Daniel 3:19

3:19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and his disposition changed ¹  toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders ²  to heat the furnace seven times hotter than it was normally heated.

Daniel 3:25

3:25 He answered, “But I see four men, untied and walking around in the midst of the fire! No harm has come to them! And the appearance of the fourth is like that of a god!” ³ 

Daniel 5:5

5:5 At that very moment the fingers of a human hand appeared ⁴  and wrote on the plaster of the royal palace wall, opposite the lampstand. ⁵  The king was watching the back ⁶  of the hand that was writing.

Daniel 7:4

7:4 “The first one was like a lion with eagles’ wings. As I watched, its wings were pulled off and it was lifted up from the ground. It was made to stand on two feet like a human being, and a human mind ⁷  was given to it. ⁸ 

Daniel 7:6

7:6 “After these things, ⁹  as I was watching, another beast ¹⁰  like a leopard appeared, with four bird-like wings on its back. ¹¹  This beast had four heads, ¹²  and ruling authority was given to it.

Daniel 7:9

7:9 “While I was watching,

thrones were set up,

and the Ancient of Days ¹³  took his seat.

His attire was white like snow;

the hair of his head was like lamb’s ¹⁴  wool.

His throne was ablaze with fire

and its wheels were all aflame. ¹⁵ 

[3:19]  ¹ tn Aram “the appearance of his face was altered”; cf. NLT “his face became distorted with rage”; NAB “[his] face became livid with utter rage.”

[3:19]  ² tn Aram “he answered and said.”

[3:25]  ³ sn The phrase like that of a god is in Aramaic “like that of a son of the gods.” Many patristic writers understood this phrase in a christological sense (i.e., “the Son of God”). But it should be remembered that these are words spoken by a pagan who is seeking to explain things from his own polytheistic frame of reference; for him the phrase “like a son of the gods” is equivalent to “like a divine being.”

[5:5]  ⁴ tn Aram “came forth.”

[5:5]  ⁵ sn The mention of the lampstand in this context is of interest because it suggests that the writing was in clear view.

[5:5]  ⁶ tn While Aramaic פַּס (pas) can mean the palm of the hand, here it seems to be the back of the hand that is intended.

[7:4]  ⁷ tn Aram “heart of a man.”

[7:4]  ⁸ sn The identity of the first animal, derived from v. 17 and the parallels in chap. 2, is Babylon. The reference to the plucking of its wings is probably a reference to the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity (cf. chap. 4). The latter part of v. 4 then describes the restoration of Nebuchadnezzar. The other animals have traditionally been understood to represent respectively Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome, although most of modern scholarship identifies them as Media, Persia, and Greece. For a biblical parallel to the mention of lion, bear, and leopard together, see Hos 13:7-8.

[7:6]  ⁹ tn Aram “this.” So also in v. 7.

[7:6]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “and behold, another one.”

[7:6]  ¹¹ tn Or “sides.”

[7:6]  ¹² sn If the third animal is Greece, the most likely identification of these four heads is the four-fold division of the empire of Alexander the Great following his death. See note on Dan 8:8.

[7:9]  ¹³ tn Or “the Ancient One” (NAB, NRSV, NLT), although the traditional expression has been retained in the present translation because it is familiar to many readers. Cf. TEV “One who had been living for ever”; CEV “the Eternal God.”

[7:9]  ¹⁴ tn Traditionally the Aramaic word נְקֵא (nÿqe’) has been rendered “pure,” but here it more likely means “of a lamb.” Cf. the Syriac neqya’ (“a sheep, ewe”). On this word see further, M. Sokoloff, “’amar neqe’, ‘Lamb’s Wool’ (Dan 7:9),” JBL 95 (1976): 277-79.

[7:9]  ¹⁵ tn Aram “a flaming fire.”