Daniel 1:2

1:2 Now the Lord ¹  delivered ²  King Jehoiakim of Judah into his power, ³  along with some of the vessels ⁴  of the temple of God. ⁵  He brought them to the land of Babylonia ⁶  to the temple of his god ⁷  and put ⁸  the vessels in the treasury of his god.

Daniel 2:38

2:38 Wherever human beings, ⁹  wild animals, ¹⁰  and birds of the sky live – he has given them into your power. ¹¹  He has given you authority over them all. You are the head of gold.

Daniel 2:44

2:44 In the days of those kings the God of heaven will raise up an everlasting kingdom that will not be destroyed and a kingdom that will not be left to another people. It will break in pieces and bring about the demise of all these kingdoms. But it will stand forever.

Daniel 2:49

2:49 And at Daniel’s request, the king ¹²  appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the administration of the province of Babylon. Daniel himself served in the king’s court. ¹³ 

Daniel 3:12

3:12 But there are Jewish men whom you appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego – and these men ¹⁴  have not shown proper respect to you, O king. They don’t serve your gods and they don’t pay homage to the golden statue that you have erected.”

Daniel 3:23

3:23 But those three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell into the furnace ¹⁵  of blazing fire while still securely bound. ¹⁶ 

Daniel 3:28

3:28 Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, ¹⁷  “Praised be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent forth his angel ¹⁸  and has rescued his servants who trusted in him, ignoring ¹⁹  the edict of the king and giving up their bodies rather than ²⁰  serve or pay homage to any god other than their God!

Daniel 5:28

5:28 As for peres ²¹  – your kingdom is divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.”

Daniel 7:11

7:11 “Then I kept on watching because of the arrogant words of the horn that was speaking. I was watching ²²  until the beast was killed and its body destroyed and thrown into ²³  the flaming fire.

Daniel 7:25

7:25 He will speak words against the Most High.

He will harass ²⁴  the holy ones of the Most High continually.

His intention ²⁵  will be to change times established by law. ²⁶ 

They will be delivered into his hand

For a time, times, ²⁷  and half a time.

Daniel 7:27

7:27 Then the kingdom, authority,

and greatness of the kingdoms under all of heaven

will be delivered to the people of the holy ones ²⁸  of the Most High.

His kingdom is an eternal kingdom;

all authorities will serve him and obey him.’

Daniel 8:12-13

8:12 The army was given over, ²⁹  along with the daily sacrifice, in the course of his sinful rebellion. ³⁰  It hurled ³¹  truth ³²  to the ground and enjoyed success. ³³ 

8:13 Then I heard a holy one ³⁴  speaking. Another holy one said to the one who was speaking, “To what period of time does the vision pertain – this vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the destructive act of rebellion and the giving over of both the sanctuary and army to be trampled?”

Daniel 11:6

11:6 After some years have passed, they ³⁵  will form an alliance. Then the daughter ³⁶  of the king of the south will come to the king of the north to make an agreement, but she will not retain her power, ³⁷  nor will he continue ³⁸  in his strength. ³⁹  She, together with the one who brought her, her child, ⁴⁰  and her benefactor will all be delivered over at that time. ⁴¹ 

Daniel 11:11-12

11:11 “Then the king of the south ⁴²  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. 11:12 When the army is taken away, the king of the south will become arrogant. ⁴³  He will be responsible for the death ⁴⁴  of thousands and thousands of people, ⁴⁵  but he will not continue to prevail.

Daniel 11:17

11:17 His intention ⁴⁶  will be to come with the strength of his entire kingdom, and he will form alliances. ⁴⁷  He will give the king of the south ⁴⁸  a daughter ⁴⁹  in marriage in order to destroy the kingdom, but it will not turn out to his advantage.

Daniel 11:30

11:30 The ships of Kittim ⁵⁰  will come against him, leaving him disheartened. ⁵¹  He will turn back and direct his indignation against the holy covenant. He will return and honor ⁵²  those who forsake the holy covenant.

Daniel 11:39

11:39 He will attack ⁵³  mighty fortresses, aided by ⁵⁴  a foreign deity. To those who recognize him he will grant considerable honor. He will place them in authority over many people, and he will parcel out land for a price. ⁵⁵ 

Daniel 12:13

12:13 But you should go your way ⁵⁶  until the end. ⁵⁷  You will rest and then at the end of the days you will arise to receive ⁵⁸  what you have been allotted.” ⁵⁹ 

[1:2]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[1:2]  ² tn Heb “gave.”

[1:2]  ³ tn Heb “hand,” which is often used idiomatically for one’s power and authority. See BDB 390 s.v. יָד 2.

[1:2]  ⁴ tn Or “utensils”; or “articles.”

[1:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “house of God.”

[1:2]  ⁶ sn The land of Babylonia (Heb “the land of Shinar”) is another name for Sumer and Akkad, where Babylon was located (cf. Gen 10:10; 11:2; 14:1, 9; Josh 7:21; Isa 11:11; Zech 5:11).

[1:2]  ⁷ tn Or “gods” (NCV, NRSV, TEV; also later in this verse). The Hebrew term can be used as a numerical plural for many gods or as a plural of majesty for one particular god. Since Nebuchadnezzar was a polytheist, it is not clear if the reference here is to many gods or one particular deity. The plural of majesty, while normally used for Israel’s God, is occasionally used of foreign gods (cf. BDB 43 s.v. אֱלֹהִים 1, 2). See Judg 11:24 (of the Moabite god Chemosh); 1 Sam 5:7 (of the Philistine god Dagon); 1 Kgs 11:33 (of the Canaanite goddess Astarte, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god Milcom); 2 Kgs 19:37 (of the Assyrian god Nisroch). Since gods normally had their own individual temples, Dan 1:2 probably refers to a particular deity, perhaps Marduk, the supreme god of Babylon, or Marduk’s son Nabu, after whom Nebuchadnezzar was named. The name Nebuchadnezzar means “Nabu has protected the son who will inherit” (HALOT 660 s.v. נְבוּכַדְרֶאצַּר). For a discussion of how temples functioned in Babylonian religion see H. Ringgren, Religions of the Ancient Near East, 77-81.

[1:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “brought.” Though the Hebrew verb “brought” is repeated in this verse, the translation uses “brought…put” for stylistic variation.

[2:38]  ⁹ tn Aram “the sons of man.”

[2:38]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “the beasts of the field.”

[2:38]  ¹¹ tn Aram “hand.”

[2:49]  ¹² tn Aram “and Daniel sought from the king and he appointed.”

[2:49]  ¹³ tn Aram “was at the gate of the king.”

[3:12]  ¹⁴ sn Daniel’s absence from this scene has sparked the imagination of commentators, some of whom have suggested that perhaps he was unable to attend the dedication due to sickness or due to being away on business. Hippolytus supposed that Daniel may have been watching from a distance.

[3:23]  ¹⁵ tn Aram “into the midst of the furnace.” For stylistic reasons the words “the midst of” have been left untranslated.

[3:23]  ¹⁶ sn The deuterocanonical writings known as The Prayer of Azariah and The Song of the Three present at this point a confession and petition for God’s forgiveness and a celebration of God’s grace for the three Jewish youths in the fiery furnace. Though not found in the Hebrew/Aramaic text of Daniel, these compositions do appear in the ancient Greek versions.

[3:28]  ¹⁷ tn Aram “answered and said.”

[3:28]  ¹⁸ sn The king identifies the “son of the gods” (v. 25) as an angel. Comparable Hebrew expressions are used elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible for the members of God’s angelic assembly (see Gen 6:2, 4; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Pss 29:1; 89:6). An angel later comes to rescue Daniel from the lions (Dan 6:22).

[3:28]  ¹⁹ tn Aram “they changed” or “violated.”

[3:28]  ²⁰ tn Aram “so that they might not.”

[5:28]  ²¹ sn Peres (פְּרֵס) is the singular form of פַרְסִין (pharsin) in v. 25.

[7:11]  ²² tc The LXX and Theodotion lack the words “I was watching” here. It is possible that these words in the MT are a dittography from the first part of the verse.

[7:11]  ²³ tn Aram “and given over to” (so NRSV).

[7:25]  ²⁴ tn Aram “wear out” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV); NASB, NLT “wear down.” The word is a hapax legomenon in biblical Aramaic, but in biblical Hebrew it especially refers to wearing out such things as garments. Here it is translated “harass…continually.”

[7:25]  ²⁵ tn Aram “he will think.”

[7:25]  ²⁶ tn Aram “times and law.” The present translation is based on the understanding that the expression is a hendiadys.

[7:25]  ²⁷ sn Although the word times is vocalized in the MT as a plural, it probably should be regarded as a dual. The Masoretes may have been influenced here by the fact that in late Aramaic (and Syriac) the dual forms fall out of use. The meaning would thus be three and a half “times.”

[7:27]  ²⁸ tn If the “holy ones” are angels, then this probably refers to the angels as protectors of God’s people. If the “holy ones” are God’s people, then this is an appositional construction, “the people who are the holy ones.” See 8:24 for the corresponding Hebrew phrase and the note there.

[8:12]  ²⁹ tc The present translation reads וּצְבָאָהּ נִתַּן (utsÿva’ah nittan) for the MT וְצָבָא תִּנָּתֵן (vÿtsava’ tinnaten). The context suggests a perfect rather than an imperfect verb.

[8:12]  ³⁰ tn Heb “in (the course of) rebellion.” The meaning of the phrase is difficult to determine. It could mean “due to rebellion,” referring to the failures of the Jews, but this is not likely since it is not a point made elsewhere in the book. The phrase more probably refers to the rebellion against God and the atrocities against the Jews epitomized by Antiochus.

[8:12]  ³¹ tc Two medieval Hebrew MSS and the LXX have a passive verb here: “truth was hurled to the ground” (cf. NIV, NCV, TEV).

[8:12]  ³² sn Truth here probably refers to the Torah. According to 1 Macc 1:56, Antiochus initiated destruction of the sacred books of the Jews.

[8:12]  ³³ tn Heb “it acted and prospered.”

[8:13]  ³⁴ sn The holy one referred to here is presumably an angel. Cf. 4:13[10], 23 [20].

[11:6]  ³⁵ sn Here they refers to Ptolemy II Philadelphus (ca. 285-246 B.C.) and Antiochus II Theos (ca. 262-246 B.C.).

[11:6]  ³⁶ sn The daughter refers to Berenice, who was given in marriage to Antiochus II Theos.

[11:6]  ³⁷ tn Heb “the strength of the arm.”

[11:6]  ³⁸ tn Heb “stand.” So also in vv. 7, 8, 11, 13.

[11:6]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and his arm.” Some understand this to refer to the descendants of the king of the north.

[11:6]  ⁴⁰ tc The present translation reads יַלְדָּה (yaldah, “her child”) rather than the MT יֹלְדָהּ (yolÿdah, “the one who begot her”). Cf. Theodotion, the Syriac, and the Vulgate.

[11:6]  ⁴¹ sn Antiochus II eventually divorced Berenice and remarried his former wife Laodice, who then poisoned her husband, had Berenice put to death, and installed her own son, Seleucus II Callinicus (ca. 246-227 B.C.), as the Seleucid king.

[11:11]  ⁴² sn This king of the south refers to Ptolemy IV Philopator (ca. 221-204 B.C.).

[11:12]  ⁴³ tn Heb “his heart will be lifted up.” The referent (the king of the south) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:12]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “cause to fall.”

[11:12]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “of myriads.”

[11:17]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “and he will set his face.” Cf. vv. 18, 19.

[11:17]  ⁴⁷ tc The present translation reads מֵישָׁרִים (mesharim, “alliances”) for the MT וִישָׁרִים (viysharim, “uprightness”).

[11:17]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “him”; the referent (the king of the south) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:17]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “the daughter of the women.”

[11:17]  sn The daughter refers to Cleopatra, the daughter of Antiochus, who was given in marriage to Ptolemy V.

[11:30]  ⁵⁰ sn The name Kittim has various designations in extra-biblical literature. It can refer to a location on the island of Cyprus, or more generally to the island itself, or it can be an inclusive term to refer to parts of the Mediterranean world that lay west of the Middle East (e.g., Rome). For ships of Kittim the Greek OT (LXX) has “Romans,” an interpretation followed by a few English versions (e.g., TEV). A number of times in the Dead Sea Scrolls the word is used in reference to the Romans. Other English versions are more generic: “[ships] of the western coastlands” (NIV, NLT); “from the west” (NCV, CEV).

[11:30]  ⁵¹ sn This is apparently a reference to the Roman forces, led by Gaius Popilius Laenas, which confronted Antiochus when he came to Egypt and demanded that he withdraw or face the wrath of Rome. Antiochus wisely withdrew from Egypt, albeit in a state of bitter frustration.

[11:30]  ⁵² tn Heb “show regard for.”

[11:39]  ⁵³ tn Heb “act against.”

[11:39]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “with.”

[11:39]  ⁵⁵ tn Or perhaps “for a reward.”

[12:13]  ⁵⁶ tn The words “your way” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

[12:13]  ⁵⁷ tc The LXX lacks “until the end.”

[12:13]  ⁵⁸ tn The word “receive” is added in the translation for clarification.

[12:13]  ⁵⁹ sn The deuterocanonical writings known as the Story of Susanna and Bel and the Dragon appear respectively as chapters 13 and 14 of the book of Daniel in the Greek version of this book. Although these writings are not part of the Hebrew/Aramaic text of Daniel, they were popular among certain early communities who valued traditions about the life of Daniel.