “first.”

[10:1]  ¹⁵ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word צָבָא (tsava’) is uncertain in this context. The word most often refers to an army or warfare. It may also mean “hard service,” and many commentators take that to be the sense here (i.e., “the service was great”). The present translation assumes the reference to be to the spiritual conflicts described, for example, in 10:16–11:1.

[10:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “did not remain in.”

[10:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “was changed upon me for ruin.”

[10:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “strength.”

[10:11]  ²¹ tn Or “a treasured person”; KJV “a man greatly beloved”; NASB “man of high esteem.”

[10:11]  ²² tn The Hebrew participle is often used, as here, to refer to the imminent future.

[10:11]  ²³ tn Heb “stand upon your standing.”

[10:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “spoke this word.”

[10:12]  ²⁵ tn Heb “gave your heart.”

[11:2]  ²⁹ sn Perhaps these three more kings are Cambyses (ca. 530-522 B.C.), Pseudo-Smerdis (ca. 522 B.C.), and Darius I Hystaspes (ca. 522-486 B.C.).

[11:2]  ³⁰ sn This fourth king is Xerxes I (ca. 486-465 B.C.). The following reference to one of his chiefs apparently has in view Seleucus Nicator.

[11:2]  ³¹ tn Heb “rich with great riches.”

[11:2]  ³² tn The text is difficult. The Hebrew has here אֶת (’et), the marker of a definite direct object. As it stands, this would suggest the meaning that “he will arouse everyone, that is, the kingdom of Greece.” The context, however, seems to suggest the idea that this Persian king will arouse in hostility against Greece the constituent elements of his own empire. This requires supplying the word “against,” which is not actually present in the Hebrew text.

[12:7]  ³³ tn Or “to the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[12:7]  ³⁴ tc The present translation reads יַד־נֹפֵץ (yad-nofets, “hand of one who shatters”) rather than the MT נַפֵּץ־יַד (nappets-yad, “to shatter the hand”).