Daniel (image)

Hand colored stencil print on washi by Sadao Watanabe (1965).

Image taken with permission from the SadaoHanga Catalogue where you can find many more images and information about Sadao Watanabe.

For other images of Sadao Watanabe art works in TIPs, see here.

Daniel

The term that is transliterated as “Daniel” in English is translated in American Sign Language with the sign for the letter D and for “lion,” referring to the story in Daniel 6. (Source: RuthAnna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


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

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

Following is a Russian Orthodox icon of Daniel from the 18th century (found in the Transfiguration Church, Kizhi Monastery, Karelia, Russia).

 
Orthodox Icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )

Translation commentary on Daniel 10:2

In those days: that is, “at that time.” This presumably refers to the time established at the beginning of the chapter.

I, Daniel: see 7.15, 28; 8.1, 15, 27.

Mourning: this term does not indicate that one of Daniel’s close relatives had died. Among the Jewish people mourning rituals were practiced, not only at the death of a relative, but also during times of national crisis. The same rituals were sometimes performed with the purpose of showing repentance and asking God to pardon national sins (see 9.3), or as a kind of spiritual preparation to receive a revelation from God (compare Exo 34.28). A more detailed explanation of what the mourning practices were is given in the following verse. Here it seems that Daniel’s actions were intended to prepare himself for the understanding of God’s revelation. Some other translations of this verb are “doing … penance” (New Jerusalem Bible), “afflicted myself” (Anchor Bible) and “had been very sad” (New Century Version). In those languages where the verb “mourn” is used exclusively of the action that follows the death of relatives or close friends, another verb should be chosen.

For three weeks: literally “three weeks of days.” The added information “of days” in Hebrew is important in the overall context of the Book of Daniel. In contrast with the “weeks of years” in chapter 9, here it is ordinary seven-day weeks that are intended. Further, this precision shows that it was not “approximately three weeks” but precisely three full weeks or twenty-one days. New Jerusalem Bible, Moffatt, and New American Bible express this clearly by translating “three full weeks.” An American Translation and Revised English Bible have the same idea, with “three whole weeks.”

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 .