27So I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days; then I arose and went about the king’s business. But I was dismayed by the vision and did not understand it.
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: Ruth Anna 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.
Following is a hand colored stencil print on washi of Daniel 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.
The following is a stained glass window depicting Daniel by Endre Odon Hevezi and Gyula Bajo from 1965 for the Debre Libanos Monastery, Oromia, Ethiopia:
Photo by Timothy A. Gonsalves, hosted by Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license
Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Daniel 8:27:
Kupsabiny: “I lost strength and my body became ripe/fell fatigued for many days. But when I regained (strength), I went back to do my work in the king’s home as usual. But these visions caught my mouth/left me spellbound/surprised that I did not understand them.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “After that was very tired, I became ill for some days. After that I got up and went to work for the king [lit.: went into the work of the king]. Still, I was troubled because of the vision I had seen. [lit.: I became what to do what to do because of the vision I had seen] I was not able to understand it.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “After that, I, Daniel, was-weak and was-sick for several days. When- I -was- well, I went-back to the work the king assigned to me. But I am still confused/bothered by that vision that I saw. That (was) difficult to understand.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Then I, Daniel, became weak, and I was sick for several days. Then I arose and returned to doing the work that the king had given to me, but I was perplexed/confused about the vision, and I could not understand it.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:
Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))
Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
I, Daniel: the use of this formula once again serves as a discourse marker showing boundaries in the story. In this case it seems to mark the beginning of the conclusion to this section. Compare verses 1 and 15.
Was overcome: the translation of the Hebrew word here is much disputed, but the context seems to require something like “weak” (New American Bible), “faint” (An American Translation), “exhausted” (New International Version), “my strength failed” (Revised English Bible). New Jerusalem Bible “lost consciousness” goes back to verse 18, where a different word is used.
Rose: since the context clearly shows that recovery from an illness was involved, some languages may find it more natural to say something like “then I got well” or “my health improved.” The meaning is not that Daniel got up while he was still sick.
Went about the king’s business: since Daniel had obviously taken some time off from work when he received the vision, Good News Translation includes the idea that he “went back to work.” It also makes clear that Daniel did not actually replace the king in performing his duties, but simply returned to carrying out the job assigned to him by the king. These refinements may also be helpful in other languages.
Appalled: this seems to be a poor choice of words in English, although it is followed by New International Version, New American Bible, and Moffatt. The meaning is rather something like “disquieted” (An American Translation), “dismayed” (New Jerusalem Bible), or “perplexed” (New English Bible).
Did not understand it: literally “and there was no one understanding.” The two corresponding Hebrew words may be interpreted in three different ways: (1) “I (Daniel) did not understand it (the vision)” (Moffatt and the majority of English versions); (2) “No one could explain it (the vision)”; this is the solution followed by New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible, and also by New International Version when it says “it was beyond understanding”; (3) “No one could understand (why the vision was to be kept secret or why I was so upset)”; this solution is apparently adopted by Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, which uses the masculine pronoun—such a pronoun in French cannot refer to the word “vision,” which is feminine. The first of these three possibilities is the most commonly accepted and the most likely to be the correct understanding of the text. It is unlikely that the text would focus on the inability of others to understand the vision or why it was to be kept secret, since at this point no one else knew about it.
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 .
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