1tn Heb “Nebuchadnezzar’s.” The possessive pronoun is substituted in the translation for stylistic reasons.

2tn Heb “dreamed dreams.” The plural is used here and in v. 2, but the singular in v. 3. The plural “dreams” has been variously explained. Some interpreters take the plural as denoting an indefinite singular (so GKC 400 §124.o). But it may be that it is describing a stream of related dreams, or a dream state. In the latter case, one might translate: “Nebuchadnezzar was in a trance.” See further, J. A. Montgomery, Daniel (ICC), 142.

3tn Heb “his spirit.”

4tn Heb “his sleep left (?) him.” The use of the verb הָיָה (hayah, “to be”) here is unusual. The context suggests a meaning such as “to be finished” or “gone.” Cf. Dan 8:27. Some scholars emend the verb to read נָדְדָה (nad˙dah, “fled”); cf. Dan 6:19. See further, DCH 2:540 s.v. היה I Ni.3; HALOT 244 s.v. היה nif; BDB 227-28 s.v. הָיָה Niph.2.

5tn Heb “said.” So also in v. 12.

6tn Heb “Chaldeans.” The term Chaldeans (Hebrew כַּשְׂדִּים, kasdim) is used in the book of Daniel both in an ethnic sense and, as here, to refer to a caste of Babylonian wise men and astrologers.

7tn Heb “to explain to the king his dreams.”

8tn Heb “stood before the king.”

9tn Heb “I have dreamed a dream” (so KJV, ASV).

10tn Heb “my spirit.”

11sn Contrary to common belief, the point here is not that the wise men (Chaldeans) replied to the king in the Aramaic language, or that this language was uniquely the language of the Chaldeans. It was this view that led in the past to Aramaic being referred to as “Chaldee.” Aramaic was used as a lingua franca during this period; its origins and usage were not restricted to the Babylonians. Rather, this phrase is better understood as an editorial note (cf. NAB) marking the fact that from 2:4b through 7:28 the language of the book shifts from Hebrew to Aramaic. In 8:1, and for the remainder of the book, the language returns to Hebrew. Various views have been advanced to account for this change of language, most of which are unconvincing. Most likely the change in language is a reflection of stages in the transmission history of the book of Daniel.

12tn Or “the.”

13tn Aram “answered and said,” a common idiom to indicate a reply, but redundant in contemporary English.

14tn It seems clear from what follows that Nebuchadnezzar clearly recalls the content of the dream, although obviously he does not know what to make of it. By not divulging the dream itself to the would-be interpreters, he intends to find out whether they are simply leading him on. If they can tell him the dream’s content, which he is able to verify, he then can have confidence in their interpretation, which is what eludes him. The translation “the matter is gone from me” (cf. KJV, ASV), suggesting that the king had simply forgotten the dream, is incorrect. The Aramaic word used here (אַזְדָּא, ’azda’) is probably of Persian origin; it occurs in the OT only here and in v. 8. There are two main possibilities for the meaning of the word: “the matter is promulgated by me” (see KBL 1048 s.v.) and therefore “publicly known” (cf. NRSV; F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 62-63, §189), or “the matter is irrevocable” (cf. NAB, NIV, TEV, CEV, NLT; HALOT 1808 s.v. אזד; cf. also BDB 1079 s.v.). The present translation reflects this latter option. See further E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 3.

15tn Aram “made limbs.” Cf. 3:29.

16tn Aram “his servants.”

17tn Or “the.”

18tn Aram “one is your law,” i.e., only one thing is applicable to you.

19tn Aram “a lying and corrupt word.”

20tn Aram “I will know.”

21tn Aram “matter, thing.”

22tn Aram “whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

23tn Aram “was angry and very furious.” The expression is a hendiadys (two words or phrases expressing a single idea).

24tn The Aramaic participle is used here to express the imminent future.

25tn The impersonal active plural (“they sought”) of the Aramaic verb could also be translated as an English passive: “Daniel and his friends were sought” (cf. NAB).

26tn Aram “returned prudence and counsel.” The expression is a hendiadys.

27tn The Aramaic word מְהַחְצְפָה (m˙hakhts˙fah) may refer to the severity of the king’s decree (i.e., “harsh”; so HALOT 1879 s.v. חצף; BDB 1093 s.v. חֲצַף), although it would seem that in a delicate situation such as this Daniel would avoid this kind of criticism of the king’s actions. The translation above understands the word to refer to the immediacy, not harshness, of the decree. See further, F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 50, §116; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 67.

28tc Theodotion and the Syriac lack the words “went in and.”

29tn Aram “Daniel.” The proper name is redundant here in English, and has not been included in the translation.

30tn Or “blessed.”

31tn Aram “Daniel answered and said.”

32sn As is often the case in the Bible, here the name represents the person.

33tn Or “blessed.”

34tn Aram “kings.”

35tn Aram “the knowers of understanding.”

36tn Aram “we.” Various explanations have been offered for the plural, but it is probably best understood as the editorial plural; so also with “me” later in this verse.

37tn Aram “the word of the king.”

38tc The MT has עַל עַל (’al al, “he entered upon”). Several medieval Hebrew MSS lack the verb, although this may be due to haplography.

39tc The LXX and Vulgate, along with one medieval Hebrew MS, lack this verb.

40tn Aram “cause me to enter.” So also in v. 25.

41tn Aram “the king.”

42sn Arioch’s claim is self-serving and exaggerated. It is Daniel who came to him, and not the other way around. By claiming to have found one capable of solving the king’s dilemma, Arioch probably hoped to ingratiate himself to the king.

43tn Aram “a revealer of mysteries.” The phrase serves as a quasi-title for God in Daniel.

44tn Aram “in the latter days.”

45tn Aram “your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed.”

46tn Aram “your thoughts upon your bed went up to what will be after this.”

47tn Aram “not for any wisdom which is in me more than [in] any living man.”

48tn Aram “they might cause the king to know.” The impersonal plural is used here to refer to the role of God’s spirit in revealing the dream and its interpretation to the king. As J. A. Montgomery says, “it appropriately here veils the mysterious agency” (Daniel [ICC], 164-65).

49tn Aram “heart.”

50tn Aram “an image.”

51sn Clay refers to baked clay, which – though hard – was also fragile. Cf. the reference in v. 41 to “wet clay.”

52tn Aram “until.”

53tc The LXX, Theodotion, and the Vulgate have “from a mountain,” though this is probably a harmonization with v. 45.

54tn Aram “as one.” For the meaning “without distinction” see the following: F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 36, §64, and p. 93; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 60.

55tn Various suggestions have been made concerning the plural “we.” It is probably the editorial plural and could be translated here as “I.”

56tn Aram “the sons of man.”

57tn Aram “the beasts of the field.”

58tn Aram “hand.”

59sn The identity of the first kingdom is clearly Babylon. The identification of the following three kingdoms is disputed. The common view is that they represent Media, Persia, and Greece. Most conservative scholars identify them as Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome.

60tc Theodotion and the Vulgate lack the phrase “and as iron breaks in pieces.”

61tn The Aramaic text does not have this word, but it has been added in the translation for clarity.

62tn The words “the others” are supplied from the context.

63tc The LXX lacks “and toes.”

64tn Aram “potter’s clay.”

65tn Aram “clay of clay” (also in v. 43).

66tc The present translation reads the conjunction, with most medieval Hebrew MSS, LXX, Vulgate, and the Qere. The Kethib lacks the conjunction.

67sn The reference to people being mixed is usually understood to refer to intermarriage.

68tn Aram “with the seed of men.”

69tc The present translation reads הֵיךְ דִּי (hekh diy) rather than the MT הֵא־כְדִי (he-kh˙di). It is a case of wrong word division.

70tn Aram “after this.”

71tn Aram “fell on his face.”

72tn Aram “and Daniel sought from the king and he appointed.”

73tn Aram “was at the gate of the king.”