Daniel 2:4

2:4 The wise men replied to the king: [What follows is in Aramaic ¹ ] “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will disclose its ²  interpretation.”

Daniel 9:1

Daniel Prays for His People

9:1 In the first year of Darius ³  son of Ahasuerus, ⁴  who was of Median descent and who had been ⁵  appointed king over the Babylonian ⁶  empire –

Daniel 2:2

2:2 The king issued an order ⁷  to summon the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and wise men ⁸  in order to explain his dreams to him. ⁹  So they came and awaited the king’s instructions. ¹⁰ 

Daniel 1:4

1:4 young men in whom there was no physical defect and who were handsome, ¹¹  well versed in all kinds of wisdom, well educated ¹²  and having keen insight, ¹³  and who were capable ¹⁴  of entering the king’s royal service ¹⁵  – and to teach them the literature and language ¹⁶  of the Babylonians. ¹⁷ 

¹ sn Contrary to common belief, the point here is not that the wise men (Chaldeans) replied to the king in the Aramaic language, or that this language was uniquely the language of the Chaldeans. It was this view that led in the past to Aramaic being referred to as “Chaldee.” Aramaic was used as a lingua franca during this period; its origins and usage were not restricted to the Babylonians. Rather, this phrase is better understood as an editorial note (cf. NAB) marking the fact that from 2:4b through 7:28 the language of the book shifts from Hebrew to Aramaic. In 8:1, and for the remainder of the book, the language returns to Hebrew. Various views have been advanced to account for this change of language, most of which are unconvincing. Most likely the change in language is a reflection of stages in the transmission history of the book of Daniel.

² tn Or “the.”

³ sn The identity of this Darius is a major problem in correlating the biblical material with the extra-biblical records of this period. Most modern scholars treat the reference as a mistaken allusion to Darius Hystaspes (ca. 522-486 B.C.). Others have maintained instead that this name is a reference to the Persian governor Gubaru. Still others understand the reference to be to the Persian king Cyrus (cf. 6:28, where the vav (ו) may be understood as vav explicativum, meaning “even”). Under either of these latter two interpretations, the first year of Darius would have been ca. 538 B.C. Daniel would have been approximately eighty-two years old at this time.

⁴ tc The LXX reads “Xerxes.” This is the reading used by some English versions (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV). Most other English versions retain the Hebrew name “Ahasuerus.”

⁵ tc The present translation follows the MT in reading a Hophal (i.e., passive). Theodotion, the Syriac, and the Vulgate all presuppose the Hiphil (i.e., active). Even though this is the only occurrence of the Hophal of this verb in the Bible, there is no need to emend the vocalization to the Hiphil.

⁶ tn Heb “was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans.”

⁵ tn Heb “said.” So also in v. 12.

⁶ 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.

⁷ tn Heb “to explain to the king his dreams.”

⁸ tn Heb “stood before the king.”

⁷ tn Heb “good of appearance.”

⁸ tn Heb “knowers of knowledge.”

⁹ tn Heb “understanders of knowledge.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “who had strength.”

¹¹ tn Heb “to stand in the palace of the king.” Cf. vv. 5, 19.

¹² sn The language of the Chaldeans referred to here is Akkadian, an East Semitic cuneiform language.

¹³ tn Heb “Chaldeans” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV). This is an ancient name for the Babylonians.