1.5 KiB
General Information:
Daniel continues to describe his vision of the court in heaven and the response to the fourth animal that he saw in Daniel 7:7. Most of the text of verses 9-14 is symbolic language with parallel lines that have similar meaning. For this reason, the ULB and UDB present them in poetic form. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/writing-symlanguage and rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parallelism)
A river of fire flowed out from before him
The quick way in which fire came from the presence of God is spoken of as if it was water flowing in a river. Alternate translation: "Fire poured out in front of him like water in a river" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor)
before him
The word "him" refers to God, the Ancient of Days from Daniel 7:9.
millions
This probably refers to a large group rather than to a precise number. Alternate translation: "thousands of thousands" or "great numbers of people"
one hundred million
This probably refers to a large group rather than to a precise number. Alternate translation: "tens of thousands times tens of thousands" or "uncountable numbers of people"
The court was in session
This means that God, the judge, was ready to investigate the evidence and make his judgment. Alternate translation: "The judge was ready to judge" or "The judge was seated"
the books were opened
These are the books that contain the evidence to be used in court. Alternate translation: "the books of evidence were opened"