2:21 He changes times and seasons,
deposing some kings
and establishing others. 5
He gives wisdom to the wise;
he imparts knowledge to those with understanding; 6
2:29 “As for you, O king, while you were in your bed your thoughts turned to future things. 7 The revealer of mysteries has made known to you what will take place.
5:8 So all the king’s wise men came in, but they were unable to read the writing or to make known its 11 interpretation to the king.
5:17 But Daniel replied to the king, “Keep your gifts, and give your rewards to someone else! However, I will read the writing for the king and make known its 13 interpretation.
1 tn Aram “answered and said,” a common idiom to indicate a reply, but redundant in contemporary English.
2 tn It seems clear from what follows that Nebuchadnezzar clearly recalls the content of the dream, although obviously he does not know what to make of it. By not divulging the dream itself to the would-be interpreters, he intends to find out whether they are simply leading him on. If they can tell him the dream’s content, which he is able to verify, he then can have confidence in their interpretation, which is what eludes him. The translation “the matter is gone from me” (cf. KJV, ASV), suggesting that the king had simply forgotten the dream, is incorrect. The Aramaic word used here (אַזְדָּא, ’azda’) is probably of Persian origin; it occurs in the OT only here and in v. 8. There are two main possibilities for the meaning of the word: “the matter is promulgated by me” (see KBL 1048 s.v.) and therefore “publicly known” (cf. NRSV; F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 62-63, §189), or “the matter is irrevocable” (cf. NAB, NIV, TEV, CEV, NLT; HALOT 1808 s.v. אזד; cf. also BDB 1079 s.v.). The present translation reflects this latter option. See further E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 3.
3 tn Aram “made limbs.” Cf. 3:29.
4 tn The Aramaic word מְהַחְצְפָה (mÿhakhtsÿfah) may refer to the severity of the king’s decree (i.e., “harsh”; so HALOT 1879 s.v. חצף; BDB 1093 s.v. חֲצַף), although it would seem that in a delicate situation such as this Daniel would avoid this kind of criticism of the king’s actions. The translation above understands the word to refer to the immediacy, not harshness, of the decree. See further, F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 50, §116; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 67.
7 tn Aram “kings.”
8 tn Aram “the knowers of understanding.”
10 tn Aram “your thoughts upon your bed went up to what will be after this.”
13 tn Aram “from me there was placed a decree.”
14 tn The Aramaic infinitive here is active.
16 sn The reference to heaven here is a circumlocution for God. There was a tendency in Jewish contexts to avoid direct reference to God. Cf. the expression “kingdom of heaven” in the NT and such statements as “I have sinned against heaven and in your sight” (Luke 15:21).
19 tc Read וּפִשְׁרֵהּ (ufishreh) with the Qere rather than וּפִשְׁרָא (ufishra’) of the Kethib.
22 tn The Aramaic text does not have “and.” The term “astrologers” is either an appositive for “wise men” (cf. KJV, NKJV, ASV, RSV, NRSV), or the construction is to be understood as asyndetic (so the translation above).
25 tn Or “the.”
28 tn Aram “what is certain.”
29 tn Aram “and made known.”
30 tn Aram “matter,” but the matter at hand is of course the vision.