Among the faithful something special is reserved to those who are particularly wise or have the gift of discernment and have shared their wisdom with their fellow Jews: in the life eternal they will participate in the very light of God. In contrast with the notion that might be communicated by a literal translation of the text, there is absolutely no question of two different groups, one of which is wise, and another group who turn many to righteousness. Rather, the parallelism of this verse in Hebrew shows that the second part provides additional information that complements the first. It is possible to restructure the verse as in Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch and say something like “The people who have maintained the wisdom of God and have shown the way (of life) to many others, they will shine brightly forever like the stars in the sky.” Another possible model is “those wise people who teach others to do what God requires will continue to glow (or sparkle) always like the sky in the day or the stars at night.” On the idea of shining, translators may wish to refer to their rendering of the passage about Moses’ face shining after being in the presence of God (Exo 34.29).
Those who are wise: Good News Translation makes it clear that this refers to the “wise leaders” mentioned in the previous chapter (11.33, 35).
Those who turn many to righteousness: literally “those who make many righteous” or “those who justify many.” This is not to be understood in terms of Christian theology (whereby believers are made righteous by the grace of Jesus Christ, see Titus 3.6-7). Rather, it is a question of wise teachers who instruct fellow Jews how to live in a right relationship with God. Revised English Bible translates “those who have guided the people in the true path.”
Like the stars: the verb to “shine” used earlier in the verse is also to be understood here. If a more formal translation is adopted (rather than the restructuring suggested above), then it may be necessary to repeat the verb here or find another verb of similar meaning.
For ever and ever: literally “for always and continually.” The two Hebrew words may legitimately be translated by a single term in other languages.
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 .