In the third year of the reign of Yehoyakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. This probably refers to the Babylonians’ initial subjugation of Judah as part of their suppression of Egyptian influence in the entire area (see II Kings 23–24).

The Lord delivered Yehoyakim king of Judah into his hand with some of the vessels of the House of God. At this stage, Nebuchadnezzar had not yet breached the city to fully conquer it. Nevertheless, the king of Judah submitted to him, bribing him with Temple vessels, and therefore Nebuchadnezzar allowed him to continue his rule in Judah. And he brought them, the vessels, to the land of Shinar, Babylon, to the temple of his god, and he brought the vessels to the treasure-house of his god.

The king said to Ashpenaz chief of his chamberlains, the supervisor over the king’s other officials, to bring from the children of Israel and from the royal offspring and from the nobles, the best families of Judah,

youths in whom there was no blemish, and who were handsome, and skillful in all wisdom, knowledgeable and perceptive. Nebuchadnezzar sought the most handsome, talented, and intelligent youths, who would have the ability to stand in the king’s palace. A position in the king’s palace imposed great responsibility, and therefore required both physical and psychological strength. And as the king did not intend to train them as ordinary officers, but instead wanted them to be part of his senior administration, he decided to teach them the writing and speech of the Chaldeans.

The king allotted for them each day’s fixed portion on its day, from the king’s food, bread, or meat, and from the wine of his drink. The youths received portions from the food and wine of the royal household, and the king gave instructions to raise them, that they be cared for in his palace, for three years.Since they were foreigners their education required time, as merely learning to read and speak in the Chaldean language was not easy. In order that they would be ready for their complex roles, these talented youths underwent professional training. They were constantly tested by their overseers, and at the end of the three years the select of them, the best and most successful, would stand before the king.

Nebuchadnezzar likely took youths from other nations, and perhaps also Jewish youths from different regions of Israel. Among them from the children of Judah, from those Jewish youths whom they considered capable for the task, were chosen Daniel, Hananya, Mishael, and Azarya.

The chief of the chamberlains gave them new names. The Chaldean king and officers did not care to pronounce foreign names, especially as the youths’ Hebrew names had no meaning in Chaldean. Therefore, they were given new Babylonian names. Changing someone’s name to one from the local language when he began royal service was practiced in other eras as well. To Daniel he gave the name Beltshatzar, based on the name of the chief god of Babylon, Baal, pronounced Bel in Babylonian. And to Hananya, he gave the name Shadrakh, and to Mishael, Meshakh, and to Azarya, Aved Nego, which means worshipper of Nego, possibly the Babylonian god Nabu. Since Daniel was the most gifted of the four, he was given the most distinguished name.

Daniel was apparently the leader and spokesman for the group, the one who would take the initiative, and perhaps the oldest as well. Daniel resolved in his heart that he would not taint himself with the king’s food and with the wine of his drink, because they were not kosher. It can be assumed that they were given meat, which was certainly prohibited to Jews, and possibly rodents, insects, and other forbidden foods. And therefore he requested from the chief of the chamberlains that he be allowed not to taint himself by eating that food and wine.

The chief officer was not supposed to attend to such a request. After all, there were many youths in his care, and he could not possibly accommodate the dietary preferences of each and every one of them. Furthermore, it was not even his decision to make. And yet, God granted Daniel kindness and compassion before the chief of the chamberlains. Daniel had made a favorable impression on the chamberlain, and he took the request seriously.

The chief of the chamberlains said to Daniel: I am prepared to grant your request, but I fear my lord the king, who allotted your food and your drink. I, too, have supervisors, whom I fear, and I am also concerned about the possible intervention of the king himself. For why should he see your faces distressed more than the youths who are your contemporaries? If you do not eat the king’s food, you will appear gaunt, and less satisfied than the youths who eat all the food. If the king notices that you do not look well, you would have my head, i.e., me, liable to the king. The king will execute me on your account, as I am responsible not only for your behavior and education but also for your physical well-being.

The chamberlain explained his hesitancy, while not completely denying the request. Daniel therefore said to the attendant, the man in charge of serving the food, whom the chief of the chamberlains had appointed over Daniel, Hananya, Mishael, and Azarya:

Please, test your servants, ourselves, for ten days; let them give us some vegetables, seeds, fruits, and vegetables, and we will eat, and water and we will drink. The king’s meat and wine were almost certainly prohibited for consumption, but seeds and vegetables were kosher.

And our appearance and the appearance of the youths who are eating the king’s food will be seen before you. You can then compare our appearance to that of the other youths, and as you will see fit to do, do with your servants. Try this as an experiment, which will last several days, and then you can decide how to proceed.

He, the attendant, heeded them in this matter, and he tested them for ten days.

At the end of ten days it turned out that not only were Daniel and the other youths not sickly, and no thinner in appearance than the others, but their appearance was better and plumper than all the youths who were eating the king’s food.

Upon seeing this result, the attendant would take their food and the wine for their drink, to be used for some other purpose. It would make sense that plenty of people would consider it a privilege to eat the king’s food, and even to pay for it. And instead of giving Daniel and the other youths their standard portions of food, the attendant would give them vegetables. It is possible the attendant was not acting in a completely lawful manner. In any case, he would not have wanted this arrangement to become known.

Employing youths with fine appearances was only one element of the king’s intent. This training period was mainly set aside for them to develop their education and learn how to deport themselves in a way that would reflect their court status. These youths, the four of them, God granted them knowledge and perception in all writings and wisdom. They learned to comprehend all kinds of books, and acquired various forms of knowledge. The king wanted them to be the wisest in the kingdom, so that he could use them as a kind of council for advice and leadership. And in addition to his knowledge and perception, Daniel also had understanding in all visions and dreams.

At the end of the days that the king had said to bring them, once they had finished their set training period, the chief of the chamberlains brought them before Nebuchadnezzar.

The king spoke with them, all the youths from the different lands who had gone through this training process, and among all of them none was found with outstanding qualities comparable to Daniel, Hananya, Mishael, and Azarya, and they stood before the king to serve him.

In any matter of wisdom or understanding that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in his entire realm.

Daniel was there, and continued to serve as a member of the king’s council, not just during Nebuchadnezzar’s reign but during those of his son and his grandson as well, until the first year of King Cyrus, the Persian ruler during whose reign the Babylonian Empire collapsed and was superseded by the Persian Empire. The Persian attitude toward the Jews differed greatly from that of Babylonia.

And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, from the consolidation of his kingdom, or after the destruction of the Temple, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled [titpa’em], his spirit pounded against him like a bell [pa’amon], and his sleep was disrupted due to his agitation.

The king said to call the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the chaldeans,various levels of wise men, advisors, and priests who divined the future and interpreted dreams, to tell the king his dreams. They came and stood before the king.

The king said to them: I dreamed a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.

The chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic: King, may you live forever. Tell your servants the dream, and we will tell the interpretation. Of course we can tell the king the correct interpretation, but we must hear the dream first.

The king spoke, saying to the chaldeans: The matter is gone from me; I do not remember the details of the dream. If you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be rendered into pieces, and your houses will be made a dunghill. Not only did the king demand the interpretation of his dream, he also insisted that they tell him the dream itself, and he threatened their lives and their possessions if they were unable to do so. Apparently, when a person committed a severe crime, he would be executed and his house would be destroyed as well.

But if you tell me the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and grants and great honor; therefore, tell me the dream and its interpretation.

They, the chaldeans, answered a second time and said: Let the king say the dream to his servants, and we will tell the interpretation. We must hear the dream before we can interpret it.

The king spoke, saying: In truth I know that you are buying time, by stalling until I calm down, change my mind, or become distracted by something else; alternatively: In truth I know that now you are going to be executed; or, I know for a fact that this time you are deceiving me, since you see that the matter has gone from me; alternatively, you see the thing is certain with me. You are trying to shirk your responsibility, since I have already told you that I do not remember my dream, and yet you still want me to relate it.

I therefore declare that if you do not make known to me the dream, there is but one sentence for you; clearly you intended to say before me false and fraudulent matters until the time would change, until enough time had passed and I would involve myself in other matters. Therefore, say to me the dream, and I will know that you can tell me its correct interpretation. First and foremost, tell me the content of my dream, and then I will believe that your interpretation is correct. If you cannot do that, I will conclude that you mean to deceive me, and that your interpretation is false.

The chaldeans answered before the king, and said: There is not a man on earth who can tell the king’s matter, just as no king, prince, or ruler has asked a matter of this kind from any magician, or enchanter, or chaldean. You are asking for something that no man can do, which no king has ever even thought to request before.

The matter that the king is asking is difficult; there is no one who can tell it before the king other than the gods, whose abode is not with those who are flesh. Such a difficult matter can be asked only of the gods, not mere mortals.

For that reason, the king was distressed and very angry, and he said, instructed, to eliminate all the wise men of Babylonia. Since they were unable to meet his expectations he no longer had any respect for them, and decided that it was best to do away with all of them.

The decree was issued, and the wise men were being put to death, and Daniel and his companions were about to be put to death, as they were among those who had studied the wisdom and secrets of the chaldeans.

Then Daniel replied with some words of counsel and discernment to Aryokh the king’s executioner, who was in charge of all the executions, and had come out to put the wise men of Babylonia to death.

He, Daniel, spoke, saying to Aryokh the king’s officer: Why is the decree so peremptory from before the king? Then Aryokh informed Daniel of the matter of the king’s dream, and his demand that his sorcerers tell him its contents, and that when they failed to do so he had decreed they should all be killed.

Daniel entered, and asked from the king that he be given time, in order to be able to tell the interpretation to the king. He wanted to delay the king’s decree of mass execution so that he could have the opportunity to discern the dream and its interpretation.

Then Daniel went to his house, and he informed Hananya, Mishael, and Azarya, his companions, of the matter.

He told them in order for them to request mercy from before the God of heaven with regard to this secret, of the contents of the king’s dream, so that Daniel and his companions would not be eliminated with the rest of the wise men of Babylonia.

Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a nocturnal vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

Daniel spoke, saying: May the name of God be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His.

He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and establishes kings; He grants wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those who know understanding;

He reveals the profound and the obscure; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light rests with Him.

I thank and praise You, God of my fathers; You who have granted me wisdom and might, and now You have let me know that which I asked of You; You have let me know the matter of the king.

Thereupon Daniel went in to Aryokh, whom the king had appointed to eliminate the wise men of Babylonia. He went to Aryokh and so he said to him: Do not eliminate the wise men of Babylonia; bring me before the king, and I will tell the king the interpretation.

Then Aryokh brought Daniel before the king in haste, and so he said to him: I found a man, a member of the exile of Judah, who will inform the king of the interpretation. Aryokh spoke in this manner to the king because Daniel was young and new to the royal service, and therefore it was possible that the king did not remember him.

The king spoke, saying to Daniel, whose name among the gentiles was Beltshatzar, and therefore this was the name by which the king addressed him: Are you able to let me know the dream that I saw, and its interpretation?

Daniel spoke before the king, saying: Not wise men, enchanters, magicians, or oracles, a type of fortune-teller, can tell the king the secret that the king asked, that he be informed of both his dream and its interpretation.

But there is a God in the heavens, who reveals secrets, and He has informed King Nebuchadnezzar that which will be at the end of days. This is your dream, and the vision in your head which you saw on your bed. After this brief introduction, Daniel describes the dream:

You, the king, your thoughts arose onto your bed. Before you went to sleep, you were thinking of that which will be hereafter. Since you are a powerful king who rules over a large portion of the known world, you wish to know what will occur in the future. He who reveals secrets has informed you of that which will be.

But I, it is not due to wisdom that is in me more than all other living beings that this secret is revealed to me; rather, it is so that the interpretation will be made known to the king, and the thoughts of your heart you will know. I am merely a messenger, sent to tell you matters that you need to know, not in order to display my wisdom, but because God in heaven wants to reveal them to you.

You, king, were seeing, and behold, there was a giant image. This image, which was great, and its radiance surpassing that of all materials, stood before you; and its appearance was terrifying.

That image, its head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs were of bronze,

its calves, from the knees down, were of iron, its feet part of them of iron and part of them of clay.

You were watching that imposing image until a stone was hewn, not with hands but rather as if by itself, and struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them.

Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were pulverized, and became like the chaff of the threshing floors of summer, and the wind carried them, and in no place were they to be found. They were all completely gone. The stone that struck the image became a great mountain, and filled the entire earth.

That is the dream, and we will tell its interpretation before the king. It seems that when Daniel retold this terrifying and cryptic dream, Nebuchadnezzar remembered it. Daniel proceeded to explain the meaning of the dream:

You, king, are king of kings, to whom the God of the heavens has given the kingdom, the power, the strength, and the glory.

And everywhere the sons of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens dwell, He has given into your hand and set your rule over all of them. You have dominion over man, beasts, and birds, and thus, in the dream, you are represented by the head of gold.

After you will arise another kingdom, inferior to yours, represented by the silver, which is under the head of gold; and afterward there will be a third kingdom, of bronze, that will rule over the entire earth.

The fourth kingdom will be strong as iron; just as iron crushes and flattens everything, and like iron that smashes all these other metals, it, this kingdom, will crush and smash.

That which you saw the feet and toes, some of them from potter’s clay and some of them from iron – that is because it will be a divided kingdom. There will be in it of the firmness of the iron, as you saw the iron mixed with earthenware of clay.

The toes of the feet, some of them iron, a strong substance, and some of them earthenware, a fragile material – this alludes to the fact that part of the kingdom will be strong, and some of it will be brittle; the fourth kingdom will be uneven in strength.

That which you saw the iron mixed with the earthenware of clay, this is the interpretation: They, the peoples of the kingdom represented by these substances, will be mixed together with the offspring of men, they will marry each other, but they will not adhere one to another and form true bonds, just as iron does not mix together with clay.

In the days of those kings, from the fourth kingdom, the God of the heavens will establish a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and kingdom, dominion, will not be left to another people. It will crush and eliminate all these kingdoms, but it will stand forever.

Daniel summarized: That which you saw, that a stone was hewn from the mountain, not with hands, and it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold – the great God has informed the king that which will be hereafter. The dream is true and its interpretation reliable. Your dream is not a flight of the imagination, as it actually contains a kind of prophecy of the distant future, and my interpretation of it is the truth.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, and he prostrated himself to Daniel and said for a meal offering to be brought and fragrances to be poured out to him, Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar knew that no man could have guessed such a dream; therefore, he saw Daniel as the embodiment of divine holiness, and consequently he bowed down to him.

The king spoke to Daniel, saying: It is the truth that your God is God of gods, and Master of kings, and Revealer of secrets, as you have been able to reveal this secret.

Then the king elevated Daniel, and gave him many great gifts, and set him ruler over the entire province of Babylonia, and appointed him chief prefect, the senior official, over all the wise men of Babylonia.

Daniel requested from the king, and in response to his request he, the king, appointed Shadrakh, Meshakh, and Aved Nego, Hananya, Mishael, and Azarya, over the political affairs of the province of Babylonia, and Daniel was appointed as the chief advisor, and as such he sat at the gate of the king. From his lofty position, Daniel was able to delegate the practical task of managing the kingdom to his colleagues Hananya, Mishael, and Azarya.

King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold; its height was sixty cubits, about thirty meters, and its width six cubits. Although it was apparently in human form, the limbs of the image were not entirely proportionate in size. He erected it in the plain of Dura, a name that is used in reference to several different locations, in the province of Babylonia.

King Nebuchadnezzar sent a command to assemble the satraps, who ruled over large regions, the senior prefects, second-in-command to the satraps, and the governors, rulers over smaller provinces, including, at a later stage, the small state of Judah, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the officers, and all the rulers of the provinces. All these functionaries were invited to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had erected.

Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the officers, and all the rulers of the provinces were assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had erected; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had erected.

The herald cried out forcefully: It is commanded to you, peoples, groups defined by the area where they live, nations, ethnic groups, and languages, groups that speak the same language or dialect:

When you hear the sound of the horn,the pipe, the lyre, an ornamented string instrument, the sambuca, a small, triangular lyre, the psaltery, an instrument with many strings or keys, the bagpipe, perhaps an instrument that was able to join together many diverse sounds, and all types of musical instruments, when this impressive, loud music is played, which serves as a sign for those not in the immediate vicinity as well, you shall fall on your faces and prostrate yourselves before the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has erected.

Whoever does not fall and prostrate himself, at that moment, he will be sentenced and cast into a burning fiery furnace. Nebuchadnezzar’s determination was expressed through his invitation to all dignitaries from every state, the instruction concerning the musical signal that would be heard from afar, obligating all residents to bow down to the image, and his warning to anyone who might think of disobeying his decree of the cruel death that awaited them.

Thereupon, faced with this threat, at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, the pipe, the lyre, the sambuca, the psaltery, and all types of musical instruments, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages, people who speak the same language or dialect, fell and prostrated themselves to the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had erected.

Thereupon, at that time, certain Chaldean men approached and informed on the Judeans.

They spoke, saying to King Nebuchadnezzar: O king, live forever. A call similar to “long live the king,” which was and is customary in many languages and countries.

You, O king, issued a directive, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, the pipe, the lyre, the sambuca, the psaltery, the bagpipe, and all types of musical instruments, shall fall and prostrate himself before the golden image,

and whoever does not fall and prostrate himself will be cast into a burning fiery furnace.

There are certain Judean men whom you appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylonia: Shadrakh, Hananya, Meshakh, Mishael, and Aved Nego, Azarya. Although it was Daniel who initiated the appointment of his friends, since the king approved the appointments (see 2:49), these Chaldeans are correct in ascribing the decision to the king. They continued: These men, O king, do not pay attention to you, they take no notice of you: They do not worship your gods, and they do not prostrate themselves to the golden image that you have erected. You commanded that all who hear must participate in the ritual you established, and yet your own men, whom you appointed to senior positions in your government, have flouted your order.

Then Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and fury, said to bring Shadrakh, Meshakh, and Aved Nego. Then these men were brought before the king.

Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them: Impudence! Shadrakh, Meshakh, and Aved Nego, you do not worship my gods, and you do not prostrate yourselves to the golden image that I have erected? Since they refused to obey the king’s order, he could have thrown them into the furnace without delay. However, it is possible that since he knew them and was fond of them, he gave them another chance.

Now, if you are prepared that at the time that you hear the sound of the horn, the pipe, the lyre, the sambuca, the psaltery, and the bagpipe, and all types of musical instruments, you fall and prostrate yourselves to the image that I made, then all is well; but if you do not prostrate yourselves, at that time you will be cast into the burning fiery furnace; who is the god who will save you from my hands?

Shadrakh, Meshakh, and Aved Nego spoke, saying to the king: Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to reply to you, to ponder or say anything more in this matter.

Behold our God, whom we worship, exists; He is able to save us from the burning, fiery furnace, and will save us from your hand, O king. The false gods of the other nations are unable to save their adherents, but our God will rescue us from both the furnace and from your grasp.

Behold, even if He will not deliver us, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not worship your gods, and we will not prostrate ourselves to the golden image that you have erected. They could have used an excuse for their inaction, by saying that they didn’t hear the instruments, or that they were busy with some administrative task, but instead they admitted that they refused to bow down before the image. Furthermore, they declared sharply and unambiguously that they did not believe in idolatry and would not worship the image.

Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury against Shadrakh, Meshakh, and Aved Nego, and the expression on his face was distorted with anger; he spoke, saying in his rage to heat the furnace seven times more than it was fit to be heated, so that the fire would be fierce enough to burn all three men instantly.

He said to mighty warriors who were in his forces to bind Shadrakh, Meshakh, and Aved Nego, to tie them by their hands and feet, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

Then these men were bound in their trousers, alternatively, their cloaks, their tunics,their hats, and their garments, and were cast into the burning fiery furnace. The three men insisted that they should not enter the fiery furnace in a lowly, demeaned state, but with pride, dressed in their finest garments.

Thereupon, because the king’s commandment was peremptory, and the furnace was exceedingly hot, a flare of fire killed those men who took up Shadrakh, Meshakh, and Aved Nego to the mouth of the furnace. Generally, a pillar of fire emerges from a furnace, but in this case the fire was so fierce that the furnace emitted many flames, one of which burned the guards bringing Hananya, Mishael, and Azarya.

And these three men, Shadrakh, Meshakh, and Aved Nego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace. It seems that they were brought to the opening of the furnace. When the flames then emerged and burned those standing around them, they were flung inside.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose from his seat in haste, and spoke, saying to his commanders: Didn’t we cast three bound men into the midst of the fire? They spoke, saying to the king: True, O king.

He spoke, saying: I see four unbound men walking in the fire, and no harm comes to them. They are strolling inside the furnace like people walking on the street, with no signs of suffering any harm. And the fourth resembles a son of the gods.

Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the gate of the burning fiery furnace; he spoke, saying: Shadrakh, Meshakh, and Aved Nego, servants of God Most High, emerge and come. I permit you to leave the furnace. Then Shadrakh, Meshakh, and Aved Nego emerged from within the fire. The fourth figure did not emerge, as he did not only look like an angel, he actually was an angel.

The satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s commanders, the officials the king had invited, assembled and saw these men, that the fire did not take hold of their bodies, the hair of their head was not singed, their trousers were unchanged by the fire, and the odor of fire did not cover them. They had emerged from inside a fire that was so powerful that the soldiers who had stood too close were killed by its flames, and yet they were not harmed by it at all, not their bodies, nor their hair, nor their clothing.

Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying: Blessed is the God of Shadrakh, Meshakh, and Aved Nego, who sent His angel, and saved His servants, who trusted in Him and defied the king’s word and sacrificed their bodies so as not to worship and not to prostrate themselves to any god except their God. Idol worshippers who saw Nebuchadnezzar’s new deity were willing to accept the command of the king, who perhaps sought to establish a new religion, as it did not bother them to add one more god to the idols they already worshipped. By contrast, these three men were willing to place themselves in great danger out of loyalty to God.

And from me is issued a decree that any people, nation, or language, groups that speak the same language or dialect, that says anything amiss against the God of Shadrakh, Meshakh, and Aved Nego will be rendered into pieces, and their houses will be made a dunghill, since there is no other god that is capable of salvation of this sort. Nebuchadnezzar was a capricious individual, yet nevertheless he was willing to acknowledge the truth and was not ashamed to admit his error.

Then, after witnessing the miracle that occurred to them when they fulfilled the will of God, the king promoted, or bestowed favors upon, Shadrakh, Meshakh, and Aved Nego in the province of Babylonia.

From King Nebuchadnezzar to all peoples, nations, and languages, groups that speak the same language or dialect, that reside in the entire earth: May your peace be abundant. This is a standard opening of a letter, which bears the name of the sender and the recipients, followed by a greeting of peace.

It is pleasing for me to relate the signs and the wonders that God Most High has performed with me. I wish to share with you the marvels that God has performed for me.

How great are His signs, His miracles, and how mighty are His wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation, in each and every generation. King Nebuchadnezzar declares to all the nations, both those who are under his dominion and those who are not, the content of the revelation he received: There is a supreme God who reigns over all places and all times.

I, Nebuchadnezzar, was tranquil in my house, and flourishing in my palace.

I saw a dream and it frightened me, and ponderings that arose to me on my bed and visions in my head have terrified me. This dream, which appeared against a calm backdrop, was strange and frightening.

As I was very anxious about it, I issued a decree to bring all the wise men of Babylonia before me, dream interpreters, to make known to me the interpretation of the dream.

Then, perhaps that same night, the magicians, the enchanters, the chaldeans, and the oracles, various types of fortune-tellers, entered, and I related the dream before them, but they did not make its interpretation known to me. In this case, Nebuchadnezzar remembered his dream, but once again its interpretation eluded him.

Ultimately, Daniel, or: The last man who came before me was Daniel, whose name was Beltshatzar, after the name of my god, he was renamed on the king’s command, after Bel the chief god of Babylon (see 1:7, 5:12), and in whom there is the spirit of the holy God, entered before me and I related the dream before him:

I said to him as follows: Beltshatzar, chief magician, as stated earlier, Daniel had been appointed head of all wise men of Babylon (2:48), as I know that the spirit of the holy God is in you, and no secret overcomes you, you can reveal all mysteries, relate the visions of my dream that I have seen, and its interpretation.

In the visions in my head while on my bed; the king knew this vision came from within, not from external sources: I saw in my dream, behold, a tree planted in the midst of the land, and its height was great.

The tree grew and became strong, and its height reached the heavens, and the ends of its boughs stretched to the ends of the whole earth.

Its foliage, its array of branches and leaves, was beautiful, and its fruit abundant, and there was food for all in it; the beasts of the field had shade beneath it, and the birds of the heavens, which generally live in trees, dwelled in its branches, and all flesh would be sustained from it. This was an enormous tree that provided shade and sustenance for the entire world.

I saw in the visions in my head while on my bed, and behold, a messenger and a holy one, an angel, descending from heaven.

He, this angel, called loudly, and thus he said: Hew down the tree and cut off its branches, strip its foliage and scatter its fruit; the beasts will move from beneath it and the birds from its branches.

But even though you must sever the tree, leave the stump of its roots in the ground, and the stump should be encircled in a band of iron and bronze, and it shall be with the grass of the field. It will be soaked with the dew of the heavens, and its portion will be with the beasts in the vegetation of the earth. It shall remain in the ground.

Let its heart, the tree’s heart, be altered from that of a man, and a beast’s heart be given to it, and let seven seasons pass over it in this state.

The matter is by the decree of the messengers, angels, and the verdict by the statement of the holy ones, also angels, so that all the living know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and He will give it, kingship, to whomever He wishes, and the lowliest of men He may set over it. God can establish a king from the lowliest of men, as all depends on His will alone.

This dream, I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw, and now you, Beltshatzar, state the interpretation, since all the wise men of my kingdom are unable to make known to me the interpretation, and you are capable because the spirit of the holy God is in you. Daniel himself likewise had declared that his ability to interpret dreams was not due to his own wisdom alone. Rather, the spirit of God spoke through him (see 2:27–30).

Nebuchadnezzar continues narrating the episode: Then Daniel, whose name was Beltshatzar, was astonished for some time, and his thoughts terrified him. Upon seeing that Daniel was sitting and contemplating, the king spoke, saying: Beltshatzar, do not let the dream or the interpretation terrify you. The attempt of the powerful king to ease Daniel’s worries attests to the unusually close relationship between them. Beltshatzar spoke, saying: My lord, the dream is for your enemy, and its interpretation for your foe. This is an evil dream; I wish that its message would fall upon the heads of your enemies.

The tree that you saw that grew and became strong, whose height reached to the heavens, and its boughs to the entire earth,

its foliage was beautiful, its fruit abundant, and there was food for all in it; the beasts of the field had shade beneath it, and the birds of the heavens dwelled in its branches;

it, this massive tree, is you, O king, who has grown and become strong; your greatness has grown, and reached the heavens, and your dominion is so overarching that it stretches to the ends of the earth.

That which the king saw, a messenger and a holy one descending from the heavens, and he said: Hew down the tree, and destroy it; but leave the stump of its roots in the ground, and let it be tied in a band of iron and bronze, and it shall be with the grass of the field. It will be soaked with the dew of the heavens, and its portion will be with the beasts of the field until seven seasons pass over it. The meaning of this command is simple:

This is the interpretation, O king, and it is the decree of the Most High that is coming upon my lord the king.

You will be driven from the company of men, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field, and you will be fed grass like oxen, and you will be soaked with the dew of the heavens, and seven seasons will pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and He gives it to whomever He wishes.

Concerning that which was stated in the dream to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, this means that your kingdom will remain yours, and it will wait for you to return after you come to know that the heavens rule. You have been informed that you will not be entirely destroyed. After a lengthy period, you will come to recognize that the Most High God rules over everything, and then your redemption will come. The king is informed through this harsh prophecy that he will lose his mind and will be unable to live among people, and he will have to go out to the fields and act like an animal.

Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you, and redeem your sins with charity, and atone for your iniquities with favor to the poor; then, or: Perhaps, there will be an extension of your tranquility. The dream will be fulfilled, but if you give charity and perform kindness with the needy, you can stave off the decree against you. Some explain: If your kingdom is lengthened, then you should act with charity and show mercy toward the poor.

Nebuchadnezzar further relates how the dream came to pass, although when describing his loss of sanity he refers to himself in the third person: All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar.

At the end of twelve months he, Nebuchadnezzar, was walking upon the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, in his customary manner.

The king spoke, saying: Isn’t this great Babylon, which I built as a royal residence, with the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty? Babylon was a major city even before the time of Nebuchadnezzar, but he turned it into the large, grand capital of a great empire. When the king strolled upon the roof of his palace and gazed at the view of his city, he was filled with wonder at his own greatness, as he had successfully conquered many kingdoms and nations as well as constructed such an important city.

Presumably, he had forgotten about the frightening dream he had experienced roughly a year earlier, but while the matter, his self-aggrandizement in his glory, was yet in the mouth of the king, a voice fell from the heavens: To you it is said, King Nebuchadnezzar: The kingdom is removed from you.

You will be driven from men, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field; you will be fed grass like oxen, and seven seasons will pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and He gives it to whomever He wishes.

At that moment, the matter was determined for Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven away from men, and would eat grass like oxen, and his body was soaked with the dew of the heavens, until his hair grew like that of eagles, and his nails like those of birds. Since he no longer considered himself a man, but behaved like an animal in all regards, no one took care of him, and his hair and nails grew long.

When Nebuchadnezzar describes his return to his normal self, he once again speaks in the first person: At the end of the days of my punishment, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to the heavens, and my knowledge returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and glorified Him who lives forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom from generation to generation. It is possible that before the evil that befell him Nebuchadnezzar did not look up to heaven at all, but now he gives thanks to God and recognizes that He rules the world.

And all the inhabitants of the earth are considered as nothing, or as something insubstantial, such as dust, or spiders’ webs, before the Most High God; and He does as He wishes with the host of the heavens and the inhabitants of the earth. No one can reprimand Him, or say to Him: What have You done?

At that time, my knowledge returned to me, and to the glory of my kingdom I returned, and my splendor was given back to me; some read: I was restored to the glory of my kingdom, and my splendor returned to me; and my commanders and my lords sought me; they had not been able to communicate with Nebuchadnezzar when he was temporarily insane, and I was again firmly established over my kingdom, and exceeding greatness was added to me.

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, and exalt, and glorify the King of heaven, for all His actions are truth, His ways are justice, truth and righteousness, and He is able to humble those who walk in arrogance.

King Belshatzar made a great banquet for one thousand of his noblemen, and before the thousand he drank wine, or he drank the amount imbibed by a thousand men.

Belshatzar said, as he tasted the wine, or while he was under the influence of the wine, to bring the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his father, one of his ancestors, had removed from the Sanctuary that was in Jerusalem, so that the king, his noblemen, his consorts, and his concubines could drink from them. For some reason the drunk king decided to use the Temple vessels for his feast, despite the fact that most of them were very large. Typically, captured vessels of this kind were melted down, or preserved solely to commemorate the occasion of the capture; acts of desecration of this kind were generally considered unacceptable.

Then they brought the gold vessels that had been removed from the Sanctuary of the House of God that was in Jerusalem, and the king, his noblemen, his consorts, and his concubines drank from them.

They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone while they were sitting, drunk, during the feast at which they used the sacred vessels.

At that time, fingers of a human hand emerged, and wrote opposite the large candelabrum on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, and the king saw the hand that was writing. An image of the palm of a hand suddenly appeared before the king, and it wrote a message on the wall of its own accord.

Then the king’s demeanor changed for the worse, and his thoughts terrified him; the joints of his hips, or his loins, went slack, lost their stability, as his body was weakened, and his knees knocked one against another.

The king cried loudly, or forcefully, to bring in the enchanters, the chaldeans, and the oracles, who were the experts in interpreting dreams and revealing secrets, to come and give their opinion. The king spoke, saying to the wise men of Babylonia: Whoever can read this script, and tell me its interpretation, will wear purple. In many places the color purple was set aside for the sole use of kings and outstanding individuals. The donning of a garment entirely made of purple was considered a royal honor. And he will have a chain of gold placed around his neck, and will rule as one among three, a senior position, perhaps one of the three highest ministers in the kingdom. The drunk Belshatzar issued lavish promises and assurances of great honor for whoever would solve the riddle.

Then all the king’s wise men entered, but they could not read the script and make the interpretation known to the king.

Then King Belshatzar was extremely terrified, and his demeanor changed upon him, and his noblemen were confused. After they became sober following the frightening sight of the disembodied hand writing something apparently incomprehensible on the wall, a great commotion ensued.

The queen, due to the words of the king and his noblemen, when she heard of their comments and saw their panicky behavior, she entered the banquet hall; it seems that the banquet was mainly for men, and the queen spoke, saying: O king, live forever. May your thoughts not terrify you and may your demeanor not be changed; calm down, as I have an idea:

There is a man in your kingdom that the spirit of the holy God is in him. You are surrounded by wise and learned men who are familiar with their own specific rituals, but this is a very different individual, a special man, as the spirit of God rests upon him. And in the days of your father, enlightenment, sense, and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him, in this man. King Nebuchadnezzar your father, ancestor, set him as chief of the magicians, enchanters, chaldeans, and oracles for your father the king.

Since extraordinary spirit, knowledge, sense, interpretation of dreams, solving riddles, and unraveling conundrums were found in Daniel, whom the king, Nebuchadnezzar, named Beltshatzar, therefore now let Daniel be called, and he will tell the interpretation. It can be assumed that Daniel was no longer widely known. Perhaps he did not visit the palace as often as he had in his early years, or he might have at this point preferred a private life. The queen, who was a daughter of royalty and who was probably not drunk, like the other people present, remembered this interpreter of dreams and revealer of secrets, and suggested that he be summoned.

Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king spoke, saying to Daniel: You are Daniel, who is of the members of the exile of Judah, whom the king my father brought from Judah.

I have heard about you that the spirit of God is in you, and that enlightenment, and sense, and exceeding wisdom is found in you.

Now, the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me, so that they would read this script in order to make known to me its interpretation; but they were unable to tell me the interpretation of the matter.

I have heard about you that you are able to expound interpretations and unravel conundrums. Now, if you are able to read the script, and make known to me its interpretation, you will wear purple, and have a chain of gold placed around your neck, and you will rule as one among three in the kingdom.

Then Daniel spoke, saying before the king: Let your gifts be for you, and your generous grants give to another; however, I will read the script to the king, and I will make known to him the interpretation. Daniel declares that he is not interested in gifts; his reason will become apparent below.

You, O king, God Most High gave Nebuchadnezzar your father the kingdom, greatness, honor, and glory;

due to the greatness that He gave him, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages, groups that speak the same language or dialect, trembled and were afraid before him. Those whom he wished to kill, he killed, and those whom he wished, he smote; alternatively, he kept alive; and those whom he wished, he elevated, and those whom he wished, he lowered. He held all the power in his hands.

But when his heart was haughty, and his spirit was hardened to perform evil, he was deposed from the throne of his kingdom, and they removed his honor from him.

He was driven away from the sons of man; his heart was placed with the beasts, and his dwelling place was with the onagers; he was fed grass like oxen, and his body was soaked with the dew of the heavens. As related in the previous section, Nebuchadnezzar had to leave the company of humans, as he lost his sanity and became like an animal, living with the beasts; until he knew that God Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and that whomever He wishes, He sets over it.

And you his son, descendant, Belshatzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this. Your ancestor learned his lesson, and yet you have learned nothing from his example.

But you have been haughty toward, raised yourself up against, the Lord of heaven: They brought vessels of His House before you, and you, your noblemen, your consorts, and your concubines drank wine from them, and you praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see, do not hear, and do not know. You did not glorify the God that your breath is by His hand, and all your ways are His. He is the God who gives you life, and yet you have turned in the opposite direction from Him.

Daniel continues: Then the hand that was seen by the king was sent from before Him, God, and this script was inscribed.

This is the writing that was inscribed: Mene Mene, Tekel Ufarsin. It is unclear whether these words appeared in the ancient Hebrew script, which is why Belshatzar and his ministers could not read them, or if they were written in some other script, or if they appeared as symbols, or in a particular order which only Daniel could decipher.

This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene means that God has tallied [mena] the days of your kingdom, and completed it. The portion of [menat] your kingdom has come to an end.

Tekel means that you have been weighed [tekilta] on the scale and found lacking.

The last word, parsin, has a double meaning: Peres – your kingdom is divided [perisat] and given to Media and Persia [Paras].

Although Belshatzar was drunk and frightened, he was also very impressed by the Jewish sage. Then Belshatzar said that they should clothe Daniel in purple, and a chain of gold was placed around his neck, and they proclaimed about him that he should be a ruler, one among three in the kingdom.

During that night, Belshatzar the Chaldean king was killed. The king had time to adorn Daniel with the symbols of glory and declare that he was a senior ruler, but this was of no practical consequence, as the city fell that very night, and Belshatzar was killed.

Darius the Mede received the kingdom of Babylon after the fall of Belshatzar, when he was sixty-two years old. This was actually the result of a collaboration between Darius and Cyrus, as together they defeated the Babylonian Empire and established the joint kingdom of Persia and Media.

It was pleasing before Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps, governors or state rulers, who would be spread throughout the entire kingdom;

and over them were three senior officials in the Persian kingdom, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps would give counsel, so that thereby no harm would come to the king. In this enormous kingdom, each of the satraps was in effect the ruler of a state, sometimes a very large one. Consequently, the king needed officials to supervise the satraps, by receiving reports from them and ensuring that the matters of the kingdom were run smoothly. Daniel was appointed above the officials because he was already considered the wisest man in Babylon, even though it was generally known that he was not Babylonian.

Then this Daniel would supervise, in his official position, the officials and the satraps, since an extraordinary spirit was in him; and the king considered setting him over the entire realm, to appoint him as a kind of prime minister for the king of Persia.

Then the officials and the satraps sought to find a pretext against Daniel with regard to matters of the kingdom. They wanted to prove to the king that Daniel was not fulfilling his functions properly. Apparently, it was for the very reason that Daniel was not one of them that he noticed any discrepancies in the financial accounts of the realm, and was diligent in transferring taxes, raising armies, and the like. Consequently, the other officials were displeased that Daniel was placed in charge of them. But they could find no pretext or corruption, since he was faithful, and no fault or corruption was found in him.

Then these men said that we will not find any pretext against this Daniel, as his administrative service and loyalty to the king are impeccable; therefore, they said, we will find some claim against him with regard to the law of his God. We shall use Daniel’s faith in the Torah of Israel to bring about his downfall.

Then these officials and satraps stormed in excitement, causing a commotion, into the king, into his chambers, and so did they say to him: King Darius, live forever.

They continued: All the officials of the kingdom, the prefects, the satraps, the commanders, and the governors consulted to establish the law of the king and to institute a ban stating that whoever will petition any god or man for the next thirty days, except you, O king, will be cast into the lions’ den. They suggested to the king that he reaffirm his status and enhance his power through a law stating that the king is the sole source for any blessing or assistance. It would be forbidden to issue a request or pray to a god of any kind. Only addressing the king with such issues would be permitted, as the ruler of an empire was treated at the time as a kind of demigod.

Now, O king, set the prohibition, and write the script, enact a law, not to be changed, according to the law of Media and Persia, which will not be abrogated. They asked the king not only to impose this decree, but to also establish it as an unalterable law. Clearly, they did not merely wish to prevent others from changing the law; their main aim was to preempt any possibility that the king himself might change his mind. Similarly, it is stated in the book of Esther (8:8) that something written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be changed, even by the king.

Thereupon, King Darius wrote the script and the ban.

When Daniel knew that the script, the decree, had been written, he entered his house, and windows were open for him in his upper chamber facing Jerusalem, and three times a day he knelt on his knees, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he had always done.

Then these men stormed in hurriedly, or: they paid careful attention, and they found Daniel petitioning and supplicating before his God.

Then they approached and said before the king, concerning the king’s ban: Didn’t you write a ban that any man who petitions any god or man within thirty days, except you, O king, will be cast into the lions’ den? The king spoke, saying: The matter is true, in accordance with the law of Media and Persia, which will not be abrogated.

Then they, those men, spoke, saying before the king that Daniel, who is from the members of the exile of Judah, does not heed you, O king, or the ban that you wrote, and three times a day he petitions.

Then the king, when he heard this matter, was extremely upset, and set his heart on Daniel to save him, and until sunset he endeavored to save him. The king, who was very fond of Daniel, sought to find a way to spare him from the harsh decree.

Then these men stormed into the king, and they said to the king: Know, O king, that it is a law of Media and Persia, that no ban or statute that the king establishes may be altered. They knew that the king was not at all pleased at having to punish Daniel as stated in the law, and that he was seeking a way to save him. They therefore stressed that the order had become an integral part of the laws of Media and Persia, and could not be annulled.

Then the king, seeing that he had no choice, said, gave instructions, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the lions’ den. The king spoke, saying to Daniel: Your God whom you serve regularly, He will deliver you, as there is nothing I can do.

One stone was brought and was placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his signet, and with the signet of his noblemen, so that nothing would be altered concerning Daniel, that they should not try to rescue him from the lions’ den. Perhaps the lords added their own signets because they suspected the king might remove his seal.

Then the king went to his palace, and spent the night fasting; no diversions, or tables of food, were brought before him, and his sleep eluded him, due to his worry about Daniel.

Then the king arose at the first light of dawn, and he went in haste to the lions’ den.

When he approached the den, he cried out to Daniel in a sad voice. Daniel was inside the den and could not be seen from without. The king spoke, saying to Daniel: Daniel, servant of the living God, your God, whom you serve regularly, has He been able to save you from the lions?

Then Daniel said to the king: O king, live forever.

My God sent His angel and he shut the lions’ mouths, and they did not harm me, since merit was found in me before Him. Also before you, O king, I have done no harm; I have never wronged you.

Then the king was exceedingly glad, and he said to raise Daniel from the den. Daniel was raised from the den, and no harm was found upon him, because he trusted in his God.

The king said, gave instructions, and they brought those men who had informed on Daniel (see commentary on 3:8) and cast them into the lions’ den, them, their children, and their wives. They did not reach the ground of the den before the lions overpowered them, and crushed all their bones. It seems that the lions had been starved so that they would eat Daniel. Since the beasts were not able to touch Daniel, they were now so hungry and frustrated that they pounced on the people thrown into their den and devoured them immediately.

Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, the nations, and the languages, groups that speak the same language or dialect, that reside in the entire earth: May your peace be abundant.

A decree is issued before me, that in the entire dominion of my kingdom men shall tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, as He is the living God, and exists forever, and His is a kingdom that will not be destroyed, and it is His dominion that will endure and be until the end of days;

He saves and delivers, and performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth. He saved Daniel from the grasp of the lions. Darius publicized throughout his kingdom that the God of Daniel is above all the gods, and he commanded that everyone should act toward God with respect and awe.

After relating the story of Daniel’s rescue from the lions’ den, the chapter summarizes his career: This Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and during the reign of Cyrus the Persian, who reigned after Darius and was apparently his son-in-law.

In the first year of Belshatzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions in his head which arose while he was dreaming on his bed; then he wrote down the dream for posterity, and stated the principal things, the beginning of the dream; alternatively, the headings.

Daniel spoke, saying: I was seeing in my vision at night, and behold, the four winds of the heavens were bursting forth to the great sea.

Four great beasts arose from the sea, each different from the other.

The first was like a lion, and it had wings of an eagle. I was looking at it until its wings were torn off, and it was lifted from the ground and set on its feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. The beast was given a somewhat human form.

Behold, another figure appeared; a second beast, resembling a bear, and it was positioned on one side, and there were three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; so they said to it: Arise, devour much flesh.

After this I saw, and behold, there was another animal, like a leopard, which had upon it four wings of a bird; the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it.

After this array of creatures that I was seeing in the night visions, I looked and behold, a fourth beast appeared, fearsome, and terrifying, and very strong, and it had great iron teeth. It devoured and crushed with those teeth, and stomped and sullied the remains with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.

I was looking at the horns, and behold, another, small horn arose among them, and three of the original horns were uprooted from before it. Behold, there were eyes like the eyes of a man in this small horn, and a mouth speaking arrogantly, making prideful statements.

I was seeing these visions until thrones were set in place, and the Ancient One, apparently a reference to God, sat. His garment was like white snow, and the hair of His head was also white, like pure wool. His throne was fashioned from sparks of fire, and its wheels, of the throne, were blazing fire.

A river of fire flowed and emerged from before Him; thousands upon thousands of angels served Him, and tens of thousands upon tens of thousands of angels stood before Him; the court convened, and the books were opened.

I was seeing then, from the sound of the arrogant words that the small horn spoke; I was seeing this vision until the beast was slain, its body destroyed, and it was relegated to the burning of fire. As a result of the many boastful statements of the horn, the judgment was issued that the entire animal must be destroyed.

As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was removed, and an extension of their lives was given them for a time and for a certain epoch, but not forever.

I was seeing in night visions, and behold, among the clouds of the heavens one cloud like the form of a person was coming, and he reached the Ancient One, and this “person” was presented before Him.

To him was given dominion, honor, and kingship, and all the peoples, nations, and languages, groups that speak the same language or dialect, would serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not be abrogated, and his kingdom, one that will not be destroyed. This concludes the vision that Daniel saw, but he did not understand its meaning.

I, Daniel, my spirit was distressed, or removed from, or was excited, or became impatient, in my body, and the visions of my head terrified me.

I approached one of those standing, one of the angels, and I asked him for the truth concerning all this, the vision of the beasts and these figures. He said to me and made known to me the interpretation of the matters:

These great beasts, which are four, are alluding to four kings; kingdoms, dynasties, or levels of governments. They will arise from the earth, appear in the world.

The holy ones of the Most High, angels, or the righteous, will receive the kingdom, dominion over the world, and take possession of the kingdom forever, forever and ever. The kingdom of God will last forever.

Then I wished for the truth concerning the fourth beast, wanting to know the significance of this creature, which was different from them all, exceedingly fearsome; its teeth were of iron and its nails were of bronze; it devoured and crushed its prey, and as for the remains, it stomped on them with its feet,

and concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that arose, and before which three horns fell; that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke arrogantly, and its, the beast’s, appearance was greater than that of its counterparts.

Daniel further describes what he saw after the appearance of the terrible beast, in an attempt to discover its meaning: I was seeing, and that horn made war with the holy ones, the angels or the righteous, and overcame them. Everything about this horn was negative;

until the Ancient One came, and passed judgment in favor of the holy ones of the Most High; He brought their judgment to light and fought on their behalf, and the time arrived, and the holy ones of the Most High took possession of the kingdom represented by that horn, which was at the extremity of the fourth beast.

So he, the angel, said: The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom upon the earth that will be different from all the other kingdoms, and will devour, destroy or plunder, the entire earth, and will stomp it and crush it.

And as for the ten horns, the meaning is that from this kingdom, ten kings will arise, and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the earlier ones, and he will subdue three kings.

He will speak words against the Most High God, and will demolish the holy of the Most High; he will think of changing the holy and commemorative times; he will change or eliminate their observance, and will do away with the law, and they, the holy ones, will be delivered into his hand until an epoch, and epochs, and half an epoch will have passed (see 12:7).

Then the court will convene, and his dominion, of this king, will be removed, for him to be destroyed and eliminated completely.

The kingdom, the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the entire heavens will be given to the people of the holy of the Most High, the nation of Israel. Their kingdom is to be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions will serve and obey them.

Here is the end of the matter. I, Daniel, my thoughts greatly terrified me, and my demeanor was changed in me and I kept the matter in my heart. In his dream, Daniel saw predators rising from the sea and the image of a man coming from the heights. God also appeared in the vision, with an entourage of His ministers. One of the angels explained to Daniel that the vision symbolizes future events in the world, as different kingdoms will follow one another, until the eventual redemption.

In the third year of the reign of King Belshatzar a vision appeared to me, I, Daniel, after that which appeared to me at first, the vision described in the previous section, which also depicts future kingdoms.

I saw in the vision, and it was as I was seeing myself in the vision. I was in the Shushan citadel,the administrative complex at the heart of the city of Shushan, which is in the province of Elam; I saw in the vision, and I was beside a channel of a river called the Ulai.

I lifted my eyes and I saw, and behold, there was one ram standing before the channel; it had horns, and the horns were high and one was higher than the other, and the higher grew, sprouted, last. Alternatively, it started to sprout behind the lower horn.

I saw the ram, with its great horns, goring to the west, and to the north, and to the south, and no beasts could withstand it, it felled them all, and there was no savior from its hand; it did as it willed, and became great; the animal grew in size and strength.

I was looking, reflecting on this scene, and behold, a goat came from the west and moved over the surface of the entire earth, and it was not touching the ground; it did not walk but appeared to float. The goat had a conspicuous horn between its eyes.

It, the goat with the single horn, came to the horned ram that I saw standing before the channel, and it ran to it with the fury of its power.

I saw it reaching the ram, and it stormed against it, it charged in rage, and struck the ram, and it shattered its two horns, and the ram had no strength to withstand it. It, the goat, cast it, the ram, to the ground and trampled it, and there was no savior for the ram from its hand.

The goat became exceedingly great, and when it became powerful, the great horn on its forehead was broken, and in its place, there were four conspicuous horns directed toward the four winds of the heavens.

From one of them, a horn emerged from smallness and expanded greatly, grew in strength more than the others; it was turned to the south, and to the east, and toward the magnificent, splendid, and desirable land, the Land of Israel.

It, this horn, expanded up to the host of the heavens, to the constellations, and it threw some of the host and some of the stars to the ground and trampled them. It reached such heights that it even overshadowed the stars.

It grew great, as the horn grew up to the prince of the host; and the continual burnt offering was removed from before him, the prince of the host, and the place of His Sanctuary was cast down. The horn struck down the Temple.

A host, or war, or a fixed period of time, was given for the nullification of the continual burnt offering, for, due to, transgression; it, the horn, cast down and trampled truth to the ground, and it acted and succeeded. The horn’s successes continued.

Then I heard one of the holy, an angel, speaking, and beforehand another holy one had said to that anonymous one, the angel who was speaking: Until when will the vision of the continual burnt offering and the desolating transgression be; how long will the vision last? Alternatively, until when will there be idolatry; And how much time will be granted for giving the Sanctuary and the host of heaven over for trampling?

The answer is as cryptic as the vision itself: He, that holy one, said to me: Until evening-morning two thousand three hundred; this state of affairs is supposed to continue for 2,300 units of a specific time period, perhaps days, and then the Sanctuary will be vindicated, it will be recognized that the Temple is victorious and righteous. It will no longer be broken and shattered, but will triumph and be rebuilt. These are the matters that Daniel saw and heard.

It was when I, Daniel, saw the vision, that I requested understanding; behold, there was a figure who had the appearance of a man standing before me, but who was actually an angel.

I heard the voice of a man by the thickets of the River Ulai, and he called to the angel that looked like a man, and said: Gavriel, explain the vision to this one. The voice Daniel heard instructed the angel to explain his vision to him.

He, the angel, came to where I was standing, and when he came, I was terrified and fell upon my face, due to the force of the angelic revelation. He said to me: Understand, son of man, for the vision is for the end time of history, or for a very late period.

As he was speaking with me, I fell asleep, my face to the ground. Even though Daniel did not hear the voice of God directly, his mere proximity to the angel so terrified him that he fell and fainted. And he touched me and thereby gave me strength, and once again stood me up where I was standing.

He said: Behold, I will make known to you what will be at the end of the fury, for there is an appointed time for the end; at the designated time, the events will be revealed before everyone.

He elaborates: The ram that you saw with the horns: The kings of Media and Persia, as the Persian Empire was comprised of two nations. First the king of Media reigned, followed by the king of Persia, the greater king, who was represented by the larger animal.

The goat is the king of Yavan, Greece, and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king who will reign in Greece.

And as for the meaning of the broken one, and the four horns that arose in its place: Four kingdoms will arise, develop, from the nation, Greece, but this will not be from its power. They will not be built by the first king, but will arise and be established of their own accord.

At the end of their kingdom, when the transgressors are finished, there will arise a brazen king, who understands subtleties. This intelligent king is represented by the small horn that will sprout and grow between the eyes.

His power will increase mightily, but this will not be by his own power; and he will destroy wondrously, in astonishing ways, and will succeed and accomplish, and he will destroy the mighty and will mainly harass the people of the holy, Israel.

It will be by his cunning, his stratagems, that this king will establish himself, not by any special military prowess, and deceit will succeed in his hand, as he will cheat those whom he cannot defeat in battle; he will grow arrogant, and in tranquility, when others are complacent and are not paying attention, he will destroy many; he will rise to fight against the prince of princes, the “prince of the host” in the dream; but ultimately he will be broken, by no one’s hand striking him. When the time comes, he will stumble by himself, without external force.

The vision of the evening and the morning that was said is true, even though the meaning of these dates is unclear to you; and you, suppress, conceal, the vision, for it will not come to pass immediately, as it relates to many days to come, since the kingdom of Media and Persia lasted for centuries after Daniel’s time.

I, Daniel, was weakened after the dream, and was sick for days; I rose, I strengthened myself, and again performed the king’s business, and I was astonished at the vision, and no one understood its details. The prophecy referred to the very distant future, so during Daniel’s time, it remained wrapped in mystery.

In the first year of Darius son of Ahashverosh, of Median descent, Darius I, who was crowned king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans, Babylon, after his victory over the Babylonians (see 5:30, 6:1);

in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, examined the books of calculations:The number of the years according to the word of the Lord that was with Jeremiah the prophet to complete the term of the desolations of Jerusalem was seventy years. Daniel read Jeremiah’s prophecy that Jerusalem would remain destroyed for seventy years, after which Israel would be redeemed, but this did not seem to have occurred. The kingdom of Babylon no longer ruled over the Land of Israel, but the redemption had not arrived.

I directed my attention, my thoughts, to the Lord God, to request with prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

I prayed to the Lord my God, and I confessed and said, in my prayer and confession: Please O Lord, the great and awesome God, who maintains the covenant and kindness for those who love Him and who observe His commandments.

Daniel follows his opening words of praise with the confession: We have sinned, have performed iniquity, been wicked, rebelled, and strayed from Your commandments and from Your ordinances.

We did not heed Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. You warned us through Your prophets against sinning, but we did not listen.

With You, O Lord, is the righteousness, and with us the shame, as it is this day, as we can currently see; with the men of Judah and with the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and with all Israel, near and far, who are scattered in all the lands where You have driven them. Apart from the tribe of Judah, all of Israel had been exiled many years earlier by the Assyrians, and apparently there were other known communities of exiles in various places, because of the trespass they have committed against You; due to their treacherous sins toward You.

O Lord, with us is the shame, with our kings, with our princes, and with our fathers, who have sinned against You. All of us, from the highest levels of leadership to the lowliest commoner, should be ashamed of ourselves.

With the Lord our God is mercy and forgiveness, as we have rebelled against Him, and therefore all we can do is request His mercy and forgiveness;

and we did not heed the voice of the Lord our God, to follow His laws that He put before us by means of His servants, the prophets. We received the Torah, and we also heard the prophets’ words of reproof and instruction.

All Israel have violated Your Torah, straying from the upright path in not heeding Your voice; and you poured out upon us the curse and the oath that is written in the Torah of Moses servant of God, for we have sinned against Him. Since we have abandoned God, all the curses that were written in sections of the Torah said upon our entrance into the covenant with God have come to pass.

He fulfilled His word that He had spoken against us, and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring upon us great harm that had not been done under the entire heavens as had been done to Jerusalem.

As it is written in the Torah of Moses, all this harm came upon us and we did not implore the Lord our God, to repent of our iniquities, and to become wise in Your truth, to learn and reflect on Your truth. As predicted in the sections in the Torah that speak of retribution, minor misfortunes occurred, but we paid no attention; greater disasters befell us and still we ignored them. Therefore, we are deserving of punishment.

The Lord was intent on harm, punishing us at the appropriate time, and He brought it upon us, as the Lord our God is righteous in all His actions that He has done, and we can have no complaints, as He warned us ahead of time, and we did not heed His voice.

Now, O Lord our God, who took Your people from the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and you have made for Yourself a name, the fame of Your greatness and deeds has spread through the world, as it is known this day; we confess before You: We have sinned, and we have acted wickedly.

O Lord, with all Your righteousness, please may Your anger and Your fury be diminished and turn from Your city Jerusalem, Your sacred mountain; after You have stricken us, please forgive us, for with our sins, and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are in disgrace to all those around us. It is a disgrace that Israel has become the archetype of a nation without a land and a safe haven.

Our God, heed now the prayer of Your servant and his supplications, and shine Your face upon Your Sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake. Act for Your sake; that is all I can hope to ask.

Incline Your ear, My God, and hear, open Your eyes, and see our desolations, and the city upon which Your name is called; observe the terrible state of the city that was once Your city and in which Your Temple stood. For it is not based on our righteousness that we lay, spread out, our supplications before You, as we do not claim to be righteous and worthy, but rather, it is based on Your great mercy. We appeal to Your boundless mercy.

O Lord, hear, O Lord, forgive, O Lord, listen and act, fulfill our request, and do not delay; all this do for Your sake, my God, because Your name is called upon Your city and Your people. Since Your name is upon us, and Jerusalem is Your city, we ask for forgiveness and pardon in order to prevent a desecration of Your name.

I was still speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and laying my supplication before the Lord my God on behalf of the holy mountain of my God,

and I was still speaking in prayer, and the man Gavriel, the angel whom I had seen in the form of a man in the previous vision, was flying swiftly; he reached me at the time of the daily evening offering in the Temple, toward the end of the day, when the second daily offering and the meal offering and libations that accompanied it were offered. It seems that Daniel fasted and prayed all day, until the angel visited him at the end of the day.

He explained, and spoke with me, and said: Daniel, I have now come out to teach you understanding.

Already at the beginning of your supplications the word came out, it was decreed that you deserve a response, and I have come to relate it, to tell you what you wish to know, as you are splendid, a dear and precious man; comprehend the word, focus your mind on the matter, and understand the meaning of the vision.

Seventy periods of seven, seven units of time in exile, which might be seven years or seventy years, are decreed upon your people and upon your holy city. The purpose of the lengthy exile and the extended suffering until that time is to eliminate the transgression, to expiate sins, to atone for iniquity, to bring everlasting righteousness, an indication that this vision is not referring to the near future but to the distant future, to conclude vision and prophecy, and to anoint, raise up and crown, sacred sacrament, the holy Temple, which will return in all its glory. When this period of time is concluded, the kingdom will be rebuilt once again. It is possible that the “seventy weeks” is a reference to the Second Temple period rather than the period of exile.

You should know and understand, from the issuing of the word from God about restoring and rebuilding Jerusalem until the anointing of a ruler of Jerusalem; during these seventy “weeks,” there will be periods of ups and downs, and these will be in seven periods of seven, in a time that lasts for sixty-two periods of seven, and then it will be rebuilt, a plaza and a moat; the streets of the city and its defenses will be rebuilt, and this will occur in times of distress.

After the sixty-two periods, the anointed one will be eliminated, and will be no more, or will no longer have a place. The ruling people who will come will destroy the city and the Sanctuary; its end, the end that this people will bring, will be quick and intense; and by the end of the final war, it will be devastated to desolation, Jerusalem will be ruined and deserted.

He will promote a covenant, or the covenant will be strengthened with the multitudes for one period of seven; there will be a period of widespread unity; and half of the period of seven he will abolish the offering and the meal offering, and upon it, upon the place of the offerings, the wing of a detestable thing, the winged idol, that causes desolation, the destructive force, as the idol will stand in the place of the sacrifice and offering; and that situation will last until elimination and devastation, all the destruction and the expurgation, will be poured out on the desolation, or upon the devastated place. Daniel does not receive words of comfort here, nor even a clear answer to his question concerning Jeremiah’s prophecy. Perhaps due to his greatness he is allowed a glimpse of the broader picture, and therefore the angel Gavriel explains to him that the end will arrive only after a period that will last hundreds, if not thousands of years. In the future there will be a great war, leaving desolation and destruction in its wake, as is recorded in a number of other places in the Bible as well. There might be some betrayers, while others will remain faithful, but there is hope for the end of the process, as will be stated below.

In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a matter was revealed to Daniel, whose name was called Beltshatzar (see 1:7), the truth of the matter and all the details; the vision itself and its fulfillment in all its details were revealed to Daniel. He understood the matter and had understanding given to him of the vision.

From this point, Daniel narrates the events in the first person. In those days, I, Daniel was mourning again for the destruction of the Temple and its aftermaths, for three weeks of days.

I did not mourn or fast completely; however, I ate no tasty, good-quality bread, but only plain, cheap bread; this is reminiscent of the dietary limitations imposed upon the prophet Ezekiel, and meat and wine did not enter my mouth. I did not anoint myself, my body with oil, until the completion of three weeks of days. For three weeks I lived in the simplest fashion, without delicacies or pleasure.

On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, I was alongside the great river, the Tigris, not far from the city of Babylon;

I lifted my eyes and I saw, and behold a man dressed in linen, and his loins were girded with belts of choice gold of Ufaz.

His body was like beryl, his face was ablaze, like the appearance of lightning, his eyes were bright like torches of fire, his arms and his legs like burnished bronze, and the sound of his speech, like the noise of a multitude. He was a mighty, entirely glowing figure.

I, Daniel, alone, saw the vision, and the men who were with me, perhaps Hananya, Mishael, and Azarya, or Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, did not see the vision; the man Daniel saw was not flesh and blood, but a prophetic vision that was only meant for him; however, a great trembling overcame them, for although they could not see the vision sharply and clearly, like Daniel, nevertheless as they were great men, they experienced a vague feeling of terror, and therefore they fled into hiding.

I remained alone, and I saw this great vision, and no strength remained in me to stand and bear the vision; my glory, the countenance of my face, was transformed for me into destruction, as though it were destroyed, and I retained no strength.

I heard the sound of his words, of the man; and when I heard the sound of his words, I was asleep on my face, with my face toward the ground.

Behold, while I was still lying on the ground, the form of a hand touched me, and it moved and lifted me so that I could get up onto my knees and the palms of my hands.

He said to me: Daniel, splendid man, chosen one, understand the matters that I am speaking to you, and stand in your place, or stand in your place to listen to my statement; for now I have been sent to you. While he was speaking this matter to me, I stood trembling. Daniel managed to stand, but he still shook in great terror at the angel’s presence.

He, the man clothed in linen, identified as the angel Gavriel, said to me: Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to fast before your God, your words have been heard by God; and I have come because of your words.

Gavriel continued: The prince, the angel who represents the power of the kingdom of Persia, was standing opposite me, and we struggled against each other for twenty-one days, in my efforts to protect Israel from the angel of the kingdom of Persia, an active force in the world; and behold, Mikhael, one of the chief princes, angels, came to help me, and throughout the period of your ascetic practices I remained there, with the kings of Persia.

I have come to explain to you that which will befall your people at the end of days; for there will yet be another vision designated for showing what will happen in the days to come.

As he was speaking with me these words, I lowered my gaze toward the ground and was silent. I could not speak or react at all.

Behold, one in the image of a person was touching my lips, and as a result, I opened my mouth, and I spoke and said as follows to the one standing opposite me: My lord, at the vision, at the very sight of you, I felt as though my internal organs were overturned, and I retained no strength.

How can this servant of my lord, I, speak with this my lord, with you? As for me, from now, strength will not endure in me, and breath is not left in me.

The same one with the appearance of a man touched me again, and he strengthened me. I felt him give me strength.

He said: Splendid man, do not fear. Peace to you, be strong, be strong. As he was speaking with me, I grew stronger, and I said: Speak my lord, as you have strengthened me, and now I can focus on your words.

He said: Do you know why I have come to you? It is in order to inform you what is currently happening and what will occur in the future. Now I will return to fight with the prince of Persia. When I go out from my battle with the prince of Persia, behold, the prince of Yavan is coming. After the confrontation with the kingdom of Persia, the kingdom of Yavan, Greece, will rule the world.

However, I will tell you that which is inscribed in the script of truth; there is no one who helps me, aids me in my struggle against these princes except Mikhael, your prince. Mikhael is one of the higher angels; just as there are angels that represent the kingdoms of Persia and Greece, so Mikhael is the prince that represents Israel. When Gavriel sought to help, to fight against the nations of the world that subjugate Israel, Mikhael arrived to assist him.

Gavriel continues: At present Mikhael is aiding me in my war, and I, in the past, in the first year of Darius the Mede, stood as a supporter and a bastion for him, Mikhael.

Now I will tell you the truth about the future. Behold, three more kings remain for Persia; the fourth king will become wealthy with greater wealth than all. When he grows strong through his wealth, he will goad everyone to fight with the kingdom of Yavan; alternatively: He shall stir up all to fight against him, especially the kingdom of Yavan.

A mighty king will arise in Yavan, and he will rule with extensive dominion, or over a broad area, and will act as he wills.

When he has arisen, at the height of his powers, or: when his life comes to its end, his kingdom will be broken, and will be divided to the four winds of heaven, and his realm will not go to his posterity; it will not be like his dominion with which he ruled so forcefully any longer, as his kingdom will be uprooted and transferred for others, to other kings, beside those divisions into the four winds.

The king of the South will become stronger and more powerful than his rival who will control other areas, and he will be even stronger than one of his rival’s princes, or he will overpower an individual who was one of his princes; and he, the king of the South, will overpower him and rule; his dominion will be a great dominion, powerful and long-lasting.

At the end of years they will join together, try to make peace with each other, and the daughter of the king of the South will come to the rival king of the North to bring about reconciliation, in an effort to enact a formal treaty between them; but she will not restrain the strength of her arm, or she will be unable to block their strength of arms; and he and his arm will not endure, as the king of the South will not be strong enough militarily. She, those who brought her, her companions, he who begot her, her father; alternatively, her son; and her supporter in those times, who strengthens her in the difficult times; alternatively, her husband, will be given up. Some explain that she will not endure but will die, as none of these will survive; they will all die or be killed.

A shoot, a descendant, from her roots, from the daughter of the king of the South, will stand, sprout, in his own, proper, place; this descendant will recapture the throne and will come to the forces, or the treasury, and enter the stronghold of the king of the North; he will act against them, destroy them, or pressure them, and will take possession of parts of the kingdom.

Also their gods, with their cast images, with their precious vessels, silver and gold, he will bring into captivity to Egypt. For years he will remain in the land that he conquered from the king of the North.

After a time he will once again come back to the region of the kingdom of the king of the South, and he will return to his own land.

His, the king of the North’s, sons, will make a provocation against him, and will assemble a horde of great forces; it, the army of the North will come, surging and passing through, with his army, he will gallop with force to the south; he will again make a provocation, commence a war, against his, the king of the South’s, stronghold.

The king of the South will be galled, be filled with bitterness and anger at the invasion of the king of the North into his territory, and will come out and wage war with him, with the king of the North; he, the king of the South, will mobilize a great horde, and the horde of the king of the North will be delivered into his hand.

The horde will be carried away in captivity, and his, the king of the South’s, heart will grow haughty, and he will fell tens of thousands of enemy troops; but even so he will not prevail; despite his successes against the king of the North, the king of the South will not emerge completely victorious or in full control.

The king of the North will again mobilize a horde, a large army, even greater than the first, and at the end of the times, after the passage of years, he will come with a great army and with much military equipment, or he will return from the battle with much plunder.

In those times, many enemies, or helpers, will stand against the king of the South. The lawless among your people, Daniel, will presume, have pretentions, to establish a vision, their ideal world, but they will fail.

The king of the North will come to fight, and erect a ramp, a mound of dirt alongside the city wall, and capture many fortified cities, and the armies of the South will not endure the attack, and his choice people, the select soldiers of his army, will have no strength to endure.

The one, the king of the North, who comes against him, the king of the South, will act as he wills, and none will stand before him; he will stand triumphant in the magnificent land, the Land of Israel, and extermination will be by his hand; he will cause widespread destruction.

He, the king of the North, will direct his attention to come further south with the strength of his entire kingdom, and conciliators, or statements of reconciliation, will be with him, and he will accomplish it, a peace treaty. He will give him, the king of the South, or the king of the North, a daughter from among the women to destroy it, the kingdom, through her, but she will not last as his wife; alternatively, it, the plan, will not last; and she will not be for him. Some explain that this daughter is a metaphor for the people of Israel, which will be subject to decrees of persecution.

He, the king of the North, will turn his attention to the coastlands, and he will capture many, but a commander will put an end to his, the king of the North’s, affront. A military officer who is not a king will arise against the king of the North and cause his reproaches to cease. He will pay back his affront to him, but he will not vanquish the king.

He, the king of the North, will redirect his attention to the strongholds of his own land, and he will stumble and fall, and not be found, as he will be destroyed.

As the internal upheavals in the two kingdoms continue, in his place, taking over the king of the North’s throne, will stand one who will depose the oppressor [ma’avir nogeis], one with the glory of royalty; one who will remove the governor from his post, and that king will possess the glory of the kingdom. However, he will not last long, as within a few days he will be broken, but not in wrath, in a powerful uprising, and not in war. Some interpret the phrase ma’avir nogeis to mean that the new king will transfer oppressors from one place to another in an effort to plunder the glory of the kingdom.

In his place will stand a despicable one, upon whom the glory of royalty was not bestowed, as he will not have the appearance of a king, and will have no royal ties; he will come in serenity and will seize the kingdom with smooth talk. He will claim the throne and seize it through deceitful, underhanded means.

The surging enemy armies will be swept away from before him and will be broken, and the ruler of the covenant as well, the ruler in the Land of Israel, will also be swept away by him.

In his making alliances, with the strength this connection grants him, he will engage in deceit, and he will ascend and become mighty, he will grow increasingly powerful, even though he is with but a small nation, as few men will be on his side.

With serenity and with the riches of the province, the treasuries of the land, he will come, and he will do that which his fathers and the fathers of his fathers did not do. He will distribute spoils, and loot, and property to them, the residents of the country. He will think his thoughts about fortresses, he will plan to establish and populate new fortresses, but only until the right time comes to set out and conquer.

He will rouse his strength and his heart against the king of the South with a great force, and the king of the South will be provoked against him and set out to war with an extremely great and mighty force, but he will not be able to stand up to him, the king of the North, as they, the king of the South’s own men, will plot against him, will use ploys to revolt against him.

Those who eat his food, or his mercenaries, will destroy him, and his, the king of the North’s, forces will sweep away, will attack, and many of them, the soldiers of the king of the South, will fall slain.

Both of them, the kings, the king of the North and the king of the South, their hearts will be planning for evil, and at one table they will speak falsehood. They will sit at the same table as though there is no quarrel between them, and yet they will deceive each other; but it will not succeed, they will not achieve anything, and ultimately both will return home, as there is yet an end for the appointed time. The time for their downfall will not yet have arrived.

He, the king of the North, will return to his land with a great deal of property, and his heart, his desire and thoughts, will be against the holy covenant, the holy people, to act wickedly against them; and he will take action and return to his land.

At the appointed time, at a later stage, he, the king of the North, will return and come into the South, and it will not be like the first time or like the last time. This attempt will neither be as successful as the first effort nor as the last, which is either the last attack mentioned above or the one described below.

Ships of Kitim will come against him, and he will be cowed and broken, and he will return from his painful failure in the south, and rage against the holy covenant, he will take out his anger upon the people of Israel, and he will take evil action against them, or gather an army against them, or pressure them; and he will again attend to the forsakers of the holy covenant. He will attempt to establish a relationship with those who leave the holy covenant.

Armies of his will rise up and profane the Temple, which is the stronghold, and will abolish the continual burnt offering, they will annul the daily offering, and they will set up in the Temple the desolating detestable thing, an idolatrous image (see commentary on 9:27).

He, the king, will flatter with smooth talk those who act wickedly against the covenant, as he will seek to maintain good relationships with them, but the people that knows its God will maintain the covenant and perform it, God’s commandments.

The wise of the people will explain matters to the multitudes, yet they will fall by sword, by flame, by captivity, and by plunder, for days.

When they fall, they will receive little help; they will not have many who remain loyal to them; and many will join them with smooth talk.

Among the wise, some will fall, in their attempts to refine them, to clarify, and to make clear, until the end time; they will fail, as it is not yet the appointed time. The time will not yet have arrived.

The king of the North shall do as he wills and will exalt and magnify himself over every god, he will present himself as greater than all the gods, a kind of supreme god, and against the God of gods, he will speak with conceit. He will succeed until the fury is abated, when that which was decreed is accomplished.

He will pay no regard, will not reflect upon or pay attention to the gods of his fathers, or to the splendor of women, and he will not pay regard to any god; he will be a strange man, detached from women, from his ancestral religion, and from any other religion, as he will magnify himself over all. He will be occupied solely with the lust of honor and self-aggrandizement.

Even so, he will honor the god of strongholdswhen that idol is on its base, he will support some sort of idolatry, and that god, a god whom his fathers did not know, he will honor with gold, with silver, with precious stones, and with valuable ornaments.

He will make a fortified stronghold with a foreign god; he will place his foreign god in the strong fortresses; he will greatly honor those he knows, or those who acknowledge his god, and have them rule over the multitudes, and he will distribute land for a small price.

At the end time, the king of the South will lock horns with him, the king of the North, and the king of the North will storm against him in a massive attack, with chariots, with horsemen, and with many ships. He will come into lands, and his army will surge like a powerful stream of water, and pass through.

He will come into the magnificent land, the Land of Israel, and many will fall because of him, either through battle or by him forcing them to abandon their religion. But these lands will flee from his hand: Edom, and Moav, and the finest, the choice, or the edge of the land, of the children of Amon.

He will extend his hand against the lands, and the land of Egypt will not escape, as he will conquer it as well.

He will rule over the hidden treasures of gold and silver, and all the ornaments of Egypt; even Libyans and Kushites, of neighboring countries, who were subjugated to Egypt, and who have gold and silver mines in their countries, will be under his feet, defeated by him.

But bad and threatening reports from the lands of the East and from the North will terrify him, and he will come out with great fury to destroy and obliterate, kill, multitudes.

He will pitch the tents of his temporary abode between seas and the magnificent holy mountain, the hills of the Land of Israel, and he will come to his end, he will ultimately die, and there will be no one to help him.

The following prophecy, which is a continuation of the angel’s speech to Daniel, deals with the end of days. It depicts, in a highly favorable light, events that will occur in the distant future. At that time Mikhael the great prince, who stands by the members of your people, will stand up to plead Israel’s case and pray for the nation; alternatively, this means that he will cease to speak on Israel’s behalf (see 10:21). At that hour there will be a time of trouble that has not been from its becoming a nation of Israel until this time, the end of days. At that time your people will escape, everyone will be saved of your people who is found written in the book, the Book of Life.

Many of the sleepers in the dust of the earth, the dead, will awaken. This is one of the rare prophecies in the Bible that deals explicitly with the resurrection. These will awaken to eternal life, a happy existence, and those others, the wicked, will indeed be resurrected, but to reviling and eternal disgrace. They will be subject to curses and unremitting shame.

The wise of the people will shine like the radiance of the firmament; and those who lead the multitudes to righteousness, who are not only wise but who also care for others and perform good deeds for the populace, will shine like the stars in heaven forever and ever. According to the Sages this is referring to teachers of children.

But you, Daniel, even if you know or understand more than I have stated, obscure the words, leave them vague and unclear, and seal the book until the end time, when many will roam, seeking God, and knowledge will increase. At that stage the wise might understand what is written in this book.

I, Daniel, saw, and behold, two others, angels, were standing, one here on the bank of the river, and one there on the bank of the river, on the two banks of the river.

One of them said to the man clothed in linen, apparently the angel Gavriel, or perhaps Mikhael, who was standing above the waters of the river: How long will it be delayed until the wondrous end? When will the end arrive, when all these wonderful events will occur? In the meantime, times are bad.

I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, speaking, and he lifted his right and his left to the heavens, a gesture of an oath, and he took an oath by the Ever-Living One, God, that for a time, times, and one-half, after the passage of a defined period of time, whose duration is not stated here, and then again that period, and half of that period, and with the conclusion of the breaking of the power of the holy people, all these troubles will conclude, and then the end will arrive.

I heard all of this, but I did not understand; I did not know to what he was referring, and I said: My lord, what will be the end of all these calculations you stated?

He said: Go, Daniel, as the matters that you wish to know are to remain obscured and sealed until the end time. Only when the redemption arrives will everything become clear.

Many things will be clarified; many issues will become clearer over time, and through the sufferings and troubles much will be made clear, and refined, and the wicked will act wickedly. All of the wicked will not understand these prophecies; but the wise will understand.

From the time of the abolishing of the continual daily burnt offering, and the setting of the desolating detestable thing in the Temple, there will be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. It is unclear whether this is referring to actual days. Many interpret these “days” of suffering as years.

Happy is one who waits another forty-five days, or years, and reaches one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. It is unknown when this counting starts, when it will end, or what the indicated dates signify. These matters were left unclear to Daniel himself.

But you, Daniel, go to the end, until the end of your own days, and rest, die, and after you have lain down in death, you will arise to your fate at the end of the days. You will be among those who will arise at the end of days, and will then understand the meaning of your prophecy.