Sought to find a ground for complaint: the translation should make clear the fact that there was some kind of inquiry or accusation against Daniel. The expression ground for complaint occurs twice in this verse, but this may be awkward in translation. One translation puts it this way: “began to look round for some pretext to attack Daniel’s administration” (New English Bible).

No error or fault was found in him: the Aramaic uses the verb “to find” three times in this verse, but it is unnecessary to reflect this in the translation. The parallel construction no error or fault may need to be reduced to a single statement in some languages. Also, the passive construction will have to be made active in many cases: “no one could find any error or fault in him” or “they could discover neither negligence nor malpractice” (Revised English Bible). The point of this statement does not seem to be that Daniel was absolutely perfect or sinless, but that he was law-abiding and trustworthy.

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 .