Daniel 1:20

1:20 In every matter of wisdom and ¹  insight the king asked them about, he found them to be ten times ²  better than any of the magicians and astrologers that were in his entire empire.

Daniel 8:4

8:4 I saw that the ram was butting westward, northward, and southward. No animal ³  was able to stand before it, and there was none who could deliver from its power. ⁴  It did as it pleased and acted arrogantly. ⁵ 

¹ tc The MT lacks the conjunction, reading the first word in the phrase as a construct (“wisdom of insight”). While this reading is not impossible, it seems better to follow Theodotion, the Syriac, the Vulgate, and the Sahidic Coptic, all of which have the conjunction.

² tn Heb “hands.”

³ tn Or “beast” (NAB).

⁴ tn Heb “hand.” So also in v. 7.

⁵ tn In the Hiphil the Hebrew verb גָּדַל (gadal, “to make great; to magnify”) can have either a positive or a negative sense. For the former, used especially of God, see Ps 126:2, 3; Joel 2:21. In this chapter (8:4, 8, 11, 25) the word has a pejorative sense, describing the self-glorification of this king. The sense seems to be that of vainly assuming one’s own superiority through deliberate hubris.