Footnotes

1. Daniel 8:8 tn The word “horns” is not in the Hebrew text but is implied.
2. Daniel 8:8 sn The four conspicuous horns refer to Alexander’s successors. After his death, Alexander’s empire was divided up among four of his generals: Cassander, who took Macedonia and Greece; Lysimachus, who took Thrace and parts of Asia Minor; Seleucus, who took Syria and territory to its east; and Ptolemy, who took control of Egypt.
3. Daniel 8:8 tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
4. Daniel 8:9 sn This small horn is Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who controlled the Seleucid kingdom from ca. 175-164 b.c. Antiochus was extremely hostile toward the Jews and persecuted them mercilessly.
5. Daniel 8:9 sn The expression the beautiful land (Heb. הַצֶּבִי [hatsevi] = “the beauty”) is a cryptic reference to the land of Israel. Cf. 11:16, 41, where it is preceded by the word אֶרֶץ (ʾerets, “land”).
6. Daniel 8:10 tn Traditionally, “host.” The term refers to God’s heavenly angelic assembly, which he sometimes leads into battle as an army.
7. Daniel 8:10 sn In prescientific Israelite thinking the stars were associated with the angelic members of God’s heavenly assembly. See Judg 5:20; Job 38:7; Isa 40:26. In west Semitic mythology the stars were members of the high god’s divine assembly (see Isa 14:13).
8. Daniel 8:11 sn The prince of the army may refer to God (cf. “whose sanctuary” later in the verse) or to the angel Michael (cf. 12:1).
9. Daniel 8:11 tn Or perhaps “and by him,” referring to Antiochus rather than to God.
10. Daniel 8:11 sn Here the sanctuary is a reference to the temple of God in Jerusalem.
11. Daniel 8:12 tc The present translation reads וּצְבָאָהּ נִתַּן (uts^evaʾah nittan, “and its army was given”) for the MT וְצָבָא תִּנָּתֵן (v^etsavaʾ tinnaten, “and an army was being given/will be given”). The context suggests a perfect rather than an imperfect verb.
12. Daniel 8:12 tn Heb “in (the course of) rebellion.” The meaning of the phrase is difficult to determine. It could mean “due to rebellion,” referring to the failures of the Jews, but this is not likely since it is not a point made elsewhere in the book. The phrase more probably refers to the rebellion against God and the atrocities against the Jews epitomized by Antiochus.
13. Daniel 8:12 tc Two medieval Hebrew mss and the LXX have a passive verb here: “truth was hurled to the ground” (cf. NIV, NCV, TEV).
14. Daniel 8:12 sn Truth here probably refers to the Torah. According to 1 Macc 1:56, Antiochus initiated destruction of the sacred books of the Jews.
15. Daniel 8:12 tn Heb “it acted and prospered.”