If integrated into the book of Daniel: 14.8-10.

Then the king was angry may be rendered “Daniel’s words made the king angry” or even “When the king heard this [or, Daniel’s words], he became angry.”

He called his priests: His priests is rendered “all seventy of the priests of Bel” by Good News Translation. The information that there were seventy is brought forward by Good News Translation from verse 10; notice that Good News Translation has combined verses 8-10. The priests were intermediaries between the Babylonians and their god Bel. They would perform sacrifices and also take care of the offerings of food given by those worshiping the idol of Bel. In some languages they are called “sacrificers.”

If you do not tell me who is eating these provisions, you shall die: Good News Translation has “I warn you that you will be put to death, unless you can show me that it is Bel who is eating these offerings.” However, the Good News Translation rendering does not express accurately the challenge of the king here. After Daniel has laughed at the king for thinking that the idol actually consumes food, the king (as well as the reader) suspects the priests themselves may be eating the food offered to the idol. So he confronts the priests. A better rendering here is “If you do not [or, cannot] tell me who is eating all this food, you will be put to death.” This way he is clearly warning the priests, but not exactly coming right out and accusing them of deception. Provisions translates a general Greek term that has overtones of expensiveness. Since we have been told that the provisions consist of food, these provisions may be rendered “all this food” (Contemporary English Version) to express the king’s insinuation that what was mentioned in verse 3 is an awful lot of food to disappear every day. You shall die is better expressed as “you will be put to death” or even “I will execute you,” since it is a threat, not a prediction.

An alternative translation model for verse 8 is:

• Daniel’s words [or, What Daniel said] made the king angry. So he called in his priests and warned them, “If you [plural] do not [or, cannot] tell me who is eating all this food, I will execute you [plural].”

But if you prove that Bel is eating them may be translated “But if you can prove that Bel really is eating the food” (Contemporary English Version) or “But if you can show me….”

Daniel shall die may be rendered “Daniel will be put to death” or “I will have Daniel put to death [or, executed].”

Because he blasphemed against Bel: When Daniel claimed in verse 7 that Bel was not a god, it was an act of blasphemy to someone who believed in Bel as a god, that is, an insulting word or act directed against a god; so Contemporary English Version has “because he has insulted the god Bel.” Good News Translation has “for claiming that Bel is not a god.” This shifts the focus a bit to describe the act itself rather than its character, but it is quite legitimate.

And Daniel said to the king, “Let it be done as you have said”: Daniel’s words here are a very formal, respectful way of saying “Good deal. Okay by me.” But since Daniel laughed at the king in verse 7, we might wonder just how much real respect Daniel is showing. Good News Translation has “Daniel agreed to this proposal,” which says everything that needs to be said, while avoiding the problem of how informal or how formal to make Daniel’s reply. However, some translators will wish to use direct speech; for example, “Daniel said, ‘Your Majesty, that sounds reasonable [or, fair] enough to me.’ ”

Now there were seventy priests of Bel, besides their wives and children: As noted above, Good News Translation includes the idea of seventy near the beginning of verses 8-10. Good News Translation omits besides their wives and children, but it can be argued that it is unnecessary at this point, since the wives and children appear in verse 15. On the other hand, it helps impress the reader, as verses 11-13 are read, to realize how many people are involved in the deception concerning the food given to Bel. The information about wives and children is then probably best included, and the logical place to include it is at verse 10 where the text has it. Since it interferes somewhat with the narrative flow, New English Bible puts the sentence in parentheses: “(There were seventy priests of Bel, not counting their wives and children.)” This is a good solution. However, it should be placed at the end of verse 10, so that it comes at a natural pause in the narrative.

And the king went with Daniel into the temple of Bel: This is actually part of verse 10, not part of verse 11 (as in Good News Translation). While the Greek mentions only the king and Daniel entering the temple, obviously the priests accompany them. Good News Translation is helpful in including the priests by translating “Then they all went with the king into Bel’s temple.” The problem is that Good News Translation does not mention Daniel, silently including him in “they all.” Daniel is too active to be left out here. “Then the king and Daniel, along with the priests, went into…” would be one way to name Daniel while making it clear that the priests went along.

If both suggestions made for verse 10 are followed, it would read something like:

• Then the king and Daniel, along with the priests, went into Bel’s temple. (Now there were seventy priests, and they had many wives and children.)

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.