Daniel 3:28

3:28 Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, ¹  “Praised be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent forth his angel ²  and has rescued his servants who trusted in him, ignoring ³  the edict of the king and giving up their bodies rather than ⁴  serve or pay homage to any god other than their God!

Daniel 4:35

4:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. ⁵ 

He does as he wishes with the army of heaven

and with those who inhabit the earth.

No one slaps ⁶  his hand

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

Daniel 7:25

7:25 He will speak words against the Most High.

He will harass ⁷  the holy ones of the Most High continually.

His intention ⁸  will be to change times established by law. ⁹ 

They will be delivered into his hand

For a time, times, ¹⁰  and half a time.

Daniel 8:7

8:7 I saw it approaching the ram. It went into a fit of rage against the ram ¹¹  and struck it ¹²  and broke off its two horns. The ram had no ability to resist it. ¹³  The goat hurled the ram ¹⁴  to the ground and trampled it. No one could deliver the ram from its power. ¹⁵ 

Daniel 10:13

10:13 However, the prince of the kingdom of Persia was opposing me for twenty-one days. But ¹⁶  Michael, one of the leading princes, came to help me, because I was left there ¹⁷  with the kings of Persia.

Daniel 10:20

10:20 He said, “Do you know why I have come to you? ¹⁸  Now I am about to return to engage in battle with the prince of Persia. When I go, the prince of Greece is coming.

Daniel 11:2

11:2 Now I will tell you the truth.

The Angel Gives a Message to Daniel

“Three ¹⁹  more kings will arise for Persia. Then a fourth ²⁰  king will be unusually rich, ²¹  more so than all who preceded him. When he has amassed power through his riches, he will stir up everyone against ²²  the kingdom of Greece.

Daniel 11:8

11:8 He will also take their gods into captivity to Egypt, along with their cast images and prized utensils of silver and gold. Then he will withdraw for some years from ²³  the king of the north.

Daniel 11:13

11:13 For the king of the north will again muster an army, one larger than before. At the end of some years he will advance with a huge army and enormous supplies.

Daniel 11:30

11:30 The ships of Kittim ²⁴  will come against him, leaving him disheartened. ²⁵  He will turn back and direct his indignation against the holy covenant. He will return and honor ²⁶  those who forsake the holy covenant.

Daniel 11:39

11:39 He will attack ²⁷  mighty fortresses, aided by ²⁸  a foreign deity. To those who recognize him he will grant considerable honor. He will place them in authority over many people, and he will parcel out land for a price. ²⁹ 

[3:28]  ¹ tn Aram “answered and said.”

[3:28]  ² 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]  ³ tn Aram “they changed” or “violated.”

[3:28]  ⁴ tn Aram “so that they might not.”

[4:35]  ⁵ tc The present translation reads כְּלָא (kÿla’), with many medieval Hebrew MSS, rather than כְּלָה (kÿlah) of BHS.

[4:35]  ⁶ tn Aram “strikes against.”

[7:25]  ⁷ tn Aram “wear out” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV); NASB, NLT “wear down.” The word is a hapax legomenon in biblical Aramaic, but in biblical Hebrew it especially refers to wearing out such things as garments. Here it is translated “harass…continually.”

[7:25]  ⁸ tn Aram “he will think.”

[7:25]  ⁹ tn Aram “times and law.” The present translation is based on the understanding that the expression is a hendiadys.

[7:25]  ¹⁰ sn Although the word times is vocalized in the MT as a plural, it probably should be regarded as a dual. The Masoretes may have been influenced here by the fact that in late Aramaic (and Syriac) the dual forms fall out of use. The meaning would thus be three and a half “times.”

[8:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “him.”

[8:7]  ¹² tn Heb “the ram.”

[8:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “stand before him.”

[8:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he hurled him.” The referents of both pronouns (the male goat and the ram) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:7]  ¹⁵ sn The goat of Daniel’s vision represents Greece; the large horn represents Alexander the Great. The ram stands for Media-Persia. Alexander’s rapid conquest of the Persians involved three battles of major significance which he won against overwhelming odds: Granicus (334 B.C.), Isus (333 B.C.), and Gaugemela (331 B.C.).

[10:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and behold.”

[10:13]  ¹⁷ tc The Greek version of Theodotion reads “I left him [i.e., Michael] there,” and this is followed by a number of English translations (cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT).

[10:20]  ¹⁸ sn The question is rhetorical, intended to encourage reflection on Daniel’s part.

[11:2]  ¹⁹ sn Perhaps these three more kings are Cambyses (ca. 530-522 B.C.), Pseudo-Smerdis (ca. 522 B.C.), and Darius I Hystaspes (ca. 522-486 B.C.).

[11:2]  ²⁰ sn This fourth king is Xerxes I (ca. 486-465 B.C.). The following reference to one of his chiefs apparently has in view Seleucus Nicator.

[11:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “rich with great riches.”

[11:2]  ²² tn The text is difficult. The Hebrew has here אֶת (’et), the marker of a definite direct object. As it stands, this would suggest the meaning that “he will arouse everyone, that is, the kingdom of Greece.” The context, however, seems to suggest the idea that this Persian king will arouse in hostility against Greece the constituent elements of his own empire. This requires supplying the word “against,” which is not actually present in the Hebrew text.

[11:8]  ²³ tn The Hebrew preposition מִן (min) is used here with the verb עָמַד (’amad, “to stand”). It probably has a sense of separation (“stand away from”), although it may also be understood in an adversative sense (“stand against”).

[11:30]  ²⁴ sn The name Kittim has various designations in extra-biblical literature. It can refer to a location on the island of Cyprus, or more generally to the island itself, or it can be an inclusive term to refer to parts of the Mediterranean world that lay west of the Middle East (e.g., Rome). For ships of Kittim the Greek OT (LXX) has “Romans,” an interpretation followed by a few English versions (e.g., TEV). A number of times in the Dead Sea Scrolls the word is used in reference to the Romans. Other English versions are more generic: “[ships] of the western coastlands” (NIV, NLT); “from the west” (NCV, CEV).

[11:30]  ²⁵ sn This is apparently a reference to the Roman forces, led by Gaius Popilius Laenas, which confronted Antiochus when he came to Egypt and demanded that he withdraw or face the wrath of Rome. Antiochus wisely withdrew from Egypt, albeit in a state of bitter frustration.

[11:30]  ²⁶ tn Heb “show regard for.”

[11:39]  ²⁷ tn Heb “act against.”

[11:39]  ²⁸ tn Heb “with.”

[11:39]  ²⁹ tn Or perhaps “for a reward.”