Daniel 2:1

Nebuchadnezzar Has a Disturbing Dream

2:1 In the second year of his ¹  reign Nebuchadnezzar had many dreams. ²  His mind ³  was disturbed and he suffered from insomnia. ⁴ 

Daniel 2:9

2:9 If you don’t inform me of the dream, there is only one thing that is going to happen to you. ⁵  For you have agreed among yourselves to report to me something false and deceitful ⁶  until such time as things might change. So tell me the dream, and I will have confidence ⁷  that you can disclose its interpretation.”

Daniel 4:36

4:36 At that time my sanity returned to me. I was restored ⁸  to the honor of my kingdom, and my splendor returned to me. My ministers and my nobles were seeking me out, and I was reinstated ⁹  over my kingdom. I became even greater than before.

Daniel 5:19

5:19 Due to the greatness that he bestowed on him, all peoples, nations, and language groups were trembling with fear ¹⁰  before him. He killed whom he wished, he spared ¹¹  whom he wished, he exalted whom he wished, and he brought low whom he wished.

Daniel 7:4

7:4 “The first one was like a lion with eagles’ wings. As I watched, its wings were pulled off and it was lifted up from the ground. It was made to stand on two feet like a human being, and a human mind ¹²  was given to it. ¹³ 

Daniel 7:14

7:14 To him was given ruling authority, honor, and sovereignty.

All peoples, nations, and language groups were serving ¹⁴  him.

His authority is eternal and will not pass away. ¹⁵ 

His kingdom will not be destroyed. ¹⁶ 

Daniel 8:5

8:5 While I was contemplating all this, ¹⁷  a male goat ¹⁸  was coming from the west over the surface of all the land ¹⁹  without touching the ground. This goat had a conspicuous horn ²⁰  between its eyes.

Daniel 8:17

8:17 So he approached the place where I was standing. As he came, I felt terrified and fell flat on the ground. ²¹  Then he said to me, “Understand, son of man, ²²  that the vision pertains to the time of the end.”

Daniel 9:12

9:12 He has carried out his threats ²³  against us and our rulers ²⁴  who were over ²⁵  us by bringing great calamity on us – what has happened to Jerusalem has never been equaled under all heaven!

Daniel 10:16

10:16 Then ²⁶  one who appeared to be a human being ²⁷  was touching my lips. I opened my mouth and started to speak, saying to the one who was standing before me, “Sir, ²⁸  due to the vision, anxiety has gripped me and I have no strength.

Daniel 11:30

11:30 The ships of Kittim ²⁹  will come against him, leaving him disheartened. ³⁰  He will turn back and direct his indignation against the holy covenant. He will return and honor ³¹  those who forsake the holy covenant.

[2:1]  ¹ tn Heb “Nebuchadnezzar’s.” The possessive pronoun is substituted in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[2:1]  ² tn Heb “dreamed dreams.” The plural is used here and in v. 2, but the singular in v. 3. The plural “dreams” has been variously explained. Some interpreters take the plural as denoting an indefinite singular (so GKC 400 §124.o). But it may be that it is describing a stream of related dreams, or a dream state. In the latter case, one might translate: “Nebuchadnezzar was in a trance.” See further, J. A. Montgomery, Daniel (ICC), 142.

[2:1]  ³ tn Heb “his spirit.”

[2:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “his sleep left (?) him.” The use of the verb הָיָה (hayah, “to be”) here is unusual. The context suggests a meaning such as “to be finished” or “gone.” Cf. Dan 8:27. Some scholars emend the verb to read נָדְדָה (nadÿdah, “fled”); cf. Dan 6:19. See further, DCH 2:540 s.v. היה I Ni.3; HALOT 244 s.v. היה nif; BDB 227-28 s.v. הָיָה Niph.2.

[2:9]  ⁵ tn Aram “one is your law,” i.e., only one thing is applicable to you.

[2:9]  ⁶ tn Aram “a lying and corrupt word.”

[2:9]  ⁷ tn Aram “I will know.”

[4:36]  ⁸ tc The translation reads הַדְרֵת (hadret, “I returned”) rather than the MT הַדְרִי (hadri, “my honor”); cf. Theodotion.

[4:36]  ⁹ tc The translation reads הָתְקְנֵת (hotqÿnet, “I was established”) rather than the MT הָתְקְנַת (hotqÿnat, “it was established”). As it stands, the MT makes no sense here.

[5:19]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “were trembling and fearing.” This can be treated as a hendiadys, “were trembling with fear.”

[5:19]  ¹¹ tn Aram “let live.” This Aramaic form is the aphel participle of חַיָה(khayah, “to live”). Theodotion and the Vulgate mistakenly take the form to be from מְחָא (mÿkha’, “to smite”).

[7:4]  ¹² tn Aram “heart of a man.”

[7:4]  ¹³ sn The identity of the first animal, derived from v. 17 and the parallels in chap. 2, is Babylon. The reference to the plucking of its wings is probably a reference to the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity (cf. chap. 4). The latter part of v. 4 then describes the restoration of Nebuchadnezzar. The other animals have traditionally been understood to represent respectively Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome, although most of modern scholarship identifies them as Media, Persia, and Greece. For a biblical parallel to the mention of lion, bear, and leopard together, see Hos 13:7-8.

[7:14]  ¹⁴ tn Some take “serving” here in the sense of “worshiping.”

[7:14]  ¹⁵ tn Aram “is an eternal authority which will not pass away.”

[7:14]  ¹⁶ tn Aram “is one which will not be destroyed.”

[8:5]  ¹⁷ tn The words “all this” are added in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.

[8:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and behold, a he-goat of the goats.”

[8:5]  ¹⁹ tn Or “of the whole earth” (NAB, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[8:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “a horn of vision” [or “conspicuousness”], i.e., “a conspicuous horn,” one easily seen.

[8:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “on my face.”

[8:17]  ²² tn Or “human one.”

[9:12]  ²³ tn Heb “he has fulfilled his word(s) which he spoke.”

[9:12]  ²⁴ tn Heb “our judges.”

[9:12]  ²⁵ tn Heb “who judged.”

[10:16]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Behold.”

[10:16]  ²⁷ tc So most Hebrew MSS; one Hebrew MS along with the Dead Sea Scrolls and LXX read “something that looked like a man’s hand.”

[10:16]  ²⁸ tn Heb “my lord,” here a title of polite address. Cf. v. 19.

[11:30]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ tn Heb “show regard for.”