So: the choice of a transition word here will probably be determined by considerations in the translator’s language. In many cases it will be unnecessary to have one at this point.

He: the pronoun here refers to the guard, and some versions have seen fit to express this more explicitly. New Jerusalem Bible, for example, has “the man…,” and New English Bible translates “the guard.”

Hearkened to them in this matter: New Revised Standard Version says “so he agreed to this proposal,” that is, he approved of their proposition. Another way of saying the same thing may be “decided to do what they asked” or “… agreed to this plan” (New Jerusalem Bible).

Tested them for ten days: see verse 12. While Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, following the Hebrew, have only the pronoun them, it may be necessary in some languages to replace the pronoun with a complete noun phrase like “Daniel and his friends” or “the four young men.”

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René & Ellington, John. A Handbook on Daniel. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .