Darius the Mede: this person is not mentioned anywhere else in ancient history. Three different men bearing the name Darius ruled over the Persian Empire, but at later dates. Furthermore, secular history tells us that the city of Babylon was captured by Cyrus, King of the Persians. Nevertheless the translator must respect the text as we have it today. It should not be “corrected” on the basis of modern knowledge. See also the comments on the father of Belshazzar in 5.1. But note the remarks on the relationship between Darius and Cyrus in 6.28.

Received the kingdom: translators may prefer to say simply “became king,” or “started to rule,” but Good News Translation has “seized royal power.” Some languages, however, will require some kind of object for the verb “rule” or “become king.” In those cases translators may use a rather vague object such as “the country” or the actual name “Babylonia.”

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 .