Daniel 1:9

1:9 Then God made the overseer of the court officials sympathetic to Daniel. ¹ 

Daniel 1:7

1:7 But the overseer of the court officials renamed them. He gave ²  Daniel the name Belteshazzar, Hananiah he named Shadrach, Mishael he named Meshach, and Azariah he named Abednego. ³ 

Daniel 1:11

1:11 Daniel then spoke to the warden ⁴  whom the overseer of the court officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:

Daniel 1:8

1:8 But Daniel made up his mind ⁵  that he would not defile ⁶  himself with the royal delicacies or the royal wine. ⁷  He therefore asked the overseer of the court officials for permission not to defile himself.

Daniel 1:18

1:18 When the time appointed by the king arrived, ⁸  the overseer of the court officials brought them into Nebuchadnezzar’s presence.

Daniel 5:9

5:9 Then King Belshazzar was very terrified, and he was visibly shaken. ⁹  His nobles were completely dumbfounded.

Daniel 4:36

4:36 At that time my sanity returned to me. I was restored ¹⁰  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 ¹¹  over my kingdom. I became even greater than before.

Daniel 5:1

Belshazzar Sees Mysterious Handwriting on a Wall

5:1 King Belshazzar ¹²  prepared a great banquet ¹³  for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in front of ¹⁴  them all. ¹⁵ 

Daniel 5:22

5:22 “But you, his son ¹⁶  Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, ¹⁷  although you knew all this.

Daniel 6:1

Daniel is Thrown into a Lions’ Den

6:1 It seemed like a good idea to Darius ¹⁸  to appoint over the kingdom 120 satraps ¹⁹  who would be in charge of the entire kingdom.

Daniel 6:6

6:6 So these supervisors and satraps came by collusion ²⁰  to the king and said ²¹  to him, “O King Darius, live forever!

Daniel 1:3

1:3 The king commanded ²²  Ashpenaz, ²³  who was in charge of his court officials, ²⁴  to choose ²⁵  some of the Israelites who were of royal and noble descent ²⁶  –

Daniel 1:5

1:5 So the king assigned them a daily ration ²⁷  from his royal delicacies ²⁸  and from the wine he himself drank. They were to be trained ²⁹  for the next three years. At the end of that time they were to enter the king’s service. ³⁰ 

Daniel 2:49

2:49 And at Daniel’s request, the king ³¹  appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the administration of the province of Babylon. Daniel himself served in the king’s court. ³² 

Daniel 5:3

5:3 So they brought the gold and silver ³³  vessels that had been confiscated from the temple, the house of God ³⁴  in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, together with his wives and concubines, drank from them.

Daniel 5:10

5:10 Due to the noise ³⁵  caused by the king and his nobles, the queen mother ³⁶  then entered the banquet room. She ³⁷  said, “O king, live forever! Don’t be alarmed! Don’t be shaken!

Daniel 5:29

5:29 Then, on Belshazzar’s orders, ³⁸  Daniel was clothed in purple, a golden collar was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed third ruler in the kingdom.

Daniel 6:2-3

6:2 Over them would be three supervisors, one of whom was Daniel. These satraps were accountable ³⁹  to them, so that the king’s interests might not incur damage. 6:3 Now this Daniel was distinguishing himself above the other supervisors and the satraps, for he had an extraordinary spirit. In fact, the king intended to appoint him over the entire kingdom.

Daniel 11:5

11:5 “Then the king of the south ⁴⁰  and one of his subordinates ⁴¹  will grow strong. His subordinate ⁴²  will resist ⁴³  him and will rule a kingdom greater than his. ⁴⁴ 

Daniel 1:10

1:10 But he ⁴⁵  responded to Daniel, “I fear my master the king. He is the one who has decided ⁴⁶  your food and drink. What would happen if he saw that you looked malnourished in comparison to the other young men your age? ⁴⁷  If that happened, ⁴⁸  you would endanger my life ⁴⁹  with the king!”

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 ⁵⁰  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 3:24

God Delivers His Servants

3:24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was startled and quickly got up. He said to his ministers, “Wasn’t it three men that we tied up and threw ⁵¹  into ⁵²  the fire?” They replied to the king, “For sure, O king.”

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 ⁵³  unharmed by the fire. ⁵⁴  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 ⁵⁵  of the wine, Belshazzar issued an order to bring in the gold and silver vessels – the ones that Nebuchadnezzar his father ⁵⁶  had confiscated ⁵⁷  from the temple in Jerusalem ⁵⁸  – so that the king and his nobles, together with his wives and his concubines, could drink from them. ⁵⁹ 

Daniel 6:4

6:4 Consequently the supervisors and satraps were trying to find ⁶⁰  some pretext against Daniel in connection with administrative matters. ⁶¹  But they were unable to find any such damaging evidence, ⁶²  because he was trustworthy and guilty of no negligence or corruption. ⁶³ 

Daniel 6:17

6:17 Then a stone was brought and placed over the opening ⁶⁴  to the den. The king sealed ⁶⁵  it with his signet ring and with those ⁶⁶  of his nobles so that nothing could be changed with regard to Daniel.

Daniel 11:20

11:20 There will arise after him ⁶⁷  one ⁶⁸  who will send out an exactor ⁶⁹  of tribute to enhance the splendor of the kingdom, but after a few days he will be destroyed, ⁷⁰  though not in anger or battle.

Daniel 6:7

6:7 To all the supervisors of the kingdom, the prefects, satraps, counselors, and governors it seemed like a good idea for a royal edict to be issued and an interdict to be enforced. For the next thirty days anyone who prays ⁷¹  to any god or human other than you, O king, should be thrown into a den of lions.

[1:9]  ¹ tn Heb “Then God granted Daniel loyal love and compassion before the overseer of the court officials.” The expression “loyal love and compassion” is a hendiadys; the two words combine to express one idea.

[1:7]  ² tc The LXX and Vulgate lack the verb here.

[1:7]  ³ sn The meanings of the Babylonian names are more conjectural than is the case with the Hebrew names. The probable etymologies are as follows: Belteshazzar means “protect his life,” although the MT vocalization may suggest “Belti, protect the king” (cf. Dan 4:8); Shadrach perhaps means “command of Aku”; Meshach is of uncertain meaning; Abednego means “servant of Nego.” Assigning Babylonian names to the Hebrew youths may have been an attempt to erase from their memory their Israelite heritage.

[1:11]  ⁴ sn Having failed to convince the overseer, Daniel sought the favor of the warden whom the overseer had appointed to care for the young men.

[1:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “placed on his heart.”

[1:8]  ⁶ tn Or “would not make himself ceremonially unclean”; TEV “become ritually unclean.”

[1:8]  sn Various reasons have been suggested as to why such food would defile Daniel. Perhaps it had to do with violations of Mosaic law with regard to unclean foods, or perhaps it had to do with such food having been offered to idols. Daniel’s practice in this regard is strikingly different from that of Esther, who was able successfully to conceal her Jewish identity.

[1:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “with the delicacies of the king and with the wine of his drinking.”

[1:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “at the end of the days which the king said to bring them.”

[5:9]  ⁹ tn Aram “his visage altered upon him.” So also in v. 10.

[4:36]  ¹⁰ tc The translation reads הַדְרֵת (hadret, “I returned”) rather than the MT הַדְרִי (hadri, “my honor”); cf. Theodotion.

[4:36]  ¹¹ 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.

[5:1]  ¹² sn As is clear from the extra-biblical records, it was actually Nabonidus (ca. 556-539 B.C.) who was king of Babylon at this time. However, Nabonidus spent long periods of time at Teima, and during those times Belshazzar his son was de facto king of Babylon. This arrangement may help to explain why later in this chapter Belshazzar promises that the successful interpreter of the handwriting on the wall will be made third ruler in the kingdom. If Belshazzar was in effect second ruler in the kingdom, this would be the highest honor he could grant.

[5:1]  ¹³ sn This scene of a Babylonian banquet calls to mind a similar grandiose event recorded in Esth 1:3-8. Persian kings were also renowned in the ancient Near Eastern world for their lavish banquets.

[5:1]  ¹⁴ sn The king probably sat at an elevated head table.

[5:1]  ¹⁵ tn Aram “the thousand.”

[5:22]  ¹⁶ tn Or “descendant”; or “successor.”

[5:22]  ¹⁷ tn Aram “your heart.”

[6:1]  ¹⁸ tn Aram “It was pleasing before Darius.”

[6:1]  ¹⁹ 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.

[6:6]  ²⁰ tn The Aramaic verb רְגַשׁ (rÿgash) occurs three times in this chapter (vv. 7, 12, 16). Its meaning is widely disputed by commentators, and the versions vary considerably in how they render the word. The suggestion that it means “to come thronging” (BDB 1112 s.v.; cf. NAB) seems inappropriate, since it is unlikely that subordinates would enter a royal court in such a reckless fashion. The ancient versions struggled with the word and are not in agreement in their understanding of its meaning. In this chapter the word apparently means to act in agreement with other parties in the pursuit of a duplicitous goal, namely the entrapment of Daniel. Cf. NIV, NCV “went as a group”; NRSV “conspired and came to the king.”

[6:6]  ²¹ tn Aram “thus they were saying.”

[1:3]  ²² tn Or “gave orders to.” Heb “said to.”

[1:3]  ²³ sn It is possible that the word Ashpenaz is not a proper name at all, but a general term for “innkeeper.” See J. J. Collins, Daniel (Hermeneia), 127, n. 9. However, the ancient versions understand the term to be a name, and the present translation (along with most English versions) understands the word in this way.

[1:3]  ²⁴ sn The word court official (Hebrew saris) need not mean “eunuch” in a technical sense (see Gen 37:36, where the term refers to Potiphar, who had a wife), although in the case of the book of Daniel there was in Jewish literature a common tradition to that effect. On the OT usage of this word see HALOT 769-70 s.v. סָרֹיס.

[1:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “bring.”

[1:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and from the seed of royalty and from the nobles.”

[1:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “a thing of a day in its day.”

[1:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “from the delicacies of the king.”

[1:5]  ²⁹ tn Or “educated.” See HALOT 179 s.v. I גדל.

[1:5]  ³⁰ tn Heb “stand before the king.”

[2:49]  ³¹ tn Aram “and Daniel sought from the king and he appointed.”

[2:49]  ³² tn Aram “was at the gate of the king.”

[5:3]  ³³ tc The present translation reads וְכַסְפָּא (vÿkhaspa’, “and the silver”) with Theodotion and the Vulgate. Cf. v. 2. The form was probably accidentally dropped from the Aramaic text by homoioteleuton.

[5:3]  ³⁴ tn Aram “the temple of the house of God.” The phrase seems rather awkward. The Vulgate lacks “of the house of God,” while Theodotion and the Syriac lack “the house.”

[5:10]  ³⁵ tn Aram “words of the king.”

[5:10]  ³⁶ tn Aram “the queen” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). In the following discourse this woman is able to recall things about Daniel that go back to the days of Nebuchadnezzar, things that Belshazzar does not seem to recollect. It is likely that she was the wife not of Belshazzar but of Nabonidus or perhaps even Nebuchadnezzar. In that case, “queen” here means “queen mother” (cf. NCV “the king’s mother”).

[5:10]  ³⁷ tn Aram “The queen.” The translation has used the pronoun “she” instead because repetition of the noun here would be redundant in terms of English style.

[5:29]  ³⁸ tn Aram “Belshazzar spoke.”

[6:2]  ³⁹ tn Aram “giving an account.”

[11:5]  ⁴⁰ sn The king of the south is Ptolemy I Soter (ca. 323-285 B.C.). The following reference to one of his subordinates apparently has in view Seleucus I Nicator (ca. 311-280 B.C.). Throughout the remainder of chap. 11 the expressions “king of the south” and “king of the north” repeatedly occur. It is clear, however, that these terms are being used generically to describe the Ptolemaic king (i.e., “of the south”) or the Seleucid king (i.e., “of the north”) who happens to be in power at any particular time. The specific identity of these kings can be established more or less successfully by a comparison of this chapter with the available extra-biblical records that discuss the history of the intertestamental period. In the following notes the generally accepted identifications are briefly mentioned.

[11:5]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “princes.”

[11:5]  ⁴² tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the subordinate prince mentioned in the previous clause) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:5]  ⁴³ tn Heb “be strong against.”

[11:5]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “greater than his kingdom.”

[1:10]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “The overseer of the court officials.” The subject has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:10]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “assigned.” See v. 5.

[1:10]  ⁴⁷ 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]  ⁴⁸ tn The words “if that happened” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

[1:10]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “my head.” Presumably this is an implicit reference to capital punishment (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT), although this is not entirely clear.

[3:12]  ⁵⁰ 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.

[3:24]  ⁵¹ tn Aram “we threw…bound.”

[3:24]  ⁵² tn Aram “into the midst of.”

[3:27]  ⁵³ tn Aram “in their bodies.”

[3:27]  ⁵⁴ tn Aram “the fire did not have power.”

[5:2]  ⁵⁵ 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]  ⁵⁶ 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]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “taken.”

[5:2]  ⁵⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:2]  ⁵⁹ 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.

[6:4]  ⁶⁰ tn Aram “looking to find.”

[6:4]  ⁶¹ tn Aram “from the side of the kingdom.”

[6:4]  ⁶² tn Aram “pretext and corruption.”

[6:4]  ⁶³ tn Aram “no negligence or corruption was found in him.” The Greek version of Theodotion lacks the phrase “and no negligence or corruption was found in him.”

[6:17]  ⁶⁴ tn Aram “mouth.”

[6:17]  ⁶⁵ sn The purpose of the den being sealed was to prevent unauthorized tampering with the opening of the den. Any disturbance of the seal would immediately alert the officials to improper activity of this sort.

[6:17]  ⁶⁶ tn Aram “the signet rings.”

[11:20]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “on his place.”

[11:20]  ⁶⁸ sn The one who will send out an exactor of tribute was Seleucus IV Philopator (ca. 187-176 B.C.).

[11:20]  ⁶⁹ sn Perhaps this exactor of tribute was Heliodorus (cf. 2 Maccabees 3).

[11:20]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “broken” or “shattered.”

[6:7]  ⁷¹ tn Aram “prays a prayer.”