When he tasted the wine: in spite of the Revised Standard Version wording, this does not mean that, after sipping only a small amount of wine, the following events occurred. On the contrary the meaning is more likely “after having become slightly drunk.” Bible en français courant has “under the influence of the alcohol,” and similarly New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible, and Anchor Bible all have “under the influence of the wine.” New Revised Standard Version also uses this formulation. Some other renderings are “carried away by the wine” (Moffatt), “warmed by the wine” (New English Bible), and “inflamed by the taste of the wine” (An American Translation).
Vessels: the meaning of this term is simply “containers,” but since they were to be used for drinking wine, the Good News Translation rendering “cups and bowls” is a good common language equivalent in English.
Had taken out of the temple: for the historical account of this event, see 2 Kgs 25.15. The word temple refers to the structure in Jerusalem built by the people of Israel under Solomon for the worship of God (1 Kgs 6–8). It was modeled after the tabernacle but differed from it in size, complexity, permanence and location. The term used in the translation should refer to this particular building. If necessary a comprehensive explanation may be included in a glossary entry.
Be brought: the passive form will have to be made active in many languages. The active formulation may read “ordered his servants to bring” or “commanded his men to pick up (or fetch).” And in some languages it will be necessary to state where these cups and bowls were to be brought. So translators may want to add “to him” or “to the banquet.”
Nebuchadnezzar his father: while the footnotes in some versions indicate that the term for father used here may be understood to mean “ancestor” or “predecessor,” no English version puts this interpretation in the text. As noted above, Nebuchadnezzar was not, in fact, the literal father of Belshazzar (see also verses 11, 13, and 18; and compare verse 22 “you his son”).
That … might drink from them: literally “and … will drink….” This indicates the purpose of having the cups and bowls brought to the banquet. In many cases it will be a good idea to express this purpose clause in a separate sentence, as in Good News Translation.
Wives … concubines: the two Aramaic terms probably referred to two distinct categories of legitimate spouses that made up the royal harem. The second term, however, is the subject of considerable debate. Some commentators take it to refer to some sort of “entertainers” rather than to concubines. New Jerusalem Bible translates it “the women who sang for him,” and New American Bible has “his entertainers.” However, the generally accepted meaning is probably the correct one. These women were probably members of the royal court but having some kind of inferior status when compared to the first group. Therefore the Bible en français courant translation, “his wives and his second rank spouses,” may not be a bad model if the translator has suitable terms available. Another possibility is “his royal wives and his service wives” (compare Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). The same terms are repeated in verses 3 and 23 of this chapter.
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 .