Daniel 2:37

Daniel Interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

2:37 “You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has granted you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor.

Daniel 6:1

Daniel is Thrown into a Lions’ Den

6:1 It seemed like a good idea to Darius ¹  to appoint over the kingdom 120 satraps ²  who would be in charge of the entire kingdom.

Daniel 7:18

7:18 The holy ones ³  of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will take possession of the kingdom forever and ever.’

Daniel 7:23

7:23 “This is what he told me: ⁴ 

‘The fourth beast means that there will be a fourth kingdom on earth

that will differ from all the other kingdoms.

It will devour all the earth

and will trample and crush it.

Daniel 11:21

11:21 “Then there will arise in his place a despicable person ⁵  to whom the royal honor has not been rightfully conferred. He will come on the scene in a time of prosperity and will seize the kingdom through deceit.

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 ⁶  of the Most High.

His kingdom is an eternal kingdom;

all authorities will serve him and obey him.’

Daniel 9:1

Daniel Prays for His People

9:1 In the first year of Darius ⁷  son of Ahasuerus, ⁸  who was of Median descent and who had been ⁹  appointed king over the Babylonian ¹⁰  empire –

[6:1]  ¹ tn Aram “It was pleasing before Darius.”

[6:1]  ² tn This is a technical term for an official placed in charge of a region of the empire (cf. KJV, NLT “prince[s]”; NCV, TEV “governors”). These satraps were answerable to a supervisor, who in turn answered to Darius.

[7:18]  ³ sn The expression holy ones is either a reference to angels or to human beings devoted to God.

[7:23]  ⁴ tn Aram “thus he said.”

[11:21]  ⁵ sn This despicable person to whom the royal honor has not been rightfully conferred is Antiochus IV Epiphanes (ca. 175-164 B.C.).

[7:27]  ⁶ 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.

[9:1]  ⁷ sn The identity of this Darius is a major problem in correlating the biblical material with the extra-biblical records of this period. Most modern scholars treat the reference as a mistaken allusion to Darius Hystaspes (ca. 522-486 B.C.). Others have maintained instead that this name is a reference to the Persian governor Gubaru. Still others understand the reference to be to the Persian king Cyrus (cf. 6:28, where the vav (ו) may be understood as vav explicativum, meaning “even”). Under either of these latter two interpretations, the first year of Darius would have been ca. 538 B.C. Daniel would have been approximately eighty-two years old at this time.

[9:1]  ⁸ tc The LXX reads “Xerxes.” This is the reading used by some English versions (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV). Most other English versions retain the Hebrew name “Ahasuerus.”

[9:1]  ⁹ tc The present translation follows the MT in reading a Hophal (i.e., passive). Theodotion, the Syriac, and the Vulgate all presuppose the Hiphil (i.e., active). Even though this is the only occurrence of the Hophal of this verb in the Bible, there is no need to emend the vocalization to the Hiphil.

[9:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans.”