8:1 In the third year. At this point in his book, Daniel returns again to using the Hebrew language rather than Aramaic, presumably because by this time (the third year of Belshazzar), his influence with the leaders of Babylon had become minimal and he was writing mainly for his own people of Judah. However, his later experience in the lion’s den during the reign of Darius, as recorded in Daniel 6, was again written in Aramaic, probably as a testimony to Darius and his Persian nobles, as well as to the Babylonians remaining in the city. The Persians were probably fluent in the language of the Chaldeans. It is noteworthy that Daniel’s visions as recorded in chapters 7, 8 and 9, and probably those in 10, 11 and 12 as well, were given and probably recorded before the history account in chapter 6.