The first part of this verse is very difficult to follow. Literally it reads “Those two, the kings, their heart toward evil, at one table, will speak a lie.” This has given rise to considerable restructuring and filling in of detail in Good News Translation.

During the course of his military campaign, Antiochus IV took his nephew (Ptolemy VI) prisoner but apparently treated him well (receiving him at his own table) in order to scheme and seek ways of seizing political power in Egypt.

Minds: literally “hearts.” In Hebrew the “heart” is the center of feelings, emotions, and passions, but it is also the source of intellectual activity. In this context both aspects may be in focus. There was intellectual activity based on a desire to do evil. Translators should use the term in their language that most naturally refers to such mental and emotional activity.

Mischief: this English translation is probably too weak. The corresponding word indicates something more profoundly evil than “dirty tricks” or mischief. Most versions prefer the term “evil.”

Lies: as indicated in the literal rendering above, this noun is singular in Hebrew, but it is collective in meaning and may therefore legitimately be translated as a plural. In some languages it will be essential to indicate to whom they lied. The meaning is clearly “… to each other,” as in Good News Translation.

At the same table: this clearly suggests the idea of eating. Some languages speak of “having hands in the same bowl,” “eating the same food,” or something similar.

To no avail: in many languages this may be better translated as a separate sentence: “Their conspiring will be of no use,” “Their plans will come to nothing,” or “They will not succeed in their schemes.”

For the end is yet to be at the time appointed: this is a rather free quotation of Hab 2.3, and its meaning is not altogether clear. It is generally thought that it indicates that human beings are incapable of putting an end to all their problems by themselves—God alone can do so, and that at the time he has fixed. Some possible models are “for the time fixed (by God) has still not yet come” or “because the end will still come at the time (which God has) appointed.”

A possible model for translating the whole verse is:

• Those two kings will want to harm each other. They will sit down to eat together at the same table, but they will lie to each other. And no matter what they decide, it will not help either one of them, because God is the one who has set the time for their end.

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 .