The parallelism at the beginning of this verse should be translated in such a way as to avoid making the reader think of two different events. The word sentence corresponds to decision; and the watchers obviously has the same meaning as the holy ones. For this reason Good News Translation has combined the two.
By the decree … by the word: it is important that the translation avoid giving the impression that the angels are capable of making decisions themselves. They are, in fact, only messengers or bearers of the decision made by God. For this reason Bible en français courant translates “transmitted by….”
Watchers … holy ones: see verse 13.
To the end that …: this shows the purpose of the decision communicated by the angels. The Good News Translation rendering “So then” at the beginning of a new sentence may seem weak if translated literally into some languages. “In this way” or “As a result” may be better.
The living: that is, all persons who are alive, wherever they may be.
The Most High: the Aramaic word used here occurs sometimes along with the name of God (as in 3.26; 4.2; 5.18, 21). But here and in a number of other cases it occurs alone, that is, unaccompanied by the word for “God” (4.24, 25, 32, 34; 7.18, 22, 25, 27). The corresponding Hebrew expression is often used in the Psalms in parallel with other terms for God. In some languages it is possible to say “the Most High One,” and this will be understood as referring to God, but in other languages it will be indispensable to add the word for God, even when it is not actually present in the text. It should be noted that this expression is also used in the New Testament to refer to God. It is a favorite of Luke (1.32, 35, 76; 6.35; Acts 7.48, for example).
Rules: literally “is powerful over.”
The kingdom of men: although singular in form, the word for kingdom has a collective meaning and should probably be translated as a plural in most languages (as in “human kingdoms,” Good News Translation). Also, the two occurrences of the pronoun it which follow refer to kingdom and should be made plural.
Gives: the verb used here carries a sense of “being able to” that is probably better rendered “can give,” as in Good News Translation, New American Bible, Bible en français courant, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch.
The lowliest of men: the Aramaic term has the sense of positive humility, rather than a negative sense that may possibly communicate the idea of “the scum of the earth.” It is therefore perhaps better to translate something like “the most humble person” or “the meekest of all people.”
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 .