Daniel made request of the king: in other languages it will probably be necessary to make the relationship between the first two propositions much clearer. What Daniel requested was in fact what the king did. In some cases translators may wish to say “Daniel asked the king for something, and the king granted his request….” Revised English Bible, like Good News Translation, makes the first part of this verse a subordinate clause: “At Daniel’s request….”

He appointed: it should be made clear that the pronoun here refers to King Nebuchadnezzar and not Daniel.

Over the affairs of the province of Babylon: since Daniel himself was made ruler over this province, the translation should make it clear that his three friends were given high administrative positions under him. If care is not taken, it is possible to give the wrong impression that they replaced him. This is especially true in light of the fact that the last sentence of this chapter states that Daniel remained at the king’s court. While he remained at the king’s court, he was, in fact, still the ruler of the province of Babylon. The expression at the king’s court is literally “at the king’s door.” This emphasizes the readiness of the court counselor to advise the king at any moment.

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 .