Footnotes

1. Daniel 4:1 sn Beginning with 4:1, the verse numbers through 4:37 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Aramaic text (BHS), with 4:1 ET = 3:31 AT, 4:2 ET = 3:32 AT, 4:3 ET = 3:33 AT, 4:4 ET = 4:1 AT, etc., through 4:37 ET = 4:34 AT. Thus Dan 3:31-33 of the Aramaic text appears as Dan 4:1-3 in the English Bible, and the corresponding verses of ch. 4 differ accordingly. In spite of the division of the Aramaic text, a good case can be made that 3:31-33 AT (= 4:1-3 ET) is actually the introduction to ch. 4.
2. Daniel 4:1 tn Aram “May your peace increase!”
3. Daniel 4:3 tn Aram “His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.”
4. Daniel 4:4 sn This verse marks the beginning of chap. 4 in the Aramaic text of Daniel (see the note on 4:1). The Greek OT (LXX) has the following addition: “In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign he said.” This date would suggest a link to the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 b.c. In general, the LXX of chapters 4-6 is very different from the MT, so much so that the following notes will call attention only to selected readings. In Daniel 4 the LXX lacks sizable portions of material in the MT (e.g., vv. 3-6, 31-32), includes sizable portions of material not in the MT (e.g., v. 14a, parts of vv. 16, 28), has a different order of some material (e.g., v. 8 after v. 9), and in some instances is vastly different from the MT (e.g., vv. 30, 34). Whether these differences are due to an excessively paraphrastic translation technique adopted for these chapters in the LXX, or are due to differences in the underlying Vorlage of the LXX, is a disputed matter. The latter seems more likely. There is a growing trend in modern scholarship to take the LXX of chapters 4-6 much more seriously than was the case in most earlier text-critical studies that considered this issue.
5. Daniel 4:4 tn Aram “my house.”
6. Daniel 4:4 tn Aram “happy.”
7. Daniel 4:5 tn Aram “and it.”
8. Daniel 4:6 tn Aram “from me there was placed a decree.”
9. Daniel 4:6 tn The Aramaic infinitive here is active.
10. Daniel 4:8 sn This explanation of the meaning of the name Belteshazzar may be more of a paronomasia than a strict etymology. See the note at 1:7. The king's god was Marduk, who was called Bel (“Lord”).
11. Daniel 4:9 tc The present translation assumes the reading חֲזִי (khazi, “consider”) rather than the MT חֶזְוֵי (khezve, “visions”). The MT implies that the king required Daniel to disclose both the dream and its interpretation, as in chapter 2. But in the following verses Nebuchadnezzar recounts his dream, while Daniel presents only its interpretation.
12. Daniel 4:10 tc The LXX lacks the first two words (Aram “the visions of my head”) of the Aramaic text.
13. Daniel 4:10 tn Instead of “in the middle of the land,” some English versions render this phrase “a tree at the center of the earth” (NRSV); NAB, CEV “of the world”; NLT “in the middle of the earth.” The Hebrew phrase can have either meaning.
14. Daniel 4:10 tn Aram “its height was great.”
15. Daniel 4:11 tn Aram “its sight,” as also v. 17.
16. Daniel 4:11 tn Or “to the end of all the earth” (so KJV, ASV); NCV, CEV “from anywhere on earth.”
17. Daniel 4:12 tn Aram “the beasts of the field.”
18. Daniel 4:12 tn Aram “all flesh.”
19. Daniel 4:13 tn Aram “the visions of my head.”
20. Daniel 4:13 tn Aram “a watcher and a holy one.” The expression is a hendiadys, as also in v. 23. This “watcher” is apparently an angel. The Greek OT (LXX) in fact has ἄγγελος (angelos, “angel”) here. Theodotion simply transliterates the Aramaic word (ʿir). The term is sometimes rendered “sentinel” (NAB) or “messenger” (NIV, NLT).
21. Daniel 4:14 tn Aram “in strength.”
22. Daniel 4:14 tn Aram “and thus he was saying.”
23. Daniel 4:15 tn Aram “the stock of its root,” as also in v. 23. The implication here is that although the tree is chopped down, it is not killed. Its life-giving root is spared. The application to Nebuchadnezzar is obvious.
24. Daniel 4:15 sn The function of the band of iron and bronze is not entirely clear, but it may have had to do with preventing the splitting or further deterioration of the portion of the tree that was left after being chopped down. By application it would then refer to the preservation of Nebuchadnezzar’s life during the time of his insanity.
25. Daniel 4:15 tn Aram “its lot be.”
26. Daniel 4:16 tn Aram “its heart.” The metaphor of the tree begins to fade here and the reality behind the symbol (the king) begins to emerge.
27. Daniel 4:16 sn The seven periods of time probably refer to seven years.
28. Daniel 4:16 tn Aram “over” (also in vv. 23, 25, 32).
29. Daniel 4:17 tc The present translation follows an underlying reading of עַל־דִּבְרַת (ʿal divrat, “so that”) rather than MT עַד־דִּבְרַת (ʿad divrat, “until”).
30. Daniel 4:17 tn Aram “the kingdom of man”; NASB “the realm of mankind”; NCV “every kingdom on earth.”
31. Daniel 4:18 tc The present translation, as also in the next verse, reads פִּשְׁרֵהּ (pishreh, “its interpretation”) with the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss; the Kethib is פִּשְׁרָא (pishraʾ, “the interpretation”).
32. Daniel 4:18 tn Aram “of.”
33. Daniel 4:19 tn Aram “about one hour.” The expression refers idiomatically to a brief period of time of undetermined length.
34. Daniel 4:19 tn Aram “my lord.”
35. Daniel 4:20 tn Aram “its sight.”
36. Daniel 4:21 tn Aram “the beasts of the field” (also in vv. 23, 25, 32).
37. Daniel 4:22 sn Much of modern scholarship views this chapter as a distortion of traditions that were originally associated with Nabonidus rather than with Nebuchadnezzar. A Qumran text, the Prayer of Nabonidus, is often cited for parallels to these events.
38. Daniel 4:25 tn The Aramaic indefinite active plural is used here like the English passive, as also in vv. 28, 29, and 32.
39. Daniel 4:25 tn Aram “from mankind,” as also in v. 32.
40. Daniel 4:25 tn Aram “your dwelling will be,” as also in v. 32.
41. Daniel 4:25 tn Or perhaps: “be made to eat.”
42. Daniel 4:25 sn Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity has features that are associated with the mental disorder boanthropy, in which the person so afflicted imagines himself to be an ox or a similar animal and behaves accordingly.
43. Daniel 4:25 tn Aram “until.”
44. Daniel 4:26 sn The reference to heaven here is a circumlocution for God. There was a tendency in Jewish contexts to avoid direct reference to God. Compare the expression “kingdom of heaven” in the NT and such statements as: “I have sinned against heaven and in your sight” (Luke 15:21).
45. Daniel 4:27 tn Aram “if there may be a lengthening to your prosperity.”
46. Daniel 4:28 tn Aram “reached.”
47. Daniel 4:29 tn The word “battlements” is not in the text but is supplied from context. Many English versions supply “roof” here (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); cf. NLT “on the flat roof.”
48. Daniel 4:30 tn Aram “house.”
49. Daniel 4:30 tn Aram “by the might of my strength.”
50. Daniel 4:31 tn Aram “in the mouth of the king.”
51. Daniel 4:31 tn Aram “to you they say.”
52. Daniel 4:32 tn Aram “until.”
53. Daniel 4:33 tn Aram “hour.”
54. Daniel 4:33 tn Or “on.”
55. Daniel 4:33 tn Aram “was fulfilled.”
56. Daniel 4:33 tn The words “feathers” and “claws” are not present in the Aramaic text, but have been added in the translation for clarity.
57. Daniel 4:34 tn Aram “days.”
58. Daniel 4:34 tn Aram “lifted up my eyes.”
59. Daniel 4:35 tc The present translation reads כְּלָא (k^elaʾ), with many medieval Hebrew mss, rather than כְּלָה (k^elah) of BHS.
60. Daniel 4:35 tn Aram “strikes against.”
61. Daniel 4:36 tc The translation reads הַדְרֵת (hadret, “I returned”) rather than the MT הַדְרִי (hadri, “my honor”); cf. Theodotion.
62. Daniel 4:36 tc The translation reads הָתְקְנֵת (hotq^enet, “I was established”) rather than the MT הָתְקְנַת (hotq^enat, “it was established”). The MT could read: “And regarding my kingdom, it was established.”
63. Daniel 4:37 tn Aram “walk.”