Daniel 2:2

2:2 The king issued an order ¹  to summon the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and wise men ²  in order to explain his dreams to him. ³  So they came and awaited the king’s instructions. ⁴ 

Daniel 3:2

3:2 Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent out a summons to assemble the satraps, prefects, governors, counselors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, ⁵  and all the other authorities of the province to attend the dedication of the statue that he ⁶  had erected.

Daniel 5:12

5:12 Thus there was found in this man Daniel, whom the king renamed Belteshazzar, an extraordinary spirit, knowledge, and skill to interpret ⁷  dreams, solve riddles, and decipher knotty problems. ⁸  Now summon ⁹  Daniel, and he will disclose the interpretation.”

Daniel 3:13

3:13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in a fit of rage ¹⁰  demanded that they bring ¹¹  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before him. So they brought them ¹²  before the king.

Daniel 5:7

5:7 The king called out loudly ¹³  to summon ¹⁴  the astrologers, wise men, and diviners. The king proclaimed ¹⁵  to the wise men of Babylon that anyone who could read this inscription and disclose its interpretation would be clothed in purple ¹⁶  and have a golden collar ¹⁷  placed on his neck and be third ruler in the kingdom.

¹ tn Heb “said.” So also in v. 12.

² 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.

³ tn Heb “to explain to the king his dreams.”

⁴ tn Heb “stood before the king.”

⁵ sn The specific duties of the seven types of officials listed here (cf. vv. 3, 27) are unclear. The Aramaic words that are used are transliterations of Akkadian or Persian technical terms whose exact meanings are uncertain. The translations given here follow suggestions set forth in BDB.

⁶ tn Aram “Nebuchadnezzar the king.” The proper name and title have been replaced by the relative pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁹ tc The translation reads מִפְשַׁר (mifshar) rather than the MT מְפַשַּׁר (mÿfashar) and later in the verse reads וּמִשְׁרֵא (mishre’) rather than the MT וּמְשָׁרֵא (mÿshare’). The Masoretes have understood these Aramaic forms to be participles, but they are more likely to be vocalized as infinitives. As such, they have an epexegetical function in the syntax of their clause.

¹⁰ tn Aram “to loose knots.”

¹¹ tn Aram “let [Daniel] be summoned.”

¹³ tn Aram “in anger and wrath”; NASB “in rage and anger.” The expression is a hendiadys.

¹⁴ tn The Aramaic infinitive is active.

¹⁵ tn Aram “these men.” The pronoun is used in the translation to avoid undue repetition.

¹⁷ tn Aram “in strength.”

¹⁸ tn Aram “cause to enter.”

¹⁹ tn Aram “answered and said.”

²⁰ sn Purple was a color associated with royalty in the ancient world.

²¹ tn The term translated “golden collar” here probably refers to something more substantial than merely a gold chain (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT) or necklace (cf. NASB).