This English version of the biblical Book of Daniel is the companion translation to the essay Hebrew Visions of Daniel: Evidence for the Existence of a Non-God, and its related works. The need for this translation chiefly arises from four key problems with most (if not all) prior versions of Daniel, both ancient and modern. The chief problem is the loss in translation of key riddles and puns in the book’s Hebrew visions. The second problem is the longstanding and persistent mistranslation of key words and phrases in the Hebrew visions, mistranslations that obscure their thematic unity and their tie to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in AM 3830 = 69/70 CE. Each vision presents a different perspective on a timeline from the late Achaemenid period up to the destruction of the Second Temple. A third problem is the loss of the book’s original bilingualism. This bilingualism distinguishes the book’s original, fictional Aramaic core from the Hebrew additions that encode predictions of actual history. The fourth problem is the difficulty representing the complex literary structure of the book and its Hebrew visions. This structure includes the inclusio of the large-number prophecies at Daniel 8:13-14 and Daniel 12:8-13, and the chiastic arrangement of the historical excursus at Daniel 11:2-45. This version solves these problems with a revised translation of the source text, and with the apparatus and organization described in the concluding subsection of this preface.

The first problem is a natural consequence of the wordplay on which the key riddles of the Hebrew visions rest. Double meanings or phonetic similarity in one language are often lost in translation, so these word games pose a difficult (if not impossible) challenge for the translator. The key riddle in Daniel is the needlessly complex superscription at Daniel 9:1, and its double meaning rests on the ambiguity of אשר, the Hebrew relative particle.[1] In the source text, the antecedent of this particle is either “Darius ben Xerxes” (Heb.: דריוש בן אחשורוש) or “the race of the Medes,” (Heb.: זרע מדי) but the proper English translation of אשר depends on which antecedent is meant. For example, the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), translates אשר as “who,” which is appropriate for “Darius ben Xerxes” but not for “the race of the Medes.” The NRSV therefore implies (with neither malice nor incompetence) that the correct antecedent is “Darius ben Xerxes,” or, in the chosen parlance of the NRSV, “Darius son of Ahasuerus.” The riddle is effectively untranslatable, so an adequate translation requires an apparatus to alert the English reader to its existence. The riddle is nonetheless essential to an exegesis. It permits the reader to date the vision to the first year of Darius II (the grandson of Xerxes), and in turn tie its seventy sabbatical cycles to the destruction of the Second Temple in the postsabbatical year AM 3830 = 69/70 CE. Similar points hold for other word games in the book.

The second problem is a natural consequence of the interpretative nature of translation. A translator must decide what a text means in order to translate it, and this decision is hardly trivial for any translator of Daniel. For example, the translation tradition of Daniel, dating back to the Septuagint, implicitly ties its main symbolic vision at Daniel 8:1-12 to Antiochus IV Epiphanes (Josephus, Ant. 10.270-276). As reasonable as this presumption is (and has long been), it nevertheless obscures the meaning of Daniel more than it illuminates it. The most notable effect of this presumption may be the standard translation of ומן האחת מהם at Daniel 8:9. Almost all versions translate this phrase as “out of one of them,” which effectively regards the definite article prefixed to האחת as a grammatical anomaly, of which Daniel has notable examples.[2] Despite this point, the better translation is “out of the first of them,” which implies no anomaly. Though this traditional view permits the identification of the final “horn” in Daniel 8 with Epiphanes, it nonetheless obscures the tie between this king and the conquest of Ptolemid Egypt, the first of the four Hellenistic successor kingdoms (Dan 11:5). It also obscures the tie between this verse and the historical excursus at Daniel 11:2-45, and, in turn, the Roman identity of this “horn.” Another common error with a different origin has a similar effect. This error misreads Daniel 11:45b and ties its pronominal suffixes to the final horn-king, instead of the Temple Mount itself. This version translates Daniel 11:45 as:

And he will pitch the tents of his destruction between the seas, against the beautiful holy mountain. And it will come to its end, and no one will save it. (Dan 11:45)

In contrast the NRSV has:

He shall pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, with no one to help him. (Dan 11:45, NRSV)

Though the NRSV translation is defensible, it nonetheless obscures the tie between the excursus and the destruction of the temple envisioned in Daniel 8:9-12, and, in turn, the thematic unity of the Hebrew visions.

Another key difference between this version and others concerns the translation “Ionia” for the Hebrew word יון. The literal meaning of this word is “Ionia,” which is a small region of Anatolia where the long conflict between ancient Persia and the ancient West began with the Ionian Revolt. Despite this literal meaning, the word is clearly a metonym for a broader group of Western peoples, and most translations of Daniel acknowledge this fact. Following later Hebrew usage, these translations render the term as “Greece.” Despite its broader meaning, the excessive precision of this translation is nonetheless manifest in the title “king of Ionia,” which patently includes Alexander, who was Macedonian, not Greek (Dan 8:21). The general conflation of ancient Macedonians with their Greek neighbors is the obvious counter to this criticism, but this counter merely establishes the criticism’s very point. The term יון in Daniel conflates otherwise distinct Western peoples, and the extent of that conflation is debatable. The Western tradition, which dates back to antiquity, conflates Greeks and Macedonians, from whom it sets Romans apart. The Romans themselves are the origin of this custom, since they distinguished themselves from the Greeks and the Hellenized peoples they conquered. The eastern authors of Daniel did not share this view. In Daniel, the term “Ionia” refers not only to ancient Macedonians and true Greeks, but to all “Greekish” peoples beyond the western boundary of the Achaemenid Empire. From its eastern perspective, the Greeks, Macedonians and Romans are a cultural unit, much as in the Western concepts of the Greco-Roman world and classical antiquity. In Daniel, the term יון therefore encompasses Romans as much as Macedonians. The decision, then, to translate this term as “Greece” wrongly favors a customary Western conflation of Greeks and ancient Macedonians over the wider conflation evident in the book. To avoid this problem, this version offers the literal translation of “Ionia” for יון, leaving the true extent of this metonym to the judgment of the reader.

The perceived authority of the Masorah poses another challenge addressed in this version. The Masorah is the system of versification, niqqud (vowels), cantillation and Ketib-Qere that the Masoretes added to the Hebrew Bible as an aid to its audible reading.[3] For those biblical texts with a regular liturgical use in Judaism, the Masorah represents a continuous reading tradition that is an invaluable aid to exegesis. These texts include the Torah, the Haftarot, and the festival Megillot, which observant Jews have read regularly in synagogue for centuries. For those texts without a regular liturgical use, the Masorah’s value as a guide is less certain, and this point is particularly true for the Book of Daniel. Daniel has almost no role in Jewish liturgy, and its own Masorah shows that the book has no continuous reading tradition. The Aramaic portions of Daniel have more Ketib-Qere per word than any other part of the Hebrew Bible. Most of these notes standardize the Aramaic dialect of the book, and this fact shows that the Masoretes did not preserve the original reading of Daniel, most likely because it was lost long before their time. This ignorance implies that their versification and vocalization of Daniel is not authoritative, and it is sometimes wrong.

A key misvocalization in the Masorah affects the title מלך הצפון at Daniel 11:40. A similar title occurs throughout the historical excursus at Daniel 11:2-45, and in these cases, the proper vocalization of the title is melek hǎṣṣāp̄ôn (“the king of the north”). In this specific case, the proper vocalization is different: It is melek hǎṣṣāp̄ûn (“the king of the treasure”). The more common title “the king of the north” refers to the kings of the Seleucid dynasty, whose ancient capital of Antioch (modern Antakya) was north of Israel. The king at Daniel 11:40, however, is not a Seleucid king. This king conquers Ptolemid Egypt, which identifies him as Octavian, and the clear depiction of the War of Actium at Daniel 11:40-42 affirms this interpretation. It refers to a ship battle, the transit of the king through Israel, his decision to leave Nabatea unconquered, and the significance of Egyptian wealth to his rise. Evidently ignorant of this history, the Masoretes merely presumed that the king at Daniel 11:40 was Seleucid, and consequently misvocalized the title. (In fairness, the Septuagint translators, Theodotion, and Jerome all made the same misjudgment.) In doing so, the Masoretes missed a significant pun that mocked previous Seleucid failures to conquer Egypt: Here the vocalization melek hǎṣṣāp̄ûn (“the king of the treasure”) identifies Octavian not as a Seleucid, but as the victorious conqueror who successfully seized the treasures of Egypt, in contrast to the failures of Antiochus III and his son Antiochus IV (cf. Dan 11:43).

The Masoretic versification of Daniel is also problematic. A notable error is their versification of Daniel 11:43-44. The clauses at Daniel 11:43b and Daniel 11:44 form a complete sentence, without significant grammatical dependence on the adjacent clauses. Though the Masoretic versification is chiefly prosodic, it nonetheless suggests a closer tie between the War of Actium and the eventual Roman domination of the “Libyans” (Heb.: לבים, the Amazigh/Berbers) and the Kushites. The point of this reference is timing: Rome forced peace upon the Kushites in 22 BCE, and annexed Mauretania in 44 CE. This clause therefore indicates that sometime after these events, “reports from the east and from the north” will lead to a mobilization of Roman forces that ultimately end in the destruction of the Second Temple. The evident reference is to the Roman-Parthian War of 58-63 CE, in which Rome and Parthia fought for the control of Armenia, a territory critical to the control of Syria and, in turn, the forward defense of Egypt. The tie between this conflict and the First Jewish-Roman War from 66-70 CE is not obvious, but it is historically correct. Not only did the Jewish War shortly follow the Parthian War, but this tie identifies the strategic Roman purpose in the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple. Without them the strong political and financial ties between Judea and the Jews in the Parthian Empire were effectively broken.

The principal source text for this translation is the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS). This source text is the natural choice, since BHS remains the standard, academic edition of the Leningrad Codex, which has the oldest complete text of Daniel still extant.[4] The principal exception to this decision is at Daniel 8:14, where BHS has “and he said to me, ‘Until an evening is a morning, two thousand three hundred.’” (Heb.: ויאמר אלי עד ערב בקר אלפים ושלש מאות). This translation accepts that this text once read “and he said to him, ‘Until an evening is a morning, two thousand three hundred days’” (Heb.: ויאמר אלו עד ערב בקר ימים אלפים ושלש מאות). The key difference is the omission of “days” (Heb.: ימים) from the Masoretic Text, as the unit of the number two thousand three hundred. The basis of this decision is threefold. First, this prophecy forms an inclusio with a parallel prophecy at Daniel 12:8-13, and the large numbers in this second prophecy still have the unit “days” (Heb.: ימים). The second basis is the Greek text of the Septuagint and Theodotion, both of which have “and he said to him, ‘Until an evening and a morning, two thousand three hundred days.’” (Gk.: καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Ἕως ἑσπέρας καὶ πρωΐ, ἡμέραι δισχίλιαι τριακόσιαι). The third basis is the very context of the prophecy. The relevant prophecy has only a single evening and a single morning in view (cf. Dan 8:26).[5] The “evening” and the “morning” of the prophecy are not the units of the number two thousand three hundred, so either the unit is missing or the number has no unit.

Another notable departure from BHS is the emendation at Daniel 2:1. This version emends “in the second regnal year of Nebuchadnezzar” (Heb.: ובשנת שתים למלכות נבכדנצר) to “in the twelfth regnal year of Nebuchadnezzar” (Heb.: ובשנת שתים עשרה למלכות נבכדנצר). This emendation is irrelevant to the thesis of the companion essay, but it corrects a known problem regarding the consistency of the court tales. The extant date of “the second year” is not consistent with the three-year education of Daniel and his companions (Dan 1:5), and the simplest explanation for this discrepancy is the omission of “ten” (Heb.: עשרה) from its year. Other emendations in this translation are less notable, such as the reading שמם תתו קדש for שמם תת וקדש at Daniel 8:13 (a word division error) and the reading “his destruction” (Heb.: אבדנו) for “his palace” (Heb.: אפדנו) at Daniel 11:45 (a phonetic confusion of פ with ב). In total, this translation makes fewer implicit emendations to the text of Daniel than the NRSV, if not most English versions of the book. Any objection to this translation on the basis of these emendations commits the fallacy of special pleading.

For the most part, the Aramaic court tales of Daniel are irrelevant to the thesis of the companion essay. Only the prophecy of the multimetallic idol and the stone in the tales has significant relevance to the meaning of the book’s Hebrew-language visions. Apart from this one prophecy, the authors of the Hebrew visions merely leveraged the tales’ fictional matrix to disguise their own, accurate descriptions of future events. The tales nonetheless have some relevance to the companion essay, but mostly through the stark contrast in content and genre they strike with the visions appended to them. This work therefore includes the Aramaic court tales for completeness.

The translation of these tales, however, is not trivial, since the Aramaic dialect of Daniel is not the Aramaic of the grammar books. A clear (and almost trivial) example of this peculiarity is the absence of a separate feminine plural pronominal suffix: The Aramaic of Daniel uses the same suffix for both masculine and feminine plural antecedents. This fact is evident in the Ketib-Qere, since the Masoretes preferred a dialect with a feminine plural suffix (cf. Dan 2:33,41,42; 7:8,19). A more serious challenge is its frequent use of prefix-conjugated verb forms in discourse, which is not at all like Biblical Hebrew. In the Aramaic of Daniel, the basic, functional distinction between the suffix and the prefix conjugations appears to be fact versus non-fact.[6] The suffix conjugations therefore express actual and presumed fact (including commands and other expressions of a presupposed future), while the prefix conjugations express an array of modal nuances: a contingent future, ability, possibility, necessity, and epistemic certainty, among others. This translation of the tales rests on this conjecture, and the overall result seems satisfactory. Though this translation offers some fresh ideas on the translation of these tales, it is certainly not presented as definitive.

Nothing in this preface seeks to imply that this version of Daniel is better than other versions of Daniel in every respect. No translation is perfect, and qualified readers of this version will likely find shortcomings in its translation, and not the least in its chosen balance between functional and formal equivalence. These anticipated criticisms are natural to human discourse, as are the criticisms of other versions noted above. Criticism of this version is even welcome, since it may improve this work and contribute to its future revision. Many specific questions of textual criticism and translation answered in this version have little to no relevance to the thesis of Hebrew Visions of Daniel: Evidence for the Existence of a Non-God, but they are nonetheless important. Examples of this point are abundant. It is not clear whether “ashpenaz” is a title or a name (Dan 1:3). The emendation of “the second year of Nebuchadnezzar” to “the twelfth year of Nebuchadnezzar” may not be the correct solution to the problem it addresses (Dan 2:1). Even a few matters relevant to the thesis of the companion essay are open to question. For example, the “leopard” of the Aramaic vision may be a textual corruption of “eagle,” not a phonetic pun (Dan 7:6). Alternative views on such questions are certainly valid. Whatever the case may be, the aim of this version is not perfection. It instead aims to illuminate, for the English reader, the text of Daniel in a new light, and one that shows the plausibility (if not the correctness) of the thesis in the companion essay. As such, it is the hope of its translator and editors that it will be a significant contribution to the millennia-long study of this book.

Apparatus and Organization

This version of Daniel numbers the text according to the standard chapter and verse divisions of the Christian Old Testament. This numbering is the most common among the English translations of Daniel, so its use eases the comparison of this translation with other English versions. This numbering nonetheless differs from the standard chapter and verse numbering of the Hebrew Bible, and the few English translations that follow this numbering. There are two differences between these systems. The Old Testament begins chapter four at Daniel 3:31 in the Hebrew Bible, and the Hebrew Bible begins chapter four at Daniel 4:4 in the Old Testament. The corresponding offset continues through the end of chapter four, and both systems begin chapter five at the same place in the text. The other difference involves only a single verse. Daniel 5:31 in the Old Testament is Daniel 6:1 in the Hebrew Bible.

The division of Daniel into chapters and verses eases references to its text, but it also poses notable problems. While the Old Testament division between the third and fourth court tales is correct, its division between the fifth and sixth court tales is not. The Hebrew Bible correctly begins the tale of Daniel in the Lions’ Pit at Daniel 5:31, so this version follows the standard chaptering of the Hebrew Bible at this point. This decision nonetheless results in an awkward offset between the court tales and the chapter numbering. A similar problem is the division of the third Hebrew vision into three chapters (Dan 10-12), and the misalignment between chapter eleven and the historical excursus on the decline and conquest of Ptolemid Egypt (Dan 11:2-45). This version therefore relies on modern section headings to indicate the proper division of the book. These headings include the relevant verses in square brackets like so:

[5:1-30] Belshazzar’s Feast

[5:31-6:28] Daniel in the Lions’ Pit

[10-12] Third Hebrew Vision

[11:2-45] Decline and Conquest of Ptolemid Egypt

Note that when the section consists of complete chapters, the verse numbers are omitted.

Another organizational problem is how to represent the various overlapping structures of the book with its sections and subsections. The five court tales and one vision of the original Aramaic core are arranged into an ABCCBA chiasmus that, together with its language and style, sets this core apart from the later Hebrew additions. Those additions, however, reshape the book into two parts distinguished by genre: The first part consists of the six court tales, and the second part consists of the four vision memoirs. In addition to these two structures, the Hebrew visions themselves are organized into a ABCCBA chiasmus that excludes the main symbolic vision at Daniel 8:1-12 and which the historical excursus at Daniel 11:2-45 interrupts. The excursus itself also has an independent ABC1C2XC2C1BA chiastic structure. These structures also overlay the visions’ basic, narrative division into three memoirs. The book therefore has five structures in addition to its division into chapters and verses, and these divisions do not fit into any simple hierarchy. These five structures are a division by language (including the Aramaic chiasmus), a division by genre (court tale versus vision memoir), a division by narrative unit, and the two chiasmi within the Hebrew visions. Unfortunately, any system that attempts to fully represent all five structures simultaneously ultimately undermines its utility with its own complexity. The Book of Daniel simply defies a simple analysis.

This version of Daniel therefore compromises with a single hierarchy that divides the text into subunits that correspond to the parts of each structure. Since the division between court tales and vision memoirs is natural to the final form of the book, the highest level of this hierarchy corresponds to this division. The second level indicates the narrative division of the book into distinct tales and memoirs. The titles of these divisions nonetheless indicate the languages of the four visions and the language of the one Hebrew court tale to help illuminate the division of the book into Hebrew and Aramaic parts. The apparatus also indicates the bounds of the Aramaic core with horizontal lines and tags like so:

[Aramaic Begins]

[Aramaic Ends]

To aid the reader in recognizing the ABCCBA chiasmus within the Hebrew visions, the third level divides the Hebrew visions into the main symbolic vision of the ram and the goat, the parts of this chiasmus, and the historical excursus that interrupts this chiasmus. This results in the second Hebrew vision having two levels of heading for a single section, since this narrative division is identical to a division within the chiasmus.

The lowest heading level indicates the ABC1C2XC2C1BA chiasmus of the historical excursus along with their placement within it. For example the heading:

[11:25-28] (C2′) Antiochus IV: Success in the First Invasion of Egypt

Indicates that verses 25 through 28 of chapter eleven correspond to the C2 section in the second half of the chiasmus. To further clarify the anomalous character of the excursus, the apparatus also indicates its bounds with horizontal lines and tags like so:

[Excursus Begins]

[Excursus Ends]

Though these features complicate the headings and the apparatus, this complexity is a small price to pay for the clarity on the structure of the excursus and on its meaning.

The loss in translation of critical wordplay is another problem that the apparatus of this version addresses. To do so, it indicates the key wordplay in bold font, with the essential alternative meaning in parentheses like so:

weeks (sabbatical cycles)

Wherever the wordplay involves phonetic similarity rather than a true second meaning, and the apparatus marks the alternative meaning with “ph.” in Italic type like so:

the stars (ph. the priests)

Notable puns also occur within the Aramaic court tales, but they are not marked with this device since these puns have no role in the encoded meanings of the Hebrew visions.[7]

The apparatus uses a similar technique to indicate any emendations to the source text. Emendation of the biblical text may seem improper to some, and it indeed can be. In many cases, translators of Daniel implicitly emend its source text to align its visions with Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Since a preferred exegesis motivates these emendations, they are indeed improper. Emendation, however, is not in itself improper, since the scribal transmission of the biblical text was not perfect. Thus, whenever the translator faces a truly incomprehensible text, emendation is a reasonable course. Integrity nonetheless demands that the translator indicate the emendation, the observed transmission phenomenon that justifies it, and any supporting variants. This version therefore marks any emended text with bold font, and includes an explanatory note beside it in square brackets like so:

twelfth [rd. שתים עשרה (word omission)]

Such notes include the abbreviation “rd.” for “read,” the relevant Hebrew text with the emendation in underlined bold font, and the textual transmission phenomenon that justifies the proposal in parentheses. Where the Septuagint and Theodotion support the emended reading, there is an additional note “so with LXX and Theodotion” like so:

days [rd. ימים אלפים (word omission), so with LXX and Theodotion]

Likewise, where the Qere supports the emendation, there is the additional note “so with the Qere” like so:

Yet his children [rd. ובניו, so with the Qere]

The absence of a note does imply a translation that needs no emendation to the source text.

Works referenced for this translation are given in a bibliography below. The chief reference grammars for the Aramaic were Franz Rosenthal, A Grammar of Biblical Aramaic, and Alger F. Johns, A Short Grammar of Biblical Aramaic. To supplement these grammars, the author referenced the several works on various grammatical topics shown in the bibliography. The most notable among these are the works of Tarsee Li, especially The Verbal System of the Aramaic of Daniel: An Explanation in the Context of Grammaticalization. Not all of the ideas expressed in the listed works were followed. The Hebrew reference grammar for this translation was Paul Joüon and T. Muraoka, A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew. The reference work for textual criticism was the revised and enlarged third edition of Emmanuel Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible. The chief reference lexicon for this translation was Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (HALOT). This translation also referenced Francis Brown, et al., Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (BDB). For Greek, the reference lexicon was Bauer, et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (BDAG).

Albert Hayden

Los Angeles

September 1, 2025 (9 Elul 5785)

Notes

[1]	Joüon and Muraoka classify the word אשר as a relative pronoun. See Paul Joüon and T. Muraoka, A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew (Roma: Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 2006), §145. This position is debatable: Unlike a pronoun אשר is uninflected, without gender, number, or case, so it is fairly described as a particle.
[2]	Notable grammatical anomalies in the Hebrew of Daniel include the masculine gender of both “week/sabbatical cycle” (Heb.: שבוע) and “covenant/treaty/agreement” (Heb.: ברית) (cf. Dan 9:24-27; 10:2,3). The infinitive construction תתו קדש וצבא מרמס at Daniel 8:13 (as emended) is also peculiar, and the Aramaic of Daniel is in itself a peculiar dialect.
[3]	Ketib-Qere are marginal notes that indicate readings (Qere) of the Hebrew Bible contrary to the written text (Ketib). At times the Qere is the better reading of the text, but not always. The relationship between the cantillation and grammar is another issue relevant to translation. Gesenius argued that the cantillation is a syntactical representation of the text. See Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius, Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar, ed. E. Kautzsch and Sir Arthur Ernest Cowley, 2nd English ed. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910), 58. The reality is more nuanced: The cantillation is a prosodic representation of the text that at times aligns with a syntactical representation. See B. Elan Dresher, “Biblical Accents: Prosody,” EHLL 1: 288. The cantillation is therefore not a definitive guide to the syntax of the text, and there are no traditional rules that establish a definitive relationship between them. The ultimate irrelevance of the cantillation to syntax is especially true in Daniel, for which the cantillation is a late addition, without the authority of unbroken tradition.
[4]	The forthcoming Biblia Hebraica Quinta (BHQ) edition of Daniel may eventually replace the BHS edition as the academic standard.
[5]	The mistranslation of this verse is evident from the Hebrew text, which clearly has “the vision of the evening and the morning” (Heb.: ומראה הערב והבקר) where many English translations have “the vision of the evenings and the mornings.” This translation implicitly emends the Hebrew text to ומראה הערבים והבקרים (cf. Job 7:18; Ps 73:14; 101:8; Isa 33:2; Lam 3:23; etc.). A widely available translation that shows the literal meaning of the Hebrew text to an English reader is Young’s Literal Translation (YLT).
[6]	This conjecture simplifies the more nuanced work of Tarsee Li on the verbal system of the Aramaic of Daniel. See Tarsee Li, The Verbal System of the Aramaic of Daniel: An Explanation in the Context of Grammaticalization, SAIS 8 (Leiden: Brill, 2009).
[7]	Bill T. Arnold, “Wordplay and Narrative Techniques in Daniel 5 and 6,” JBL 112 (1993): 479-485.

Bibliography

Arnold, Bill T. “Wordplay and Narrative Techniques in Daniel 5 and 6.” JBL 112 (1993): 479-485. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3267746

Bauer, Walter, William F. Arndt, F. Wilbur Gingrich, and Frederick W. Danker. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.

Brown, Francis, Samuel R. Driver and Charles A. Briggs. The Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977.

Collins, John J. Daniel: A Commentary on the Book of Daniel, Hermenia. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993.

Cook, Edward M. “Word Order in the Aramaic of Daniel.” Monographic Journals of the Near East, Afroasiatic Linguistics 9 (1986): 1-16.

———. “‘In the Plain of the Wall’ (Dan 3:1).” JBL 108 (1989): 115-116.

Coxon, Paul W. “Daniel III 17: A Linguistic and Theological Problem .” VT 26 (1976): 400-409.

Dresher, Bezalel Elan. “Biblical Accents: Prosody.” EHLL 1: 288.

———. “The Prosodic Basis of the Tiberian Hebrew System of Accents.” Language 70 (1994): 1-52. https://www.jstor.org/stable/416739

Driver, G.R. “The Aramaic of the Book of Daniel.” JBL 45 (1926): 110-119.

Elliger, Karl and Wilhelm Rudolph, eds. Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. 5th rev. ed. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1997.

Emerton, J. A. “New Evidence for the Use of waw Consecutive in Aramaic.” VT 44 (1994): 255-258. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1518659

Fassberg, Steven E. “The Origin of the Ketib/Qere in the Aramaic Portions of Ezra and Daniel.” VT 39 (1989): 1-12.

Gesenius, Friedrich Wilhelm. Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar. 2nd English ed. Edited by E. Kautzsch and Sir Arthur Ernest Cowley. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910.

Goldingay, John E. Daniel, World Biblical Commentary 30. Rev. Ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2019.

Green, Peter. From Alexander to Actium: the Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age, Hellenistic Culture and Society I. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990.

Grainger, John D. The Syrian Wars, Mnemosyne Supplements 320. Leiden: Brill, 2010.

Johns, Alger F. A Short Grammar of Biblical Aramaic. Andrews University Monographs 1. Rev. ed. Berrien Springs: Andrews University Press, 1972.

Joüon, Paul and Takamitsu Muraoka. A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew. Roma: Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 2006.

Koehler, Ludwig and Walter Baumgartner. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, trans. M. E. J. Richardson. Revised by Walter Baumgartner and Johann Jakob Stamm. Leiden: Brill, 1994-2000.

Li, Tarsee. The Verbal System of the Aramaic of Daniel: An Explanation in the Context of Grammaticalization. SAIS 8. Leiden: Brill, 2009.

———. “The Function of the Active Participle in the Aramaic of Daniel.” Pages 69-104 in Aramaic in postbiblical Judaism and early Christianity: Papers from the 2004 National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar at Duke University. Edited by Eric M. Meyers and Paul V. M. Flesher. Duke Judaic Studies 3. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2010.

Mason, Steve. A History of the Jewish War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016.

Miller, Stephen R. Daniel: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture. New American Commentary 18. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1994.

Montgomery, James A. “Adverbial Kúlla in Biblical Aramaic and Hebrew.” JAOS 43 (1923): 391-395. https://www.jstor.org/stable/593376

Morrow, William S. and Ernest G. Clarke. “The Ketib/Qere in the Aramaic Portions of Ezra and Daniel.” VT 36 (1986): 406-422. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1518324

Muraoka, Takamitsu and M. Rogland. “The waw Consecutive in Old Aramaic? A Rejoinder to Victor Sasson.” VT 48 (1998): 99-104.

Norman, Janis. “A Grammar of Biblical Accents.” PhD diss., Harvard University, 1987.

Owens, Jonathan and Robin Dodsworth. “Stability in Subject-Verb Word Order: From Contemporary Arabian Peninsular Arabic to Biblical Aramaic.” Anthropological Linguistics 51 (2009): 151-175.

Rosenthal, Franz. A Grammar of Biblical Aramaic. PLO Neue Serie 5. 4th Printing. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1974.

Schwartes, Siegfried J. ‘Ereḇ Bōqer of Dan 8:14 Re-Examined.” AUSS 16 (1978): 375-385.

Seow, Choon.-Leong. A Grammar for Biblical Hebrew. Rev. Ed. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995.

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———. The Old Testament in Greek: According to the Septuagint (Alternate Texts). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1909.

Tov, Emmanuel. Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible. 3rd ed., rev. and enl. Minneapolis, MN : Fortress, 2012.

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Daniel

Part I. Court Tales

[1] Hebrew Court Tale: Exile of Daniel

1 In the third regnal year of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem, and besieged it. 2 My lord delivered Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand, as well as some of the vessels from the temple of the Elohim. He brought them to the land of Shinar, to the temple of his gods, and he deposited the vessels in the treasury of his gods.

3 Then the king told the ashpenaz (the chief of his officials) to pick some of the Israelites, some from the royal house and some from the nobility, 4 young men in whom there was no blemish and who had a good appearance, who understood all wisdom and who were endowed with knowledge and keen insight, and who had the strength to stand in the palace of the king, in order to teach them the literature and the language of the Chaldeans. 5 The king furnished them with a daily portion from the royal table and from his own wine, to educate them for three years, at the end of which they were to stand before the king. 6 Among these Jews were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 7 and the headmaster gave them names. He called Daniel, Belteshazzar; Hananiah, Shadrach; Mishael, Meshach; and Azariah, Abednego.

8 But Daniel resolved in his heart that he would not defile himself with the royal rations nor with the royal wine. So he petitioned the headmaster that he might not defile himself. 9 The Elohim granted Daniel favor and compassion before the headmaster, 10 so the headmaster said to Daniel, “I revere my lord, the king, who appointed your food and your drink. If he should see your faces thinner than the other children your age, you would endanger my head before the king.” 11 But Daniel said to the guardian whom the king had appointed as headmaster over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12 “Please test your servants for ten days: let us be given some vegetables, then we will eat; and water, then we will drink. 13 Then let our appearance and the appearance of the children eating the royal rations be seen before you, and do to your servants according to what you see.” 14 So he yielded to them regarding this matter, and he tested them ten days.

15 At the end of ten days, their appearance was regarded better and their bodies fatter than all the children eating the royal rations. 16 So the overseer began to throw away their royal rations and even the wine meant for them to drink, and he began to give them vegetables. 17 And as for these children, the Elohim gave all four of them knowledge and insight into every book, as well as wisdom. Daniel, moreover, understood every vision and even dreams. 18 At the end of the time when the king had set to bring them, the headmaster brought the children before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 The king then spoke to them, and no one was found among them like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. So they stood before the king. 20 And regarding every informed and educated opinion that the king sought from them, he found them ten hands above all the soothsayers and the conjurers that were in his entire kingdom. 21 And Daniel remained to the first year of Cyrus the king.

[2] Prophecy of the Idol and the Stone

2 In the twelfth [rd. שתים עשרה (word omission)] regnal year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams such that his spirit was troubled, and he did not sleep. 2 So the king summoned the conjurers, the soothsayers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to explain to the king his dream. They came, and they stood before the king.

3 Then the king said to them, “I have dreamed such a dream that my spirit must understand the dream.” 4 The Chaldeans replied to the king, in Aramaic:

[Aramaic Begins]

“O king, live forever! Describe the dream to your servants, and we will reveal the interpretation.” 5 But the king replied to the Chaldeans, “My decision is irreversible: if you cannot reveal to me both the dream and its interpretation, then you will be broken into pieces, and your houses will be laid to ruin. 6 If, however, you can reveal the dream and its interpretation, you will receive gifts, rewards, and great honor from me personally. Reveal to me, therefore, the dream and its interpretation.” 7 They replied once more, and said, “Let the king describe the dream to his servants, and we will make known its interpretation.” 8 The king replied, “I see plainly that you are stalling because you realize that my decision is irreversible, 9 that if you cannot declare the dream to me then there is a single verdict for you all; so you have conspired to speak deceitful and corrupt words before me until the times may change. Now describe the dream to me, so I may know that you can tell me the interpretation.” 10 The Chaldeans replied before the king, “There is no man in this world that is able to reveal the king’s matter, because no great king or ruler has ever asked a soothsayer, conjurer or Chaldean about a matter like this one. 11 The problem that the king poses is exceptional; there is no one who can reveal it to the king, apart from the gods, who do not dwell among mortals.”

12 Upon this the king became furious, even deeply enraged, so he gave a command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13 An order was issued, and the wise men were to be killed. Daniel and his companions were sought for execution, 14 but at that moment Daniel responded with tact and prudence to Arioch, the commander of the royal guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. 15 He asked Arioch, the royal officer, what the extreme decree from the king was about, so Arioch explained the matter to Daniel. 16 So Daniel went before the king, and he petitioned the king to allow him time to reveal the interpretation to the king. 17 Then Daniel returned to his home, and he made the matter known to his companions Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 18 They sought mercy from the God of Heaven concerning this riddle, so that Daniel and his companions might not be killed together with the other wise men of Babylon.

19 Then the riddle was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of Heaven, 20 saying, “May the name of God be blessed from antiquity to the end of time, for wisdom and strength are his. 21 He changes times and seasons, for he deposes kings and sets up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the prudent. 22 He reveals the unfathomable and the hidden. He knows what is in the darkness for the light dwells with him. 23 To you, O God of my ancestors, I offer thanks and praise, for you gave me wisdom and strength, and now you have made known what we asked from you, for you have revealed to us the matter of the king.” 24 So Daniel approached Arioch, whom the king had charged to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and spoke to him thus: “You must not destroy the wise men of Babylon. Bring me to the king, and I will reveal to him the interpretation.” 25 So Arioch brought Daniel before the king with haste, and addressed him so: “I have found a man among the exiles of Judah, who can tell the king the interpretation.”

26 Then the king said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Can you tell me both the dream and its interpretation?” 27 Then Daniel spoke before the king, and said, “No wise man, conjurer, soothsayer or diviner can explain to the king the riddle that the king poses. 28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals riddles, and he has disclosed to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the final days, through your dream and your private visions during sleep. 29 You are the king. Your bedside thoughts took up what is to be after this present era, and the revealer of riddles has disclosed to you what must be. 30 So as for me, this riddle was not revealed to me by a genius in me greater than all living things, but by a decree that the interpretation must be told to the king, that you may understand the meditations of your heart.

31 “You, O king, were seeing, and there was a single idol. This image was large, even enormous; its brilliance was extraordinary as it was standing before you, and its appearance was frightening. 32 The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and its arms were of silver, its belly and thighs were of bronze. 33 Its legs were of iron; its feet were partly iron and partly clay. 34 You kept watching until a stone broke loose from a mountain, untouched, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and it broke them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold shattered together, and they became like chaff from the summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away, and no trace of them could be found. Moreover, the stone that struck the image became a great mountain, and it filled the entire land.

36 “This is the dream. Let us tell its interpretation before the king. 37 You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given sovereignty, power, might and glory. 38 He has given into your power the dwellings of humans, of the animals of the field, and of the birds of heaven, and he has made you ruler over them all. You, indeed, are the head of gold! 39 After you will arise another kingdom inferior to yours, and a third kingdom, another of bronze, that will also rule over the entire land. 40 And there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron crushes and smashes everything, and just as iron shatters all these, it will also grind and shatter. 41 Whereas you saw that the feet and the toes were part potter’s clay and part iron, it will be a partitioned kingdom, but some of the iron’s hardness will remain in it just as you saw the iron mixed with the ceramic clay. 42 The toes of the feet were part iron and part clay because this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 As you saw the iron mixed with the wet clay, they will consort as people do [lit. as the descendants of the man (Adam)], but they will not adhere, the one to the other, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44 And in the days of these kings, the God of heaven will stand up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and its kingdom will not pass to another people. It will crush and bring an end to all these kingdoms, and it will stand forever. 45 Forasmuch as you saw a stone break loose from the mountain, untouched, and crush the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will be after this era. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar bowed upon his face to worship Daniel, and he ordered an offering of grain and incense to him. 47 The king said to Daniel, “Truly, your god is the god of gods, the master of kings, and the revealer of secrets since you could solve this riddle.” 48 Then the king magnified Daniel, giving him many great gifts. He even set him over the entire province of Babylon, and appointed him chief prefect over the wise men of Babylon. 49 Then Daniel asked the king to appoint Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the city of Babylon, because Daniel was in the court of the king.

[3] Daniel’s Companions in a Blazing Furnace

3 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height of which was sixty cubits and the width of which was six cubits. He then raised it into the face of the wall around the city of Babylon. 2 So Nebuchadnezzar, the king, sent for the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar, the king, had stood up. 3 Then the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces, began gathering for the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had stood up. And when they were standing before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had stood up, 4 a herald began proclaiming with strength, “Attention, O peoples, nations, and tongues. 5 When you hear the sound of a horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, or any kind of music, you must fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar, the king, has stood up, 6 and whoever does not fall down and worship shall in that very hour be thrown into a blazing furnace.” 7 So at this time, since all of the peoples were hearing the sound of a horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, or some kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and tongues began bowing down, worshiping the image of gold that Nebuchadnezzar, the king, had stood up.

8 Because of this, men came forward at this time, Chaldeans, to denounce the Jews. 9 They said to Nebuchadnezzar the king, “O king, live forever! 10 You, O king, have made a decree, that anyone who might hear the sound of a horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, or any kind of music, must fall down and worship the golden image, 11 and whoever will not fall down and worship shall be thrown into a blazing furnace. 12 There are Jewish men whom you have set over the affairs of the city of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men have paid no heed to you, O king. They are not serving your gods, and they are not worshipping the golden image that you have stood up.”

13 Then, in a furious rage, Nebuchadnezzar gave an order to bring in Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. When these men were brought before the king, 14 Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you are not serving my gods, and you are not worshipping the image of gold that I have stood up? 15 Now, if you are ready, whenever you might hear the sound of a horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, or any kind of music, you must fall down and worship the image that I have made. But if you will not worship it, you shall in that very hour be thrown into a blazing furnace. And who is the god that can deliver you from my hand?” 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defense to you in this matter. 17 If our God whom we serve exists, he is able to deliver us from the blazing furnace. But from your hand may the king himself deliver us! 18 But if not, may it be open to you, O king, that we are not serving your gods, and we cannot worship the golden image that you have stood up.”

19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and the expression of his face turned against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. In reply to them, he gave an order to heat a furnace seven times more than it is customary to heat it. 20 Then he ordered men, strong men that were in his army, to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, so as to cast them into the blazing furnace. 21 The men were bound, with their tunics, their trousers, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the midst of the raging furnace. 22 Since the command of the king was rash and the furnace was exceedingly hot, the blaze killed the men who lifted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 But the three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego fell bound into midst of the raging furnace.

24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was so terrified that he rose in haste. He said to his counselors, “Did we not throw three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered the king, “Yes, O king.” 25 He replied, “But I see four men, unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not injured. And the appearance of the fourth resembles a divine being.” 26 Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the opening of the raging furnace, and he said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, go out! Come out!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the midst of the fire. 27 As the satraps, the prefects and the governors, and the king’s counselors began to gather, they beheld the men over whose bodies the fire had had no power. The hair of their heads had not been singed; their garments had not been harmed. Even the smell of fire did not touch them. 28 Nebuchadnezzar said, “Blessed is the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent His angel to deliver His servants who trusted in Him. They opposed the command of the king and yielded up their bodies, for they would not serve or worship any god except their God. 29 I make a decree: any people, nation, or tongue that may utter blasphemy against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be broken into pieces, and their houses will be laid to ruin, for there is no other god who is able to deliver like this God.” 30 Then the king upheld Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the city of Babylon.

[4] Nebuchadnezzar’s Madness

4 King Nebuchadnezzar to all peoples, nations, and tongues that live throughout the land: May you greatly prosper. 2 I am pleased to recount the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked with me. 3 How great are his signs, how mighty are his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom, and his power is from generation to generation.

4 As I, Nebuchadnezzar, was living at ease in my home and prospering in my palace, 5 I saw a dream, and it truly frightened me, for revelations in my sleep and private visions terrify me. 6 So I issued a decree for all the wise men of Babylon to be brought before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. 7 When the soothsayers, the conjurers, the Chaldeans, and the diviners were coming in, I was describing the dream to each of them, but they were not revealing its interpretation to me. 8 Until, at last, Daniel came in, whose name is Belteshazzar (after the name of my god), and in whom is a holy, divine spirit, and I described the dream before him: 9 “O Chief Soothsayer Belteshazzar, since I have learned that a holy, divine spirit is in you and that no riddle is too difficult for you, explain the interpretation of the dream visions that I saw. 10 I was seeing private visions in my sleep, and—behold!—there was a tree in the middle of the land, and its height was great. 11 The tree had grown strong: its top must have reached the heavens, a sight to the end of the entire land. 12 Its foliage was beautiful, its fruit abundant, and there were provisions for everything in it. The animals of the field would seek shade under it, the birds of the sky would nest in its branches, and from it all living beings were able to eat.

13 “As I kept watching private visions in my sleep—behold!—there was a watcher, and a holy one was descending from the heavens. 14 He cried out with strength and spoke thus: ‘Cut down the tree and chop off its branches, shake off its foliage and scatter its fruit. The animals must flee from under it, and the birds from its branches. 15 But leave the stump of its roots in the ground, in the grass of the field, with a shackle of iron and bronze. It will be watered with the dew from heaven, for his share shall be in the grass of the earth with the animals of the field. 16 Remove the mind from the man, and give him the mind of an animal. Seven years will pass over him. 17 This resolution is in the decree of the watchers, and this decision is a command of the holy ones until the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over this human kingdom. He gives it to whomever he wishes, and over it he can set the humblest of people.’ 18 I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw this dream; now you, Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation. Though all the wise men of my kingdom are unable to tell me the interpretation, you are able, for you are endowed with a holy, divine spirit.”

19 Then Daniel, whose name was also Belteshazzar, was stunned for a brief moment. His thoughts certainly terrified him, but the king said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or the interpretation terrify you.” Belteshazzar answered, “My lord, may the dream be for those who hate you, and its interpretation for your enemies! 20 As for the tree that you saw, that had grown strong, its top must have reached to the heavens, and its visibility to the end of the entire land. 21 Its foliage was beautiful, its fruit abundant, and there were provisions for everything in it: the animals of the field could seek shade under it, and the birds of the sky could nest in its branches. 22 You are the king who has grown strong! Your greatness has increased so that it reaches to the heavens, and your power to the end of the land. 23 Then the king saw a watcher, and a holy one coming down from heaven, saying, ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump of its roots in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze, in the grass of the field. With the dew from heaven it will be watered for his lot will be with the animals of the field until seven years shall pass over him.’ 24 This is the interpretation, O king, and the very decree of the Most High that has come before my lord the king: 25 You are about to be driven away from humanity, and your dwelling shall be with the animals of the field. You will be fed grass like oxen, and with the dew from heaven you will be watered, and seven years will pass over you, until you can acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over this human kingdom and gives it to whomever he wishes. 26 And as it was commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots, your kingdom will be yours— after you can acknowledge that the heavens are sovereign. 27 Therefore, O king, may my counsel seem good to you: purge your sins with righteousness, and your iniquities with kindness to the poor. Perhaps your prosperity may be prolonged.”

28 Everything befell Nebuchadnezzar the king. 29 At the conclusion of twelve months he was walking atop the royal palace of Babylon, 30 and the king said, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I have built as a royal capital by my mighty power and for my glorious majesty?” 31 As this statement was still in the mouth of the king, a voice fell from heaven: “to you it is declared, O ‘Nebuchadnezzar, the king’: its kingdom has departed from you! 32 You are to be driven away from humanity, and your dwelling will be with the animals of the field. You must be fed grass like oxen, and seven years shall pass over you, until you can acknowledge that the Most High has sovereignty over human government and gives it to whomever he wishes.” 33 That very hour the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven from humanity. He had to eat grass like oxen, and his body had to bathe in the dew from heaven until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.

34 “At the end of those days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, so my reason could return to me. I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored the Living Eternal. For his power is an unlimited power, and his kingdom is from generation to generation. 35 All the inhabitants of the earth amount to nothing, and he does as he wishes among the host of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. There is no one who can parry his hand, and can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’ 36 At that time my reason was able to restore to me the glory of my kingdom. My majesty and my splendor were able to return to me. My officials and my lords would consult with me. As for my kingdom, it was re-established, and abundant greatness was added to me. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, keep praising, extolling, and honoring the King of the heavens because all his works are truth, and his ways are justice. He is able to humble those who walk in pride.”

[5:1-30] Belshazzar’s Feast

5 Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and he began to drink wine before the thousand. 2 Under the counsel of the wine, Belshazzar gave a command to bring the vessels of gold and silver that his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his lords, his concubines and his handmaids, might drink from them. 3 Then they brought in the vessels of gold and silver that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, so the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, drank from them. 4 They drank the wine, and they praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

5 In that very hour the fingers of a human hand appeared, and it began to write on the plaster of the palace wall, near the lampstand. The king kept watching the palm of the hand that was writing. 6 Then the king changed his expression, and his thoughts doubtlessly terrified him. The joints of his hips were becoming limp, and his knees were knocking together. 7 The king cried with strength to bring in the conjurers, the Chaldeans, and the diviners, and the king promised the wise men of Babylon, “Any man who can read this writing and reveal to me its interpretation will be clothed in purple, a chain of gold will be around his neck, and he will rule as the third highest person in the kingdom.” 8 Then all the royal wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or reveal the interpretation to the king. 9 Then King Belshazzar became greatly terrified, his expression was changed even more, and his lords began to be troubled.

10 The queen mother entered the banquet hall on account of the words of the king and his lords. The queen mother said, “O king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts terrify you, and do not let your expression change.” 11 There is a man in your kingdom who is endowed with a holy, divine spirit. In the days of your father, enlightenment, insight, and wisdom like divine wisdom was found in him. King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, appointed him chief of the soothsayers, conjurers, Chaldeans, and diviners. 12 Since an excellent spirit, understanding, and insight—dream interpretation, riddle explanation and problem solving—were found in this Daniel (whose name the king made Belteshazzar), Daniel should now be summoned. He will make known the interpretation.”

13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king said to Daniel, “Are you Daniel who is one of the exiles of Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah? 14 I have heard regarding you that a divine spirit is in you, and that enlightenment, understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. 15 Now the wise men and the conjurers were brought before me so that they could read this writing, and reveal to me the interpretation of the message, but they are unable to reveal the interpretation of the message. 16 But I have heard concerning you that you are definitely able to make interpretations, and to solve riddles. Now if you are able to read the writing and to reveal its interpretation, you shall be clothed in purple, a chain of gold will be around your neck, and you will rule as the third highest person in the kingdom.”

17 Then Daniel replied, and said before the king, “Let your gifts remain with you, or give your presents to another person. I will read the writing to the king regardless, and I will reveal to him the interpretation. 18 You are the king; the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar kingship, greatness, glory, and majesty. 19 And on account of the greatness that He gave him, all peoples, nations, and tongues were trembling and reverent before him. He was killing whomever he wished, and he was keeping alive whomever he wished; he was honoring whomever he wished, and he was humiliating whomever he wished. 20 And when his heart rose up and his spirit hardened into pride, he was deposed from his royal throne, and his glory was taken from him. 21 He was driven from humanity, his mind was set among the animals, and his dwelling was with the wild asses. He had to be fed grass like oxen, and his body had to be soaked with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God was sovereign over this human kingdom, and sets over it whomever he wishes. 22 But you, Belshazzar, his son, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this! 23 You have lifted yourself against the Lord of the heavens! The vessels of His temple have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, are drinking wine from them. And the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone—which see not and hear not and know not—you have praised. But the God in whose power is your soul, and of whom are all your doings, you have not glorified. 24 So He sent from His presence this palm of the hand, and this writing was inscribed. 25 And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. 26 This is the interpretation of the message. Mene: God has audited your reign to balance it in full. 27 Tekel: you have been weighed on the scales and found in arrears. 28 Peres: your kingdom has been parceled out to be given to the Medes and Persians.” 29 Then Belshazzar gave a command to clothe Daniel with purple and with a chain of gold around his neck, and to proclaim concerning him that he would rule as the third highest person in the kingdom.

30 That very night Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was killed.

[5:31-6:28] Daniel in the Lions’ Pit

5:31 Darius the Mede received the kingdom at sixty-two years of age, 6 so it seemed good before Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps who would be throughout the entire kingdom. 2 And over them were three officials to whom these satraps would be reporting (one of whom was Daniel), so the king would be suffering no loss. 3 When Daniel kept distinguishing himself above all the other presidents and satraps (since an excellent spirit was in him), the king planned to appoint him over the entire kingdom. 4 So the presidents and the satraps began looking for a fault in Daniel pertaining to the kingdom, but they were wholly unable to find any fault or corruption. Since he was faithful, no negligence or corruption could be found in him.

5 Then these men began to say, “We cannot find any fault in this Daniel, but we have found something against him in the law of his God.” 6 So these officials and satraps conspired against the king, and they began speaking to him like so: “May Darius the king live forever! 7 All the officials of the kingdom—the prefects and the satraps, the counselors, and the governors—advise the enactment of a royal edict and the enforcement of a decree that whoever might seek help from any god or person for thirty days—except from you, O king—must be thrown into a lions' pit. 8 Now, the king should enact the edict, and he should sign the writing so that it cannot be changed according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be annulled.” 9 On account of this conspiracy King Darius signed the writing and the edict.

10 But Daniel, when he knew that the writing had been signed, went to his house, and windows were opened for him in its upper room toward Jerusalem. Three times that day he was bending his knees, praying, and giving thanks before his God, just as he was doing before this. 11 Then these men entered together to find Daniel praying and seeking mercy before his God. 12 So they approached the king, and were speaking before the king concerning the edict, “O king, did you not sign an edict that any man who might seek help from any god or person for thirty days except from you, O king, shall be thrown into the lions’ pit?” The king replied, “The matter is established according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be annulled.” 13 Then they replied before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, does not keep the edict before you, O king, and is against the decree that you have signed. He keeps making his supplications three times a day.”

14 The king, when he heard the matter, was very much distressed by it. He set his heart on Daniel to rescue him, and he was striving to exonerate him until the setting of the sun. 15 So these men came together before the king, and began saying to the king, “Know, O king, that by the law of the Medes and Persians any decree or edict that the king might enact may not be changed.” 16 So the king gave a command to have Daniel brought and to be thrown into the lions’ pit. The king said to Daniel, “Your God, whom you keep serving with devotion, he will deliver you!” 17 Then a stone was brought to lay on the mouth of the pit, and the king sealed it with his signet and with the signet of his lords, so that nothing might change concerning Daniel. 18 Then the king went to his palace to spend the night fasting, and no food could be brought to him. Sleep fled from him.

19 Then, at daybreak, the king had to rise at the first light, and he hurried to the lions’ pit. 20 As he neared the pit, he cried out in distress to Daniel. The king said, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, whom you keep serving with devotion, was he able to rescue you from the lions?” 21 Then Daniel spoke with the king, “O king, live forever! 22 My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me. Just as I was found blameless before him, I also have done no wrong before you, O king.” 23 Then the king was exceedingly glad concerning him, and he gave a command to lift Daniel from the pit. So Daniel was lifted from the pit, and no wound was found on him who had trusted in his God. 24 Then the king gave a command to bring those men who had denounced Daniel, and they were thrown into the lions’ pit—they, their children, and their wives. And they did not reach the floor before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

25 Then Darius the king wrote to all peoples, nations, and tongues that are living throughout the entire land: “May you greatly prosper! 26 I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion there must be trembling and fear before the God of Daniel. For He is the living God, enduring forever. His kingdom cannot fall, and his dominion will be to the end of time. 27 He keeps rescuing, and delivering, and working signs and wonders in heaven and on the earth. For he has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.” 28 And this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and during the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

Part II. Vision Memoirs

[7] Aramaic Vision: Four Beasts and a Little Horn

7 In the first year of Belshazzar, the king of Babylon, Daniel beheld a dream and private visions during his sleep. Then he recorded the dream, in the first person [lit. as a head spoke words]. 2 Daniel spoke, and he said:

I was seeing visions during the night, and, behold, the four winds of heaven stirred the Great Sea (the greater west). 3 Four great beasts emerged from the sea (west), different from each other. 4 The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I was watching as its wings were plucked off, but it was lifted from the ground. It was made to stand on two feet like a man, and manly courage was given to it. 5 Then there was another beast, a second one, that resembled a bear, and it was made to rear up to the same side. Three ribs were between its teeth for it was commanded like so: “Arise and devour much flesh.” 6 After this, I was watching, and there was another beast like a leopard (ph. an eagle). It had four wings of a bird upon its back, and the beast had four heads, for power was given to it. 7 After this, there was a fourth beast. It was dreadful, terrible, and exceedingly strong; and it had many teeth of iron. It was devouring and crushing, and it stamped the remnant with its feet. It was different from all of the beasts that it faced for it had ten horns. 8 I was considering these horns when a single horn, a little one, emerged among them, and three of the earlier horns were uprooted from its presence. In this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking an abundance of words.

9 I kept watching until thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days sat. His clothing was like white snow, and the hair of his head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, and its wheel was a burning fire. 10 A river of fire issued forth and flowed from his place. A thousand thousands must have served him, and a myriad myriads must have stood before him. The judge sat, and the books were opened. 11 I kept watching because of the sound of the many words that the horn was speaking. I kept watching until that beast was slain, and its body was destroyed, and it was burned with fire. 12 As for the remainder of the beasts, their power was taken away, but their life was prolonged until a moment and a time. 13 For I kept watching these visions of the night when suddenly one like a human being was coming with the clouds of heaven. He reached the Ancient of Days, and he was permitted into His presence. 14 Then dominion and glory and kingship were given to him. (For all peoples, nations, and tongues must serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that cannot cease, and His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom that cannot be destroyed.)

15 My spirit was troubled as I, Daniel, was under my covers, and my private visions truly terrified me. 16 I therefore approached one of the divine attendants, for I had to ask him what all of this meant. And he spoke to me, for he could explain the significance of the matter: 17 “As for these great beasts that are these four, four kings will arise from the land, 18 so that the holy ones of the Most High may receive the kingdom, and they will take possession of the kingdom forever.” 19 Then I wanted to understand the fourth beast that was different from all of them. It was exceedingly terrifying: its teeth were iron, and its claws were bronze. It was devouring and crushing, and it stamped the remnant with its feet. 20 And there were the ten horns that were on its head, and the other one that emerged, and three horns fell from its presence. It had eyes and a mouth that spoke incessantly, and its significance was greater than the others. 21 For I was watching, and this horn made war with the holy ones, and it was prevailing over them 22 until the Ancient of Days came and rendered justice to the holy ones of the Most High, and the time came for the holy ones to take possession of the kingdom. 23 So he said, “The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all of the kingdoms. It will devour the entire land, and it will trample and crush. 24 As for the ten horns, ten kings will arise from this kingdom, and another will arise after them. He will differ from the earlier ones, and he will humble three kings. 25 He will speak words against the Most High, and he will persecute the holy ones of the Most High. He will attempt to overturn times and law appointed by heaven, and they will be given into his hand for a time, two times, and half a time. 26 But the court will preside, and his dominion will be taken away to be thoroughly annihilated and destroyed. 27 But the kingdom and the dominion—the greatest of the kingdoms under the entire heaven—will be given to the holy people of the Most High. For His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.”

28 This is the end of the account. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts might have greatly terrified me and my appearance might have changed, but I kept the matter to myself.

[Aramaic Ends]

[8] First Hebrew Vision

[8:1-12] Vision of a Ram, a Goat, and a Destructive Horn

8 In the third regnal year of Belshazzar, the king, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that appeared to me on the previous occasion. 2 I was watching in the vision, and as I watched, I was in Susa, the citadel, which is in the province of Elam, and I was beside the river Ulai. 3 I lifted my eyes to see, and, behold, a single ram was standing before the river, and it had two horns. And these horns were long: one was longer than the other, and the longer one rose last. 4 I watched the ram goring to the west , and to the north, and to the south. No beast could stand before it, and there was no relief from its power. It acted according to its will, and it grew great.

5 I was contemplating this vision when a magnificent goat came, after the sunset over the face of the entire land, without touching the ground. As for this goat, a remarkable horn was on its forehead. 6 It came toward the ram, the master of the two horns, which I saw standing before the river, and it charged at it in its powerful fury. 7 I watched it reach the side of the ram, which became enraged at it. It nevertheless broke its two horns, and the ram had no strength to stand before it. It threw it to the ground, and it trampled it. The ram could not escape from its power. 8 The male goat truly exalted itself, but at the height of its power the great horn was broken. Then a vision of four rose up in its stead to the four winds of heaven.

9 And from the first of them, a single horn emerged, a strong one, and it grew greater than the south, and the east, and the magnificent horn. 10 It grew as far as the starry host (the ministrants) of the heavens. Then it threw some of the starry host (the ministrants) and some of the stars (ph. the priests) to the ground, and it trampled them. 11 It even exalted itself over the leader of the ministrants. The regular burnt offering rose away from him, and the place of his temple was overthrown. 12 For along with the regular offering, a host was given over during a transgression. It cast truth to the ground, but it continued to prosper when it acted.

[8:13-14] First Prophecy with Large Numbers

13 Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to whoever was speaking, “How long is the unceasing vision and the transgression, its desolation of a holy place [rd. שמם תתו קדש (word division error)] and trampled ministrants?" 14 Then he said to me, “Until an evening is a morning, there will be two thousand three hundred days [rd. ימים אלפים (word omission), so with LXX and Theodotion]. Then a holy place will be put right.”

[8:15-27] Gabriel Interprets the Vision

15 As I, Daniel, was watching the vision, I was trying to understand it when a figure with a human appearance stood before me. 16 Then I heard a man’s voice amidst the Ulai. And it called, saying, “Gabriel, make that man there understand this great sight.” 17 Then he came to where I stood. I became terrified as he approached so I bowed my face to the ground. Then he said to me, “Understand, O human, that the vision concerns the time of the end.” 18 As he spoke to me, I was dazed with my face toward the ground. Then he touched me, and he lifted me to stand where I was.

19 He said, “Listen, I am about to explain to you what will happen during the final period of the wrath because it concerns the time of the end. 20 The ram that you saw is the master of the two horns: the thrones of Media and Persia. 21 The hairy goat is the king of Ionia. The great horn that was on its forehead is the first kingdom. 22 As for the broken horn, four horns stood in its place so four kingdoms from a nation will stand—but not with its power. 23 At the conclusion of their reign, when these transgressors are being brought to an end, a king will stand with a fierce countenance, who is skilled in intrigue. 24 His wealth will be great, but not like his power. He will undo great wonders, yet he will continue to prosper when he acts. He will ruin the mighty, and the holy people. 25 As for his insight, he will make deceit prosper through his power, and in his heart he will boast, and he will destroy many with ease. And he will rise against the high leader, and he will be broken for a lack of power. 26 As for the great sight of the evening and the morning of which he has spoken, it is true. As for you, safeguard the vision for it concerns many days.”

27 Then I, Daniel, grew weak, and I became ill for days. When I arose, I did the business of the king. I was dismayed by the vision, for I did not understand it.

[9] Second Hebrew Vision

[9:1-27] Seventy Sabbatical Cycles: the Second Revelation of Gabriel

9 In the first year of Darius ben Xerxes from the race of the Medes who (that) was made to reign over the kingdom of the Chaldeans. 2 In the first year of his reign I, Daniel, examined the sacred scrolls because the number of years (that were the word of God to Jeremiah the prophet regarding the completion of the devastation of Jerusalem) was seventy years.

3 So I set my face to my Lord, the only God, to attempt prayer and penitence through fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 I prayed to God, my God, and I confessed, saying, “O my Lord—the Great and Awesome God, the one who keeps covenant and faithfulness with those who love him and keep his commandments: 5 we have sinned, done wrong, done evil, and rebelled; we have turned from your commandments and your judgments. 6 We have not listened to your servants, the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, to our leaders, to our ancestors, and to all the people of the land. 7 You, my Lord, are faultless, and we suffer open shame as it is this day—the people of Judah, the former inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, both those near and those far away in all the lands to which you have driven them on account of the infidelity that they have committed against you. 8 God, we suffer open shame—our kings, our leaders, and ancestors—we who have sinned against you.

9 “Compassion and mercy belong to my Lord, our God, even though we have rebelled against him. 10 We have not listened to the voice of God, our God, to follow his Torah, which he publicly set before us by the hand of his servants, the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your Torah and turned aside to ignore your voice. The curse has been poured out upon us—the oath that was written in the Torah of Moses, the servant of God—because we have sinned against Him. 12 He has kept his words, those which he spoke against us and against our rulers, whose rule has brought upon us a great calamity which had not been done anywhere under the entire sky as it was done in Jerusalem. 13 All this evil came upon us as it is written in the Torah of Moses, but we did not entreat the face of God our God to repent from our wrongdoings and to comprehend your seriousness. 14 God was serious concerning this evil, so he brought it upon us, for God our God is righteous concerning all His works that He has done, but we have not heeded his voice. 15 So then, my Lord, our God, who has brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand and has made for yourself a name as it is this day, we have sinned; we have done evil.

16 “My lord, according to all your righteousness, please turn away your anger and your wrath from your city, Jerusalem, your holy mountain. For through our sins and through the wrongdoings of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people have become a mockery among all those around us. 17 So then, our God, hear the prayer of your servant, and his pleas for mercy. Let your countenance shine upon your abandoned holy place for the sake of my Lord. 18 Incline your ear, my God, to listen; open your eyes and look upon our desolation and the city on account of which your name is invoked. For we are not making pleas of mercy before you on account of our righteousness, but because of your great compassion. 19 My lord, listen. My lord, forgive. My lord, pay heed and act! Do not delay, for your own sake, my God, because your name is invoked on account of your city and on account of your people.”

20 I was still speaking, praying, and confessing my sin, and the sin of my people Israel, and making my pleas before God, my God, on behalf of the holy mountain of my God. 21 I was still speaking in prayer when the man Gabriel—whom I had seen in the vision on the previous occasion—reached me deeply wearied at the time of the evening offering. 22 Then he explained and spoke with me. He said, “Daniel, I now have come to give you understanding. 23 When your pleas for mercy began, a word went out, and I have come to declare it, for you are highly esteemed. Now consider the matter and understand this vision. 24 Seventy sabbatical cycles are conceded to your people and to your holy city, to end the transgression, to seal an offence, and to atone an iniquity; to bring in eternal righteousness, to confirm a vision and a prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. 25 Know and understand that from the pronouncement of the word to rebuild Jerusalem once more until an anointed one becomes a prince there will be seven sabbatical cycles, and for sixty-two cycles it will return, for it will be rebuilt with a public square and an aqueduct despite the distress of those times. 26 But after the sixty-two cycles an anointed one will be cut off, and he will have nothing. For an army of a prince, the coming one, will destroy the city and the holy temple, and its end will be as a flood, for desolations are decreed until the end of a war. 27 Yet a covenant among the masses will become strong for one cycle, and in the middle of the cycle it will put an end to a sacrifice and an offering. But on account of a bird of abominations it will be put to shame, even as far as a complete destruction. For what is decreed will be poured out upon a desolation.”

[10-12] Third Hebrew Vision

[10:1-11:1] Third Sabbatical Cycle: Cyrus the Younger and Xenophon

10 In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a matter was revealed to Daniel who was called Belteshazzar. The message was true, but it was a great burden, for he understood the message, and he understood it on account of the vision. 2 In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks (sabbatical cycles). 3 I ate no fine food (meat and wine did not enter my mouth), and I did not anoint myself— until the completion of three full weeks (sabbatical cycles).

4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, I was on the bank of the great river, the Tigris. 5 I lifted up my eyes to see, and there was a single man dressed in linen, and his waist was girded with the gold of Uphaz. 6 His body was like turquoise, his face was like the appearance of lighting, and his eyes were like torches of fire. His arms and his legs had the appearance of polished bronze. The sound of his words was like the sound of a multitude. 7 I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the people who were with me did not see the vision. A great fear nevertheless fell upon them, and they fled into hiding. 8 I was left alone, but I saw this great vision even though no strength remained in me. My complexion became disfigured, and I retained no strength. 9 I heard the sound of his words, and as I heard the sound of his words I was stunned upon my face—for my face was to the ground. 10 Then a hand touched me, and it roused me to my knees and to the palms of my hands. 11 Then he said to me, “Daniel, precious man, pay attention to the words that I am speaking to you. Stand upon your ground for I have now been sent to you.” When he spoke this word to me, I stood up trembling.

12 Then he said to me, “You must not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I too have come on the strength of your words. 13 But the commander of the kingdom of Persia was standing alongside me for twenty-one days. Yet, behold, Michael, like any of the commanders of old, came to assist me so I was superfluous there beside the kings of Persia. 14 Thus I came to inform you what will happen to your people during the final days, for there is an additional vision concerning the days.” 15 As he spoke to me according to these words, I turned my face toward the ground, and I was speechless. 16 But the one with a human appearance touched my lips. I opened my mouth, and I spoke. I said to the one standing before me, “My lord, my anxiety has fallen upon me, and I have retained no strength. 17 How, then, can this servant of my lord speak with my lord? I now have no more strength, and no breath remains within me.” 18 Then the one with the human appearance touched me again, and he strengthened me. 19 He said, “Do not fear, precious man; may you have peace. Be strong and courageous.” When he spoke with me, I was strengthened, and I said, “Let my lord speak for you have strengthened me.” 20 Then he said, “Indeed you know why I have come to you, yet I must return to fight against a commander of Persia. And as I am departing, behold, a commander of Ionia is coming! 21 Nevertheless, I will tell you the account in a book of truth for no one strives with me against these except Michael your prince. 11 And as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, my firmness was an aid and a fortress to him.

[Excursus Begins]

[11:2-45] Decline and Conquest of Ptolemid Egypt

[11:2-5] (A) Prologue: From Artaxerxes II to Ptolemy I

2 But now I will tell you the truth: behold, three more kings will stand in Persia, and the fourth will be far richer than them all. But when he is strong on account of his wealth, the sum will arouse the kingdom of Ionia. 3 So a mighty king will stand, and he will rule with a great dominion, and he will do as he pleases. 4 But when he stops, his kingdom will be broken, and it will be parceled out to the four winds of heaven, though not to his posterity, nor according to the extent to which he ruled. For his kingdom will be uprooted, and for others besides these. 5 And the king of the south will be strong, as well as one of his commanders. He will grow even stronger than him, and he will rule a greater dominion than his dominion.

[11:6-9] (B) Ptolemy III and Ptolemid Egypt Ascendant

6 After some years, they will become allies, and the daughter of the king of the south will come to the king of the north to conclude an agreement. She, however, will not restrain the armed violence because he will not stand, nor his power, and she will be given up, as well as her attendants, her child, and her supporters in those times. 7 So without the branch from her roots in his office, he will stand, and he will come against the army. He will enter the stronghold of the king of the north, he will act against them, and he will prevail. 8 He will also take their gods, their idols and their beautiful vessels of silver and gold as booty to Egypt, but he will stay away from the king of the north for years. 9 For the king of the south will invade the kingdom, but he will return to his own land.

[11:10-12] (C1) Antiochus III: Failure in the Fourth Syrian War

10 Yet his children [rd. ובניו, so with the Qere] will wage war, and they will gather a great multitude of forces, for he will once more press hard, overflow, and pass through. He will return, and they will wage war beyond Gaza. 11 But the king of the south will be furious. He will march, and he will fight against him, against the king of the north. He will muster a great multitude, and the other multitude will be given into his hand. 12 The other multitude will be carried off because of its overconfidence. He will overthrow an immense number, but he will not prevail.

[11:13-17] (C2) Antiochus III: Success in the Fifth Syrian War

13 But the king of the north will return, and he will raise a greater multitude than the previous, and at the end of those times, even years, he will press hard with a great army and an abundance of supplies. 14 In those times, the masses will rise against the king of the south, and the violent among your people will lift themselves up to establish a vision, yet they will stumble. 15 But the king of the north will advance, and he will erect a siege ramp, and capture a fortified city. The armed forces of the south will not stand, not even his elite troops, so he will be powerless. 16 Without anyone to stand against him, the invader will do to him as he pleases. Yet he will halt in the beautiful land, though (and) an utter destruction (ph. a bride) will be in his power (his hand). 17 For he will resolve to invade with the power of his entire kingdom, so he will make an agreement with him, and he will give to him a beautiful woman to undermine it. And it will not endure, but it will not be his.

[11:18-24] (X) Transition: Roman-Seleucid War and the Rise of Antiochus IV

18 For he will turn his attention to the coastlands, and he will capture many. But a military commander will end his contempt for him, just as he will not repay his contempt for him. 19 For he will turn his attention on the fortified cities of his own land, and he will stumble and fall, and he will not be found. 20 Then one will stand in his office, who turns away a seeker of royal splendor, but after a few years he will be broken, yet not due to anger nor in battle. 21 Then a despicable person will stand in his office, even though he was not given royal majesty. He will enter during peace, and he will seize sovereignty through intrigue. 22 Overwhelming military forces will be swept away from before him. They will be broken, as well as an allied prince. 23 For after an agreement is made with him, he will act deceitfully. He will rise up, and he will dominate with a small nation. 24 During peace and with the richest men of a province he will invade. And he will do what his fathers did not do, nor the fathers of his fathers: He will squander plunder, spoil, and possessions on them so that he may devise his schemes against fortified cities for a time.

[11:25-28] (C2′) Antiochus IV: Success in the First Invasion of Egypt

25 Then he will set his power and his heart against the king of the south with a large army. And the king of the south will join the battle with a large army, great and exceedingly mighty, but he will not succeed because of schemes devised against him. 26 Those who eat his provisions will break him, and his army will be overwhelmed. Many slain will fall. 27 As for the two of them, the kings, their intent will be to do evil, and they will speak a lie at the same table. But it will not succeed, because another outcome will be at the appointed moment. 28 He will return to his land with great possessions, and his heart will be against the holy covenant. He will attack, and afterward return to his own land.

[11:29-35] (C1′) Antiochus IV: Failure in the Second Invasion of Egypt

29 At the appointed moment, he will enter the south once more, but it will not be like the previous time nor the next. 30 For foes in Kittim will come against him, and he will withdraw in fear. Then he will denounce the holy covenant once more, and act. For he will heed anew those who forsake the holy covenant. 31 Forces from him will rise up, and they will profane the sanctuary stronghold. They will stop the regular burnt offering, and they will make the abomination appalling. 32 With falsehoods he will defile those who violate the covenant, but an army that knows their God will prove themselves strong and act. 33 And the scholars among the people will give understanding to the masses, but they will suffer for a time by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder. 34 And when they are made to suffer, they will receive trifling support, but many will ally with them in hypocrisy. 35 Yet some of the scholars will suffer in order to purge them, to purify, and to cleanse, until a fated time, when yet more is at the appointed moment.

[11:36-42] (B′) Augustus and Ptolemid Egypt Conquered

36 Then the king will do as he pleases. He will exalt himself, and he will regard himself greater than every god, but he will recount the wondrous deeds of a “god of gods.” And he will succeed until a furious destruction, for what has been determined must happen. 37 Now he will not pay heed to the “gods” of his ancestors, nor a favorite of women, nor will he heed any god because he will regard himself greater than all of them. 38 But on account of his office he will honor a god of fortresses. A god that his ancestors did not know he will honor with gold, and with silver, and with precious stones, and with costly items. 39 Together with this foreign god he will acquire fortified cities, for whomever he acknowledges will obtain great wealth. He will make them rule over the masses, and he will apportion the land for gain. 40 For at the fated time, the king of the south will aggravate him, so the king of the treasure (ph. the king of the north) will storm against him with riders, horsemen, and with many ships. Then he will enter the lands, sweep over, and pass through. 41 He will even enter the beautiful land as many lands fall. These lands, however, will escape from his power: Edom, Moab, and the best land of the Ammonites. 42 Yet he will extend his power throughout the lands, and the land of Egypt will not become an exception.

[11:43-45] (A′) Epilogue: Augustus to the Fall of Second Temple Jerusalem

43 Then he will rule over treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of the Egyptians. Yet when the North Africans and the Kushites are within his footsteps, 44 reports from the east and from the north will terrify him, so he will go out, with wrath enough to destroy and to exterminate many. 45 And he will pitch the tents of his destruction [rd. אבדנו (phonetic confusion)] between the seas, against the beautiful holy mountain. And it will come to its end, and no one will save it.

[Excursus Ends]

[12:1-7] Great Tribulation of Israel

12 At that time the great guardian Michael, the protector over the children of your people, will stand up, but there will be a time of distress that has not been since the emergence of the nation until that time. Yet at that time your people shall flee to safety, at least everyone found written in the book. 2 And many among those that rest in the grave will rise, these to eternal life but others to eternal contempt and disgrace. 3 The discerning will shine as the brightness of the expanse, and those who move the masses to righteousness like the stars for eternity. 4 But you, Daniel, safeguard these words in order to preserve this book until the time of the end, because many will range far and knowledge will increase.

5 Then I, Daniel, looked, and, behold, there were two others present. One was above the river, and the other was on the bank of the river. 6 And he asked the man clothed with linen, who was above the waters of the stream, when these incredible events would end. 7 Then I heard the man clothed with linen who was above the waters of the river. He lifted his right hand and his left hand to the heavens, and he swore by the one who lives forever, “To a time, two times, and a half, and when the power of the holy people ceases to shatter, all these things will stop.”

[12:8-13] Second Prophecy with Large Numbers

8 I heard, but I did not understand so I asked, “My lord, what is the end of these things?” 9 Then he said, “You must go, Daniel, for these words are safeguarded and preserved for the time of the end. 10 Many will be purified, cleansed and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly. None of the wicked will understand, but the discerning will understand. 11 From the time that the unceasing vision (regular burnt offering) is stopped and an abomination is made desolate, there will be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. 12 Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. 13 Now go to the end so that you may rest, and rise to your destiny at the end of time.”

Preface

Apparatus and Organization

Notes

Bibliography

Daniel

Part I. Court Tales

[1] Hebrew Court Tale: Exile of Daniel

[2] Prophecy of the Idol and the Stone

[3] Daniel’s Companions in a Blazing Furnace

[4] Nebuchadnezzar’s Madness

[5:1-30] Belshazzar’s Feast

[5:31-6:28] Daniel in the Lions’ Pit

Part II. Vision Memoirs

[7] Aramaic Vision: Four Beasts and a Little Horn

[8] First Hebrew Vision

[8:1-12] Vision of a Ram, a Goat, and a Destructive Horn

[8:13-14] First Prophecy with Large Numbers

[8:15-27] Gabriel Interprets the Vision

[9] Second Hebrew Vision

[9:1-27] Seventy Sabbatical Cycles: the Second Revelation of Gabriel

[10-12] Third Hebrew Vision

[10:1-11:1] Third Sabbatical Cycle: Cyrus the Younger and Xenophon

[11:2-45] Decline and Conquest of Ptolemid Egypt

[11:2-5] (A) Prologue: From Artaxerxes II to Ptolemy I

[11:6-9] (B) Ptolemy III and Ptolemid Egypt Ascendant

[11:10-12] (C1) Antiochus III: Failure in the Fourth Syrian War

[11:13-17] (C2) Antiochus III: Success in the Fifth Syrian War

[11:18-24] (X) Transition: Roman-Seleucid War and the Rise of Antiochus IV

[11:25-28] (C2′) Antiochus IV: Success in the First Invasion of Egypt

[11:29-35] (C1′) Antiochus IV: Failure in the Second Invasion of Egypt

[11:36-42] (B′) Augustus and Ptolemid Egypt Conquered

[11:43-45] (A′) Epilogue: Augustus to the Fall of Second Temple Jerusalem

[12:1-7] Great Tribulation of Israel

[12:8-13] Second Prophecy with Large Numbers

Unorthodox Theology