Daniel 3:27

3:27 Once the satraps, prefects, governors, and ministers of the king had gathered around, they saw that those men were physically ¹  unharmed by the fire. ²  The hair of their heads was not singed, nor were their trousers damaged. Not even the smell of fire was to be found on them!

Daniel 5:2

5:2 While under the influence ³  of the wine, Belshazzar issued an order to bring in the gold and silver vessels – the ones that Nebuchadnezzar his father ⁴  had confiscated ⁵  from the temple in Jerusalem ⁶  – so that the king and his nobles, together with his wives and his concubines, could drink from them. ⁷ 

Daniel 10:1

An Angel Appears to Daniel

10:1 ⁸ In the third ⁹  year of King Cyrus of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel (who was also called Belteshazzar). This message was true and concerned a great war. ¹⁰  He understood the message and gained insight by the vision.

Daniel 11:20

11:20 There will arise after him ¹¹  one ¹²  who will send out an exactor ¹³  of tribute to enhance the splendor of the kingdom, but after a few days he will be destroyed, ¹⁴  though not in anger or battle.

[3:27]  ¹ tn Aram “in their bodies.”

[3:27]  ² tn Aram “the fire did not have power.”

[5:2]  ³ tn Or perhaps, “when he had tasted” (cf. NASB) in the sense of officially initiating the commencement of the banquet. The translation above seems preferable, however, given the clear evidence of inebriation in the context (cf. also CEV “he got drunk and ordered”).

[5:2]  ⁴ tn Or “ancestor”; or “predecessor” (also in vv. 11, 13, 18). The Aramaic word translated “father” can on occasion denote these other relationships.

[5:2]  ⁵ tn Or “taken.”

[5:2]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:2]  ⁷ sn Making use of sacred temple vessels for an occasion of reveling and drunkenness such as this would have been a religious affront of shocking proportions to the Jewish captives.

[10:1]  ⁸ sn This chapter begins the final unit in the book of Daniel, consisting of chapters 10-12. The traditional chapter divisions to some extent obscure the relationship of these chapters.

[10:1]  ⁹ tc The LXX has “first.”

[10:1]  sn Cyrus’ third year would have been ca. 536 B.C. Daniel would have been approximately eighty-four years old at this time.

[10:1]  ¹⁰ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word צָבָא (tsava’) is uncertain in this context. The word most often refers to an army or warfare. It may also mean “hard service,” and many commentators take that to be the sense here (i.e., “the service was great”). The present translation assumes the reference to be to the spiritual conflicts described, for example, in 10:16–11:1.

[11:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “on his place.”

[11:20]  ¹² sn The one who will send out an exactor of tribute was Seleucus IV Philopator (ca. 187-176 B.C.).

[11:20]  ¹³ sn Perhaps this exactor of tribute was Heliodorus (cf. 2 Maccabees 3).

[11:20]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “broken” or “shattered.”