self-referencing pronoun for king or queen

In Malay, the pronoun beta for the royal “I” (or “my” or “me”) that is used by royals when speaking to people of lower rank, subordinates or commoners to refer to themselves in these verses. This reflects the “language of the court because the monarchy and sultanate in Malaysia are still alive and well. All oral and printed literature (including newspapers and magazines) preserve and glorify the language of the court. Considering that the language of the court is part of the Malaysian language, court language is used sparingly where appropriate, specifically with texts relating to palace life.” (Source: Daud Soesilo in The Bible Translator 2025, p. 263ff.)

complete verse (Daniel 4:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Daniel 4:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then, I ordered that all the wise men in Babylon be brought to show/reveal to me those dreams.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “So I gave the order to bring before me all the wise men of Babylon to tell [me] the meaning of that dream.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “So I commanded to bring before me all the wise [men] of Babilonia so they could-explain to me the meaning of my dream.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So I summoned all the wise men in Babylon, in order that they would come and tell me what it meant.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Daniel 4:6

Therefore: this Revised Standard Version rendering represents the common conjunction that has a wide variety of meanings and is frequently left untranslated in many languages. In this context it is certainly not as strong as the Revised Standard Version rendering may suggest.

I made a decree: literally “from me is issued a decree….” This is the same expression as in 3.29. But the passive formulation is not recommended in most languages.

Wise men: see 2.12.

That they might make known: while the plural pronoun they is used here, this should not be understood to mean that the king expected a separate explanation from each of the wise men. So in languages where the more literal rendering is likely to be misunderstood, it may be better to translate “so that someone (or one of them) might tell me….”

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 .