In addition to repeating word for word the list of government officials just given in the previous verse, this verse contains other repetitions that make it rather heavy in English. The name of the king and the expression the image that … had set up also appear twice here. Note that Good News Translation avoids this repetition and makes the whole verse into a dependent clause introducing verse 4. Another possible model taking this verse as a separate sentence may be “So all these officials gathered together in front of the statue that the king had made” or “Therefore all the officials assembled and took their places before the statue for the inauguration ceremony” (Bible en français courant).

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 .