Some Hebrew manuscripts of this verse have “continued there,” that is, in the court of the king, and this is probably what is meant even without the explicit addition. This will probably need to be made clear in the translation as has been done in most modern English versions.

Continued: the verb used here is actually the ordinary verb “to be” in Hebrew. In a number of languages it will be impossible to translate this literally, since it will have no meaning at all; or it may be understood to mean “continued to live” (this, in fact, is how Moffatt has understood it). The meaning, however, seems to be that he continued in the service of the king. The immediate context (verses 19-20) clearly favors this interpretation. An American Translation has “retained his position.”

Until the first year of King Cyrus: some commentators think that the mention of the first year of King Cyrus—that is, the first year of his rule over a conquered Babylonia—refers to the texts in 2 Chr 36.22-23 and Ezra 1.1-3, and supposes that Daniel took advantage of the circumstances to return to Israel in 538 B.C. But since that would contradict 10.1 (the third year of the reign of Cyrus), these commentators are forced to conclude that chapters 1 and 10 come from two different traditions regarding Daniel. However, the preposition until does not necessarily mean that Daniel could not have continued further beyond the time mentioned, although this is strongly implied. Since Cyrus was king of Persia for some time before conquering Babylonia, Good News Translation has included that information in the text. But in view of the uncertainties at this point, it may be better to translate simply “Daniel continued to serve the king until the time when Cyrus became king” or “Daniel remained in his job in the royal court until King Cyrus took over.”

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 .