Translation commentary on Bel and the Dragon 1:39

If integrated into the book of Daniel: 14.39.

Daniel arose and ate: Daniel is presumably sitting or lying on the floor of the deep pit. So the angel must bring the pot of food down to him. Daniel stands up, receives the food and eats it.

The angel of God immediately returned Habakkuk to his own place: Immediately here probably does not mean that as soon as Daniel began eating, the angel and Habakkuk started on their way back. More likely it means that the angel returned Habakkuk in a split second. The same Greek word translated immediately is used in verse 42 to describe the lions greedily devouring Daniel’s enemies. (This incident involving Habakkuk is told in a Jewish document from about the first century A.D., k The Lives of the Prophetsk* [see Hare]; in it Habakkuk goes and returns so quickly that the men in the fields are not aware he has been anywhere.) His own place refers to his home in Judea; see verse 33.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.

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