Daniel 2:11

2:11 What the king is asking is too difficult, and no one exists who can disclose it to the king, except for the gods – but they don’t live among mortals!” ¹ 

Daniel 2:2

2:2 The king issued an order ²  to summon the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and wise men ³  in order to explain his dreams to him. ⁴  So they came and awaited the king’s instructions. ⁵ 

Daniel 1:17

1:17 Now as for these four young men, God endowed them with knowledge and skill in all sorts of literature and wisdom – and Daniel had insight into all kinds of visions and dreams.

Acts 12:22

12:22 But the crowd ⁶  began to shout, ⁷  “The voice of a god, ⁸  and not of a man!”

Acts 14:11

14:11 So when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted ⁹  in the Lycaonian language, ¹⁰  “The gods have come down to us in human form!” ¹¹ 

Revelation 3:9

3:9 Listen! ¹²  I am going to make those people from the synagogue ¹³  of Satan – who say they are Jews yet ¹⁴  are not, but are lying – Look, I will make ¹⁵  them come and bow down ¹⁶  at your feet and acknowledge ¹⁷  that I have loved you.

¹ tn Aram “whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

² tn Heb “said.” So also in v. 12.

³ tn Heb “Chaldeans.” The term Chaldeans (Hebrew כַּשְׂדִּים, kasdim) is used in the book of Daniel both in an ethnic sense and, as here, to refer to a caste of Babylonian wise men and astrologers.

⁴ tn Heb “to explain to the king his dreams.”

⁵ tn Heb “stood before the king.”

⁶ tn The translation “crowd” is given by BDAG 223 s.v. δῆμος; the word often means a gathering of citizens to conduct public business. Here it is simply the group of people gathered to hear the king’s speech.

⁷ tn The imperfect verb ἐπεφώνει (epefwnei) is taken ingressively in the sequence of events. Presumably the king had started his speech when the crowd began shouting.

⁸ sn The voice of a god. Contrast the response of Paul and Barnabas in Acts 14:13-15.

⁹ tn Grk “they lifted up their voice” (an idiom).

¹⁰ tn Grk “in Lycaonian, saying.” The word “language” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

¹¹ tn So BDAG 707 s.v. ὁμοιόω 1. However, L&N 64.4 takes the participle ὁμοιωθέντες (Jomoiwqente") as an adjectival participle modifying θεοί (qeoi): “the gods resembling men have come down to us.”

¹² tn Grk “behold” (L&N 91.13).

¹³ sn See the note on synagogue in 2:9.

¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast between what these people claimed and what they were.

¹⁵ tn The verb here is ποιέω (poiew), but in this context it has virtually the same meaning as δίδωμι (didwmi) used at the beginning of the verse. Stylistic variation like this is typical of Johannine literature.

¹⁶ tn The verb here is προσκυνήσουσιν (proskunhsousin), normally used to refer to worship.

¹⁷ tn Or “and know,” “and recognize.”