Pitch his palatial tents: the word translated palatial occurs nowhere else in the Hebrew Old Testament, but its meaning is undisputed. It comes into Hebrew through Aramaic and is ultimately from Old Persian. The reference is to the lavish tents that served as the living quarters of the king during his military campaigns. Some possible models are “set up the large tents made for the king and his family” or “raise up the fine tents which the king would live in.”

The sea: the word here is plural in the original, and standing alone it can possibly designate the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean together. But in that case the second object, the glorious holy mountain, will be very difficult to explain. Commentators think that the use of the plural without the definite article here is merely in accordance with ancient poetic usage (thus Judges 5.17; Deut 33.19). The reference is almost certainly to the Mediterranean, which is seen as being composed of more than one “sea.”

The glorious holy mountain: this expression is used to designate the hill in Jerusalem on which the Temple was built. See, for example, Isa 56.7; Obadiah 16; Psa 2.6; 15.1. This has been rendered in a more direct manner by Good News Translation as “the mountain on which the Temple stands” and in Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch as “Mount Zion.” But others object that this makes very precise the expression in the text that is intentionally vague. Some other possible renderings are “the hill of the sanctuary,” or “the holy mountain in the most beautiful land” (Bible en français courant), or “the holy hill, the fairest of all hills” (Revised English Bible).

Come to his end: this is yet another veiled allusion to the death of the tyrant, Antiochus. See 8.25. In many languages it will be more natural to use the verb “to die.” Some other ways of saying the same thing are “he will meet his doom” (New Jerusalem Bible) or “death will surprise him” (Bible en français courant).

With none to help him: this phrase expresses the idea of loneliness as well as helplessness.

In fact Antiochus IV Epiphanes died at Tabae in Persia toward the end of the year 164 B.C., during his campaign against the troublesome Parthians (see verse 44).

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 .