In those times: or “At that time” (Moffatt and New Jerusalem Bible). This may also be translated by the adverb “Then” as in Good News Translation.

Many: the noun translated many is a term often used in the Qumran writings for the ordinary members of the community as distinct from the leaders. Here it seems to refer to the masses. Most versions, however, use a more general expression like “many people” (Good News Translation), and this is probably the best solution for most languages.

Rise against: or “rebel against,” or “resist.”

The men of violence among your own people: literally “sons of the violent ones of your people.” This refers to Jewish people who were impatient and could not wait for divine intervention. They actively encouraged recourse to armed struggle. But the writer of the Book of Daniel could not accept this perspective, because he was expecting action by God himself. This is why he uses rather hard words with negative connotations (men of violence) in referring to those who would resort to armed struggle to liberate Israel. The idea is conveyed in some English translations as “some hotheads” (New English Bible), “renegades” (Revised English Bible), “outlaws” (New American Bible), “the lawless” (New Revised Standard Version), “some wild spirits” (Moffatt).

Lift themselves up: the verb here conveys essentially the same notion of resistance or rebellion as rise against earlier in the verse. In many languages it may be necessary to state clearly who it is they are rebelling against. If this is the case, translators should repeat the idea contained earlier in the verse, against the king of the south. But where such repetition is unacceptable, the phrase “against him” will probably be satisfactory.

In order to fulfil the vision: literally “to make vision stand.” The use of the definite article the with the noun vision in Revised Standard Version is misleading. There is no such article in the Hebrew and the reference is unclear. It is therefore unwise to translate with Moffatt “the prediction of the vision,” as if it referred unambiguously to Daniel’s vision. It is preferable to speak of “a (indefinite) vision that they have had,” similar to the Good News Translation rendering; compare Revised English Bible “to give substance to a vision,” and Anchor Bible “in fulfillment of vision.”

But they shall fail: literally “they will stumble (or stagger).” This may also be stated negatively, “they will not succeed,” or possibly in other languages, “will end badly,” or as in New English Bible, “will come to disaster.”

During the conflicts between Syria and Egypt, Israel’s geographical location between the two meant that it was crossed by military troops from the north and from the south. It is not surprising that the Jews wished to be liberated from Egyptian domination and therefore even made a pact with Antiochus III in the hope of eventually gaining total independence for their country.

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 .