The toes of the feet: depending on the kind of word used for toes, the reference to feet may be omitted as redundant. But in some languages the same word is used for “toes” and “fingers,” and in such cases, the words of the feet may be important.

The kingdom: in some cases it may be clearer to say “this kingdom” or “the fourth kingdom,” since other kingdoms have been mentioned in this context.

Brittle: the word used here clearly stands in opposition to strong. In English the word brittle is usually reserved for physical objects and rarely applied to abstract ideas such as kingdom. But this context calls for a word that can be used for both abstract ideas and physical objects. In some languages the best alternative here may be simply the negation of the previous word, “not strong.” Some other possible models are “fragile” (New American Bible) and “weak” (Good News Translation).

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 .