Daniel 2:1

Nebuchadnezzar Has a Disturbing Dream

2:1 In the second year of his ¹  reign Nebuchadnezzar had many dreams. ²  His mind ³  was disturbed and he suffered from insomnia. ⁴ 

Daniel 2:3

2:3 The king told them, “I have had a dream, ⁵  and I ⁶  am anxious to understand the dream.”

Daniel 4:5

4:5 I saw a dream that ⁷  frightened me badly. The things I imagined while lying on my bed – these visions of my mind – were terrifying me.

Genesis 40:7-8

40:7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officials, who were with him in custody in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?” ⁸  40:8 They told him, “We both had dreams, ⁹  but there is no one to interpret them.” Joseph responded, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell them ¹⁰  to me.”

Genesis 41:8

41:8 In the morning he ¹¹  was troubled, so he called for ¹²  all the diviner-priests ¹³  of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, ¹⁴  but no one could interpret ¹⁵  them for him. ¹⁶ 

¹ tn Heb “Nebuchadnezzar’s.” The possessive pronoun is substituted in the translation for stylistic reasons.

² tn Heb “dreamed dreams.” The plural is used here and in v. 2, but the singular in v. 3. The plural “dreams” has been variously explained. Some interpreters take the plural as denoting an indefinite singular (so GKC 400 §124.o). But it may be that it is describing a stream of related dreams, or a dream state. In the latter case, one might translate: “Nebuchadnezzar was in a trance.” See further, J. A. Montgomery, Daniel (ICC), 142.

³ tn Heb “his spirit.”

⁴ tn Heb “his sleep left (?) him.” The use of the verb הָיָה (hayah, “to be”) here is unusual. The context suggests a meaning such as “to be finished” or “gone.” Cf. Dan 8:27. Some scholars emend the verb to read נָדְדָה (nadÿdah, “fled”); cf. Dan 6:19. See further, DCH 2:540 s.v. היה I Ni.3; HALOT 244 s.v. היה nif; BDB 227-28 s.v. הָיָה Niph.2.

⁵ tn Heb “I have dreamed a dream” (so KJV, ASV).

⁶ tn Heb “my spirit.”

⁷ tn Aram “and it.”

⁸ tn Heb “why are your faces sad today?”

⁹ tn Heb “a dream we dreamed.”

¹⁰ tn The word “them” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹¹ tn Heb “his spirit.”

¹² tn Heb “he sent and called,” which indicates an official summons.

¹³ tn The Hebrew term חַרְטֹם (khartom) is an Egyptian loanword (hyr-tp) that describes a class of priests who were skilled in such interpretations.

¹⁴ tn The Hebrew text has the singular (though the Samaritan Pentateuch reads the plural). If retained, the singular must be collective for the set of dreams. Note the plural pronoun “them,” referring to the dreams, in the next clause. However, note that in v. 15 Pharaoh uses the singular to refer to the two dreams. In vv. 17-24 Pharaoh seems to treat the dreams as two parts of one dream (see especially v. 22).

¹⁵ tn “there was no interpreter.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “for Pharaoh.” The pronoun “him” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.