41:22 “Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen!
Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles, 7
so we may examine them 8 and see how they were fulfilled. 9
Or decree for us some future events!
41:23 Predict how future events will turn out, 10
so we might know you are gods.
Yes, do something good or bad,
so we might be frightened and in awe. 11
4:13 For here he is!
He 12 formed the mountains and created the wind.
He reveals 13 his plans 14 to men.
He turns the dawn into darkness 15
and marches on the heights of the earth.
The Lord, the God who commands armies, 16 is his name!”
1 tn Aram “Daniel.” The proper name is redundant here in English, and has not been included in the translation.
2 tn Heb “a dream we dreamed.”
3 tn The word “them” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
4 tn Heb “not within me.”
5 tn Heb “God will answer.”
6 tn The expression שְׁלוֹם פַּרְעֹה (shÿlom par’oh) is here rendered “the welfare of Pharaoh” because the dream will be about life in his land. Some interpret it to mean an answer of “peace” – one that will calm his heart, or give him the answer that he desires (cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT).
7 tn Heb “As for the former things, tell us what they are!”
8 tn Heb “so we might set [them to] our heart.”
9 tn Heb “and might know their outcome.”
10 tn Heb “Declare the coming things, with respect to the end.”
11 tc The translation assumes the Qere (וְנִרְאֶה [vÿnir’eh], from יָרֵא [yare’], “be afraid”).
12 tn Heb “For look, the one who.” This verse is considered to be the first hymnic passage in the book. The others appear at 5:8-9 and 9:5-6. Scholars debate whether these verses were originally part of a single hymn or three distinct pieces deliberately placed in each context for particular effect.
13 tn Or “declares” (NAB, NASB).
14 tn Or “his thoughts.” The translation assumes that the pronominal suffix refers to God and that divine self-revelation is in view (see 3:7). If the suffix refers to the following term אָדַם (’adam, “men”), then the expression refers to God’s ability to read men’s minds.
15 tn Heb “he who makes dawn, darkness.” The meaning of the statement is unclear. The present translation assumes that allusion is made to God’s approaching judgment, when the light of day will be turned to darkness (see 5:20). Other options include: (1) “He makes the dawn [and] the darkness.” A few Hebrew
16 tn Traditionally, “God of hosts.”