O king: see 2.4.

Establish the interdict and sign the document: once again the parallelism should not be understood as talking about two different things. The document to be signed is, in fact, the interdict, or “order,” that would be established. Compare verse 7. New Jerusalem Bible translates “So issue the ban, O king, and put it in writing.”

So that it cannot be changed: the purpose of putting the ban in writing and signing the document is to make it more binding than a mere verbal decree. The finality of the decree sought by the government officials is emphasized by reference to the laws of the Medes and Persians, which were famous for being very firmly fixed.

The unchangeable character of the law of the Medes and the Persians is also attested in the Book of Esther (1.19 and 8.8). The rendering of Anchor Bible may be helpful to translators, in that it shows clearly that this would be one among many other laws: “so that it will be as irrevocable as the other immutable laws of the Medes and the Persians.”

Which cannot be revoked: this is essentially the same as the above expression cannot be changed. Instead of the negative statement, New English Bible gives the same idea more positively: “for the law of the Medes and the Persians stands for ever.”

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 .