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 2:28

2:28 However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, ⁵  and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the times to come. ⁶  The dream and the visions you had while lying on your bed ⁷  are as follows.

Daniel 2:38

2:38 Wherever human beings, ⁸  wild animals, ⁹  and birds of the sky live – he has given them into your power. ¹⁰  He has given you authority over them all. You are the head of gold.

Daniel 4:18

4:18 “This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare its ¹¹  interpretation, for none of the wise men in ¹²  my kingdom are able to make known to me the interpretation. But you can do so, for a spirit of the holy gods is in you.”

Daniel 6:23

6:23 Then the king was delighted and gave an order to haul Daniel up from the den. So Daniel was hauled up out of the den. He had no injury of any kind, because he had trusted in his God.

Daniel 8:3

8:3 I looked up ¹³  and saw ¹⁴  a ¹⁵  ram with two horns standing at the canal. Its two horns were both long, ¹⁶  but one was longer than the other. The longer one was coming up after the shorter one.

Daniel 9:18-19

9:18 Listen attentively, ¹⁷  my God, and hear! Open your eyes and look on our desolated ruins ¹⁸  and the city called by your name. ¹⁹  For it is not because of our own righteous deeds that we are praying to you, ²⁰  but because your compassion is abundant. 9:19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, pay attention, and act! Don’t delay, for your own sake, O my God! For your city and your people are called by your name.” ²¹ 

Daniel 9:24

9:24 “Seventy weeks ²²  have been determined

concerning your people and your holy city

to put an end to ²³  rebellion,

to bring sin ²⁴  to completion, ²⁵ 

to atone for iniquity,

to bring in perpetual ²⁶  righteousness,

to seal up ²⁷  the prophetic vision, ²⁸ 

and to anoint a most holy place. ²⁹ 

Daniel 10:20

10:20 He said, “Do you know why I have come to you? ³⁰  Now I am about to return to engage in battle with the prince of Persia. When I go, the prince of Greece is coming.

Daniel 11:2

11:2 Now I will tell you the truth.

The Angel Gives a Message to Daniel

“Three ³¹  more kings will arise for Persia. Then a fourth ³²  king will be unusually rich, ³³  more so than all who preceded him. When he has amassed power through his riches, he will stir up everyone against ³⁴  the kingdom of Greece.

Daniel 11:36

11:36 “Then the king ³⁵  will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every deity and he will utter presumptuous things against the God of gods. He will succeed until the time of ³⁶  wrath is completed, for what has been decreed must occur. ³⁷ 

Daniel 11:40

11:40 “At the time of the end the king of the south will attack ³⁸  him. Then the king of the north will storm against him ³⁹  with chariots, horsemen, and a large armada of ships. ⁴⁰  He ⁴¹  will invade lands, passing through them like an overflowing river. ⁴² 

[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.

[2:28]  ⁵ tn Aram “a revealer of mysteries.” The phrase serves as a quasi-title for God in Daniel.

[2:28]  ⁶ tn Aram “in the latter days.”

[2:28]  ⁷ tn Aram “your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed.”

[2:38]  ⁸ tn Aram “the sons of man.”

[2:38]  ⁹ tn Aram “the beasts of the field.”

[2:38]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “hand.”

[4:18]  ¹¹ tc The present translation reads פִּשְׁרֵהּ (pishreh, “its interpretation”) with the Qere and many medieval Hebrew MSS; the Kethib is פִּשְׁרָא (pishra’, “the interpretation”); so also v. 16.

[4:18]  ¹² tn Aram “of.”

[8:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “lifted my eyes.”

[8:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and behold.”

[8:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “one.” The Hebrew numerical adjective occasionally functions like an English indefinite article. See GKC 401 §125.b.

[8:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “high” (also “higher” later in this verse).

[9:18]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “turn your ear.”

[9:18]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “desolations.” The term refers here to the ruined condition of Judah’s towns.

[9:18]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “over which your name is called.” Cf. v. 19. This expression implies that God is the owner of his city, Jerusalem. Note the use of the idiom in 2 Sam 12:28; Isa 4:1; Amos 9:12.

[9:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “praying our supplications before you.”

[9:19]  ²¹ tn Heb “for your name is called over your city and your people.” See the note on this expression in v 18.

[9:24]  ²² tn Heb “sevens.” Elsewhere the term is used of a literal week (a period of seven days), cf. Gen 29:27-28; Exod 34:22; Lev 12:5; Num 28:26; Deut 16:9-10; 2 Chr 8:13; Jer 5:24; Dan 10:2-3. Gabriel unfolds the future as if it were a calendar of successive weeks. Most understand the reference here as periods of seventy “sevens” of years, or a total of 490 years.

[9:24]  ²³ tc Or “to finish.” The present translation reads the Qere (from the root תָּמַם, tamam) with many witnesses. The Kethib has “to seal up” (from the root הָתַם, hatam), a confusion with a reference later in the verse to sealing up the vision.

[9:24]  ²⁴ tc The present translation reads the Qere (singular), rather than the Kethib (plural).

[9:24]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew phrase לְכַלֵּא (lÿkhalle’) is apparently an alternative (metaplastic) spelling of the root כָּלָה (kalah, “to complete, finish”), rather than a form of כָּלָא (kala’, “to shut up, restrain”), as has sometimes been supposed.

[9:24]  ²⁶ tn Or “everlasting.”

[9:24]  ²⁷ sn The act of sealing in the OT is a sign of authentication. Cf. 1 Kgs 21:8; Jer 32:10, 11, 44.

[9:24]  ²⁸ tn Heb “vision and prophecy.” The expression is a hendiadys.

[9:24]  ²⁹ tn Or “the most holy place” (NASB, NLT); or “a most holy one”; or “the most holy one,” though the expression is used of places or objects elsewhere, not people.

[10:20]  ³⁰ sn The question is rhetorical, intended to encourage reflection on Daniel’s part.

[11:2]  ³¹ 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]  ³² 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]  ³³ tn Heb “rich with great riches.”

[11:2]  ³⁴ 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.

[11:36]  ³⁵ sn The identity of this king is problematic. If vv. 36-45 continue the description of Antiochus Epiphanes, the account must be viewed as erroneous, since the details do not match what is known of Antiochus’ latter days. Most modern scholars take this view, concluding that this section was written just shortly before the death of Antiochus and that the writer erred on several key points as he tried to predict what would follow the events of his own day. Conservative scholars, however, usually understand the reference to shift at this point to an eschatological figure, viz., the Antichrist. The chronological gap that this would presuppose to be in the narrative is not necessarily a problem, since by all accounts there are many chronological gaps throughout the chapter, as the historical figures intended by such expressions as “king of the north” and “king of the south” repeatedly shift.

[11:36]  ³⁶ tn The words “the time of” are added in the translation for clarification.

[11:36]  ³⁷ tn Heb “has been done.” The Hebrew verb used here is the perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of fulfillment.

[11:40]  ³⁸ tn Heb “engage in thrusting.”

[11:40]  ³⁹ tn The referent of the pronoun is most likely the king of the south, in which case the text describes the king of the north countering the attack of the king of the south.

[11:40]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “many ships.”

[11:40]  ⁴¹ tn This most likely refers to the king of the north who, in response to the aggression of the king of the south, launches an invasion of the southern regions.

[11:40]  ⁴² tn Heb “and will overflow and pass over.”