As for me, Daniel: the very same expression, consisting of an emphatic first person pronoun followed by the proper name, is used in verse 28 at the end of this chapter. It serves to remind the reader of the source of the information and perhaps here marks the point in the vision when the prophet comes to himself. The pronoun plus proper noun combination may also be found frequently in the next chapters (8.1, 15, 27; 9.2; 10.2, 7; 12.5). This may be a literary device to mark important transition points in the discourse structure of the last half of Daniel.

Within me: literally “in the midst of the sheath.” The last word in Aramaic is normally used of the leather container into which a sword or knife is placed when not in use. Compare New American Bible “within its sheath of flesh.” According to some scholars it is here used as a metaphor for the human body, in which the spirit resides. If this assumption is accepted, naturalness in the translation will determine whether translators use the noun “body” or the pronoun “me” (Moffatt, New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible). However, some versions, following the ancient Greek, omit the two words altogether (New Jerusalem Bible as well as Good News Translation). It may also be possible to omit these words for translation reasons.

And: the conjunction here is not intended to indicate two totally different reactions to the vision. The structure is rather parallel, and the two phrases describe a single emotion. This should be made clear in the translation.

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 .