Daniel

The term that is transliterated as “Daniel” in English means “judge of God (i.e., one who delivers judgment in the name of God,” “my judge is God.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

In American Sign Language it is translated with the sign for the letter D and for “lion,” referring to the story in Daniel 6. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Daniel” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with a sign that refers to Daniel being cast into the lions’ den. (Source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group)


“Daniel” in Hungarian Sign Language (source )

In Swiss-German Sign Language it is translated with the sign for “prayer” that illustrates Daniel’s close relationship with God.


“Daniel” in Swiss-German Sign Language, source: DSGS-Lexikon biblischer Begriffe , © CGG Schweiz

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

The following is a stained glass window depicting Daniel by Endre Odon Hevezi and Gyula Bajo from 1965 for the Debre Libanos Monastery, Oromia, Ethiopia:

Photo by Timothy A. Gonsalves, hosted by Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license

Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )

See also Daniel.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Daniel in the Lions’ Den and Daniel .

complete verse (Daniel 2:24)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Daniel 2:24:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then/After that/Later, Daniel went to Arioch who had been chosen to destroy/kill the wise men in Babylon, and said to him, ‘Do not kill the wise men of Babylon, hut take me to where the king is so I can reveal to him what his dreams mean.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Then Daniel went to Arioch whom the king had ordered to kill the wise men of Babylon. He said, "Do not kill them. Please take me to the king and I will tell [him] the meaning of his dream."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Then, Daniel went-back to Arioc whom the king appointed to kill the wise men of Babilonia. Daniel said to him, ‘Do- not -kill the wise men just-yet, instead go-with me first to the king for I will-explain to him the meaning of his dream.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then I went to Arioch, the man whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men in Babylon. I said to him, ‘Do not kill those wise men. Take me to the king, and I will tell him what his dream means.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

king

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Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:

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  • Piro: “a great one”
  • Highland Totonac: “the big boss”
  • Huichol: “the one who commanded” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Ekari: “the one who holds the country” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Una: weik sienyi: “big headman” (source: Kroneman 2004, p. 407)
  • Pass Valley Yali: “Big Man” (source: Daud Soesilo)
  • Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
  • Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))

Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:

“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”

(Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )

See also king (Japanese honorifics).

Japanese benefactives (itte)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. Here, itte (行って) or “go” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).”

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Daniel 2:24

Therefore: literally “Because of all that.” The majority of the English versions simply translate “So…” or “Therefore….” But Anchor Bible begins this verse with “Accordingly….” In translation it will be important to use whatever transition word naturally fits this context, showing a logical relationship of cause and effect.

Went in … went: the use of these two verbs that are very similar in meaning may be considered redundant, and the two can easily be reduced to one without changing the meaning of the text. In fact some ancient Greek manuscripts omit “went in,” and this is followed by New English Bible and certain other modern versions.

Whom the king had appointed …: some translations (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, for example) do not give this information here in this verse, since it is given in verses 12-14 above. But because this is the beginning of a new section, and also because of the distance from the previous section, it is probably not harmful to state it once again in this context.

Do not destroy …: compare verse 12, where the original command to destroy the wise men of Babylon was given.

The entire direct quotation in this verse may be better rendered indirectly in some languages. The translation will then read something like “He (Daniel) asked Arioch not to kill the wise men…, but to take him to the king so that he could give the interpretation of the dream.”

Bring me in before the king: if this is a part of a direct quotation, there will be various ways of making it sound natural, depending on the usage of the translator’s language. Some may say, for example, “take me into the presence of the king,” or “allow me to speak to the king,” or “permit me to see the king.”

I will show the king the interpretation: instead of the verb show it will be much better in most languages to find a verb that is more appropriate to the context, such as “tell,” “explain,” “reveal” or “interpret.” And instead of the king it may be better in some cases to use the object pronoun “him.”

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 .