Daniel 4:8

4:8 Later Daniel entered (whose name is Belteshazzar after the name of my god, ¹  and in whom there is a spirit of the holy gods). I recounted the dream for him as well,

Daniel 9:2

9:2 in the first year of his reign ²  I, Daniel, came to understand from the sacred books ³  that, according to the word of the LORD ⁴  disclosed to the prophet Jeremiah, the years for the fulfilling of the desolation of Jerusalem ⁵  were seventy in number.

Daniel 9:10

9:10 We have not obeyed ⁶  the LORD our God by living according to ⁷  his laws ⁸  that he set before us through his servants the prophets.

Daniel 6:8

6:8 Now let the king issue a written interdict ⁹  so that it cannot be altered, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed. ¹⁰ 

Daniel 6:15

6:15 Then those men came by collusion to the king and ¹¹  said to him, ¹²  “Recall, ¹³  O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no edict or decree that the king issues can be changed.”

Daniel 11:4

11:4 Shortly after his rise to power, ¹⁴  his kingdom will be broken up and distributed toward the four winds of the sky ¹⁵  – but not to his posterity or with the authority he exercised, for his kingdom will be uprooted and distributed to others besides these.

Daniel 6:12

6:12 So they approached the king and said to him, ¹⁶  “Did you not issue an edict to the effect that for the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human other than to you, O king, would be thrown into a den of lions?” The king replied, “That is correct, ¹⁷  according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed.”

Daniel 9:4

9:4 I prayed to the LORD my God, confessing in this way:

“O Lord, ¹⁸  great and awesome God who is faithful to his covenant ¹⁹  with those who love him and keep his commandments,

Daniel 9:1

Daniel Prays for His People

9:1 In the first year of Darius ²⁰  son of Ahasuerus, ²¹  who was of Median descent and who had been ²²  appointed king over the Babylonian ²³  empire –

Daniel 1:10

1:10 But he ²⁴  responded to Daniel, “I fear my master the king. He is the one who has decided ²⁵  your food and drink. What would happen if he saw that you looked malnourished in comparison to the other young men your age? ²⁶  If that happened, ²⁷  you would endanger my life ²⁸  with the king!”

Daniel 4:17

4:17 This announcement is by the decree of the sentinels;

this decision is by the pronouncement of the holy ones,

so that ²⁹  those who are alive may understand

that the Most High has authority over human kingdoms, ³⁰ 

and he bestows them on whomever he wishes.

He establishes over them even the lowliest of human beings.’

Daniel 4:25

4:25 You will be driven ³¹  from human society, ³²  and you will live ³³  with the wild animals. You will be fed ³⁴  grass like oxen, ³⁵  and you will become damp with the dew of the sky. Seven periods of time will pass by for you, before ³⁶  you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.

Daniel 12:13

12:13 But you should go your way ³⁷  until the end. ³⁸  You will rest and then at the end of the days you will arise to receive ³⁹  what you have been allotted.” ⁴⁰ 

Daniel 4:35

4:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. ⁴¹ 

He does as he wishes with the army of heaven

and with those who inhabit the earth.

No one slaps ⁴²  his hand

and says to him, ‘What have you done?’

Daniel 5:19

5:19 Due to the greatness that he bestowed on him, all peoples, nations, and language groups were trembling with fear ⁴³  before him. He killed whom he wished, he spared ⁴⁴  whom he wished, he exalted whom he wished, and he brought low whom he wished.

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 ⁴⁵  of the Most High.

His kingdom is an eternal kingdom;

all authorities will serve him and obey him.’

Daniel 4:27

4:27 Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps your prosperity will be prolonged.” ⁴⁶ 

Daniel 9:14

9:14 The LORD was mindful of the calamity, and he brought it on us. For the LORD our God is just ⁴⁷  in all he has done, ⁴⁸  and we have not obeyed him. ⁴⁹ 

Daniel 11:14

11:14 “In those times many will oppose ⁵⁰  the king of the south. ⁵¹  Those who are violent ⁵²  among your own people will rise up in confirmation of ⁵³  the vision, but they will falter.

Daniel 11:43

11:43 He will have control over the hidden stores of gold and silver, as well as all the treasures of Egypt. Libyans and Ethiopians ⁵⁴  will submit to him. ⁵⁵ 

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 ⁵⁶  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 3:28

3:28 Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, ⁵⁷  “Praised be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent forth his angel ⁵⁸  and has rescued his servants who trusted in him, ignoring ⁵⁹  the edict of the king and giving up their bodies rather than ⁶⁰  serve or pay homage to any god other than their God!

Daniel 9:11

9:11 “All Israel has broken ⁶¹  your law and turned away by not obeying you. ⁶²  Therefore you have poured out on us the judgment solemnly threatened ⁶³  in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against you. ⁶⁴ 

Daniel 3:23

3:23 But those three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell into the furnace ⁶⁵  of blazing fire while still securely bound. ⁶⁶ 

[4:8]  ¹ sn This explanation of the meaning of the name Belteshazzar may be more of a paronomasia than a strict etymology.

[9:2]  ² tc This phrase, repeated from v. 1, is absent in Theodotion.

[9:2]  ³ tn The Hebrew text has “books”; the word “sacred” has been added in the translation to clarify that it is Scriptures that are referred to.

[9:2]  ⁴ sn The tetragrammaton (the four Hebrew letters which constitute the divine Name, YHWH) appears eight times in this chapter, and nowhere else in the book of Daniel.

[9:2]  ⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[9:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “paid attention to the voice of,” which is an idiomatic expression for obedience (cf. NASB “nor have we obeyed the voice of”).

[9:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “to walk in.”

[9:10]  ⁸ tc The LXX and Vulgate have the singular.

[6:8]  ⁹ tn Aram “establish a written interdict and inscribe a written decree.”

[6:8]  ¹⁰ tn Or “removed.”

[6:15]  ¹¹ tc Theodotion lacks the words “came by collusion to the king and.”

[6:15]  ¹² tn Aram “the king.”

[6:15]  ¹³ tn Aram “know”; NAB “Keep in mind”; NASB “Recognize”; NIV, NCV “Remember.”

[11:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and when he stands.”

[11:4]  ¹⁵ tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[6:12]  ¹⁶ tc The MT also has “about the edict of the king,” but this phrase is absent in the LXX and the Syriac. The present translation deletes the expression.

[6:12]  tn Aram “before the king.”

[6:12]  ¹⁷ tn Aram “the word is true.”

[9:4]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in vv. 7, 9, 15, 16, and 19 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[9:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “who keeps the covenant and the loyal love.” The expression is a hendiadys.

[9:1]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ 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]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Heb “was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans.”

[1:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “The overseer of the court officials.” The subject has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:10]  ²⁵ tn Heb “assigned.” See v. 5.

[1:10]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Why should he see your faces thin from the young men who are according to your age?” The term translated “thin” occurs only here and in Gen 40:6, where it appears to refer to a dejected facial expression. The word is related to an Arabic root meaning “be weak.” See HALOT 277 s.v. II זעף.

[1:10]  ²⁷ tn The words “if that happened” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

[1:10]  ²⁸ tn Heb “my head.” Presumably this is an implicit reference to capital punishment (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT), although this is not entirely clear.

[4:17]  ²⁹ tc The present translation follows an underlying reading of עַל־דִּבְרַת (’al-divrat, “so that”) rather than MT עַד־דִּבְרַת (’ad-divrat, “until”).

[4:17]  ³⁰ tn Aram “the kingdom of man”; NASB “the realm of mankind”; NCV “every kingdom on earth.”

[4:25]  ³¹ tn The Aramaic indefinite active plural is used here like the English passive. So also in v. 28, 29,32.

[4:25]  ³² tn Aram “from mankind.” So also in v. 32.

[4:25]  ³³ tn Aram “your dwelling will be.” So also in v. 32.

[4:25]  ³⁴ tn Or perhaps “be made to eat.”

[4:25]  ³⁵ sn Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity has features that are associated with the mental disorder known as boanthropy, in which the person so afflicted imagines himself to be an ox or a similar animal and behaves accordingly.

[4:25]  ³⁶ tn Aram “until.”

[12:13]  ³⁷ tn The words “your way” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

[12:13]  ³⁸ tc The LXX lacks “until the end.”

[12:13]  ³⁹ tn The word “receive” is added in the translation for clarification.

[12:13]  ⁴⁰ 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.

[4:35]  ⁴¹ tc The present translation reads כְּלָא (kÿla’), with many medieval Hebrew MSS, rather than כְּלָה (kÿlah) of BHS.

[4:35]  ⁴² tn Aram “strikes against.”

[5:19]  ⁴³ tn Aram “were trembling and fearing.” This can be treated as a hendiadys, “were trembling with fear.”

[5:19]  ⁴⁴ 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”).

[7:27]  ⁴⁵ 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.

[4:27]  ⁴⁶ tn Aram “if there may be a lengthening to your prosperity.”

[9:14]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “righteous.”

[9:14]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “in all his deeds which he has done.”

[9:14]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “we have not listened to his voice.”

[11:14]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “stand against.”

[11:14]  ⁵¹ sn This was Ptolemy V Epiphanes (ca. 203-181 B.C.).

[11:14]  ⁵² tn Heb “sons of violence.” “Son(s) is sometimes used idiomatically in Hebrew to indicate that someone is characterized by a certain quality. So the expression “sons of violence” means that these individuals will be characterized by violent deeds.

[11:14]  ⁵³ tn Heb “to cause to stand.”

[11:43]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “Nubians” (NIV, NCV); Heb “Cushites.”

[11:43]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “Libyans and Cushites [will be] at his footsteps.”

[3:12]  ⁵⁶ 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.

[3:28]  ⁵⁷ tn Aram “answered and said.”

[3:28]  ⁵⁸ 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]  ⁵⁹ tn Aram “they changed” or “violated.”

[3:28]  ⁶⁰ tn Aram “so that they might not.”

[9:11]  ⁶¹ tn Or “transgressed.” The Hebrew verb has the primary sense of crossing a boundary, in this case, God’s law.

[9:11]  ⁶² tn Heb “by not paying attention to your voice.”

[9:11]  ⁶³ 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]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “him.”

[3:23]  ⁶⁵ tn Aram “into the midst of the furnace.” For stylistic reasons the words “the midst of” have been left untranslated.

[3:23]  ⁶⁶ 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.