In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar: on the name Belshazzar, see 5.1 (and 1.7). Since Belshazzar’s title has already been given at the beginning of chapter 7, it is possible to drop the word king here, if that will yield a more natural-sounding introduction.

A vision appeared to me, Daniel: the use of the pronoun followed by the noun may be a device used by the writer to highlight the fact that a new vision is about to be introduced (see 7.15, 28). Another more straightforward way of stating this is “I saw a vision.” And in some languages it may be fitting to say a “new vision” or a “different vision,” just to be sure that the reader does not think that the same vision is about to be repeated or somehow continued. On the terms “vision” and “dream,” see 1.17 and comments.

After that which appeared to me at the first: this is a rather complex way of saying that Daniel has a second vision. In many languages it will be simpler and more natural to say simply “I had another vision” or “a second vision appeared to me.” Since the first vision came in the “first year of King Belshazzar” (7.1), it is possible to translate this verse by saying something like “Two years after the first vision, when Belshazzar was still king, I had another one.”

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 .