The Aramaic text of the beginning of this verse is almost identical with the beginning of verse 10. It is possible to translate “While I was still lying in (my) bed” or “While I was still sleeping….” The Good News Translation rendering may give the impression that the king had woken up and was pondering the meaning of the first part of the vision when the second came. But it is more likely that he was still sleeping when the dream continued. This interlude is taken as nonpoetic in those versions that set the rest of this section off in poetic format.

And behold: see verse 10 as well as 2.31.

A watcher, a holy one: literally “(a being) watchful and holy.” In the Book of Daniel these two adjectives are used to describe a heavenly being that never sleeps and is always in the presence of the holy God. This is almost invariably taken by scholars as reference to an angel, although some consider these a special class of angels. Translators should take care that a literal translation of these terms does not give the impression that two different beings are intended. In order to avoid this difficulty, some modern versions have simply rendered the whole expression as “an angel who is vigilant” or “a holy watcher” (New Revised Standard Version). Since angels are considered divine beings, some translators are content to leave the idea of their holiness as included in the term “angel” itself. But this would definitely not be the case if the New International Version “messenger” is used as a model.

Heaven: while this is the same word as used for “sky” in verse 11, the present context makes it proper to translate heaven in this case if the receptor language distinguishes between “sky” and “heaven.”

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 .