¹sn The first year of Belshazzar’s reign would have been ca. 553 B.C. Daniel would have been approximately 67 years old at the time of this vision.
²tn Aram “saw.”
³tn Aram “and visions of his head.” The Aramaic is difficult here. Some scholars add a verb thought to be missing (e.g., “the visions of his head [were alarming him]”), but there is no external evidence to support such a decision and the awkwardness of the text at this point may be original.
⁴tn Aram “head of words.” The phrase is absent in Theodotion.
⁵tn Aram “answered and said.”
⁶tn Aram “and behold.”
⁷tn Or “the heavens.” The same Hebrew term, <y]m^v* (v*m^y]<), may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
⁸sn The referent of the great sea is unclear. The common view that the expression refers to the Mediterranean Sea is conjectural.
⁹tn Aram “heart of a man.”
¹⁰sn 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.
¹¹tn Aram “and behold.”
¹²sn The three ribs held securely in the mouth of the bear, perhaps representing Media-Persia, apparently symbolize military conquest, but the exact identity of the “ribs” is not clear. Possibly it is a reference to the Persian conquest of Lydia, Egypt, and Babylonia.
¹³tc The LXX lacks the phrase “between its teeth.”
¹⁴tn Aram “and thus they were saying to it.”
¹⁵tn Aram “this.” So also in v. 7.
¹⁶tn Aram “and behold, another one.”
¹⁷tn Or “sides.”
¹⁸sn If the third animal is Greece, the 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.
¹⁹tn The Aramaic text has also “and behold.” So also in vv. 8, 13.
²⁰sn The fourth animal differs from the others in that it is nondescript. Apparently it was so fearsome that Daniel could find nothing with which to compare it. Attempts to identify this animal as an elephant or other known creature are needlessly speculative.
²¹tn The Aramaic word for “teeth” is dual rather than plural, suggesting two rows of teeth.
²²tn Aram “were uprooted from before it.”
²³tn Aram “great.” So also in vv. 11, 20.
²⁴tn Or “the Ancient One,” although the traditional expression has been retained in the translation because it is quite familiar to many readers.
²⁵tn Traditionally the Aramaic word neqe’ 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, Michael Sokoloff, “’amar neqe’, ‘Lamb’s Wool’ (Dan 7:9),” JBL 95 (1976): 277-79.
²⁶tn Aram “a flaming fire.”
²⁷tn Aram “were standing before him.”
²⁸tn Aram “judgment sat.”
²⁹tc The LXX and Theodotion lack the words “I was watching” here. It is possible that these words in the MT are a dittography from the first part of the verse.
³⁰tn Aram “a prolonging of life was granted to them.”
³¹tc The LXX has epi (“upon”) here (cf. Matt 24:30; 26:64). Theodotion has meta (“with”) here (cf. Mark 14:62; Rev 1:7).
³²tn Or “the heavens.” The same Hebrew term, <y]m^v* (v*m^y]<), may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
³³sn This text is probably the main OT background for Jesus’ use of the term “son of man.” In both Jewish and Christian circles the reference in the Book of Daniel has traditionally been understood to refer to an individual, usually in a messianic sense. Many modern scholars, however, understand the reference to have a corporate identity. In this view, the “son of man” is to be equated with the “holy ones” (vv. 18, 21, 22, 25) or the “people of the holy ones” (v. 27) and understood as a reference to the Jewish people. Others understand Daniel’s reference to be to the angel Michael.
³⁴tn Aram “they brought him near.”
³⁵tn Some take “serving” here in the sense of “worshiping.”
³⁶tn Aram “is an eternal authority which will not pass away.”
³⁷tn Aram “is one which will not be destroyed.”
³⁸tn The Aramaic text includes the phrase “in its sheath,” apparently viewing the body as a container or receptacle for the spirit somewhat like a sheath or scabbard is for a knife or a sword. For this phrase the LXX and Vg have “in these things.”
³⁹tn Aram “head.”
⁴⁰tn Aram “what is certain.”
⁴¹tn Aram “matter,” but the matter at hand is of course the vision.
⁴²sn The expression holy ones is either a reference to angels or to human beings devoted to God.
⁴³tn Aram “to make certain.”
⁴⁴tn The words “I also wanted to know” are added in the translation for stylistic purposes.
⁴⁵tc The conjunction in the MT before “eyes” is odd. The ancient versions do not seem to presuppose it.
⁴⁶tn Aram “greater than its companions.”
⁴⁷tn Aram “prevailing against.”
⁴⁸tc In the LXX, Syriac, and Vg the verb is active, understanding “judgment” to be the object rather than the subject of the verb (i.e., “the Ancient of Days rendered judgment”). This presupposes a different vocalization of the verb (yehab rather than the MT yehib).
⁴⁹tn Aram “thus he said.”
⁵⁰tn Or “subjugate.”
⁵¹tn Aram “wear out.” The word is a hapax legomenon in biblical Aramaic, but in biblical Hebrew it especially refers to wearing out such things as garments.
⁵²tn Aram “he will think.”
⁵³tn Aram “times and law.” The present translation is based on the understanding that the expression is a hendiadys.
⁵⁴sn 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.”
⁵⁵tn Aram “judgment will sit.”
⁵⁶tn 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.
⁵⁷tn Aram “my brightness was changing on me.”
⁵⁸tn Aram “in my heart.”