In the days of those kings: Anchor Bible recommends “in the days of those regimes” rather than “… of those kings.” But there is very little real difference in meaning in this context. What the writer is probably referring to would be the kings of the last-mentioned kingdoms, those compared to iron and clay.

The God of heaven: see verse 18.

A kingdom: while this does refer to the kingdom of God, translators are not advised to render this “his kingdom” (as Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has done). This would be too direct and would detract from the deliberately puzzling character of the text. The description of this kingdom should be enough to show that it is fundamentally different from the ones before it.

Which shall never be destroyed: this passive construction may be rendered actively, as in Good News Translation “will never end,” or “shall remain forever.” In other languages it may be better to say “no power will be strong enough to destroy it.”

Nor shall its sovereignty be left to another people: this is another passive that will have to be rendered actively in many languages. Some may say “and no other people will be able to take away its authority” or “no other people will have the strength to dominate it.”

Break in pieces: maintaining the image of the stone and the statue, this figure focuses on their total destruction, while bring them to an end emphasizes the end of the other kingdoms.

Stand for ever: this emphasizes the permanence of the new kingdom. In some languages it will be necessary to say “endure for all time” or “continue always” or “never end.” On the idea of for ever, compare verses 4 and 20 earlier in this chapter.

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 .