Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation make a paragraph break here because a new subject is introduced. Some versions place a section heading at this point, since this is the beginning of the section where Daniel interprets the writing on the wall. But other versions, like Good News Translation, place this title before verse 13 below.

The queen: the text clearly implies that this person was not originally a member of the banquet group. She came into the banqueting hall later. It is very likely that the term used here refers to the “queen-mother” (the mother of the king) rather than to the queen herself. The queen mother occupied a very influential position in Babylonia as well as in Israel and Judah at the time. Moffatt, An American Translation, Good News Translation, and Bible en français courant all translate “queen mother.” In many languages it may be necessary to say something like “the mother of the king.” The second reference to this woman may be represented by the pronoun “she” if the reference is clear; but in languages where there is no distinction between masculine and feminine, this may cause confusion. In this case, some languages will accept “that woman.”

Because of the words …: a literal rendering of this phrase might give the impression in some languages that the king and his noblemen had sent a message to the queen mother. But the meaning is rather that the sound of the commotion caused by the events was so loud that she came into the banquet hall to find out what was the matter. Having learned the details of the problem she then went on to try to calm her son.

The banqueting hall: or “the place where people were eating the feast.”

O king, live for ever!: see 2.4.

Thoughts alarm … color change: see verses 6 and 9.

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 .