In some languages it may be appropriate to introduce this verse with a conjunction marking contrast, since there is a contrast in the text between the command of the king in the previous verse and the disobedience of the Jewish young men described here. Some versions begin this verse with “Now…” (New Jerusalem Bible, An American Translation, and Moffatt), and New International Version has “But….”
Whom you have appointed over … Babylon: see 2.49.
O king: while this vocative occurs in the middle of the verse, it may have to be shifted forward in some languages for the sake of naturalness, if indeed the vocative form is used at all. Bible en français courant, for example, begins the verse with “Your Majesty….” This helps also to show that the quotation of the king’s command (verses 10 and 11) is finished, and that the words that follow are addressed to the king once again.
Pay no heed to you: the present tense in Revised Standard Version, and the Good News Translation rendering “are disobeying…,” seem to convey the idea of repeated or habitual disobedience, but the Aramaic verb places the event clearly in the past. It is therefore probably better to translate “have disobeyed you,” “paid no respect to,” “have disregarded…” (Revised English Bible), or “have ignored…” (New Jerusalem Bible).
Serve: this word has the same meaning as “worship” in this context and should not be translated in such a way as to focus on the idea of physical work.
Your gods: the Aramaic text presents an ambiguous tradition at this point. On the one hand, the written text has the plural for gods and seems to make a general statement (we know that there were many gods in the Babylonian religion). But according to the traditional reading of the synagogue, as marked in the margin of the text, the reader was instructed to read a singular, “your god,” at this point. This would then be a direct reference to the god represented by the statue and thus be parallel to worship the golden image, which follows. Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, and New American Bible (as well as Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) adopt the singular, but most other English versions (as well as Bible en français courant) maintain the plural. While both of these options are legitimate, translators are advised to follow the traditional reading of the synagogue, with the singular, and to explain the other reading (plural) in a textual note, if this is considered necessary.
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 .