The king said: literally “speaking the king said.” But the content of the quotation that follows may make it necessary to use a stronger verb here. New Jerusalem Bible and New English Bible/Revised English Bible have “exclaimed.” Other versions prefer to take this as a thought process, “said to himself” (An American Translation); but this is unlikely, since the following verse seems to indicate that he actually uttered these words aloud.

Is not this great Babylon …?: the rhetorical question of the original is both lengthy and negative in form. This may make it very difficult to translate literally in a large number of languages. The idea is “Just look at this great city (called Babylon) that I have built for my residence!” It is probably a good idea to break this down into two separate sentences. Good News Translation should serve as a good model at this point.

The words translated royal residence refer to the place where the king lives. It has the same essential meaning as royal palace in the previous verse and may have to be translated identically in many languages. But it may also be rendered “the center of my government.”

The glory of my majesty: is an abstract notion that will be difficult to translate in some languages. Note that Good News Translation speaks of “my capital city to display my power and might, my glory and majesty.” Another way of saying this is “the center of my government which shows that I am great and strong. My power and glory (or honor) can be seen here.”

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 .