Daniel 2:5

2:5 The king replied¹ to the wise men, “My decision is firm.² If you do not inform me of both the dream and its interpretation, you will be dismembered³ and your homes reduced to rubble!

Daniel 2:15

2:15 He inquired of Arioch the king’s deputy, “Why is the decree from the king so urgent?”⁴ Then Arioch informed Daniel about the matter.

Daniel 2:21

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

Daniel 2:26

2:26 The king then asked Daniel (whose name was also Belteshazzar), “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I saw, as well as its interpretation?”

Daniel 2:29

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.

Daniel 3:18

3:18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we don’t serve your gods, and we will not pay homage to the golden statue that you have erected.”

Daniel 4:6-7

4:6 So I issued an order⁸ for all the wise men of Babylon to be brought⁹ before me so that they could make known to me the interpretation of the dream. 4:7 When the magicians, astrologers, wise men, and diviners entered, I recounted the dream for them. But they were unable to make known its interpretation to me.

Daniel 4:26

4:26 They said to leave the taproot of the tree, for your kingdom will be restored to you when you come to understand that heaven¹⁰ rules.

Daniel 5:8

5:8 So all the king’s wise men came in, but they were unable to read the writing or to make known its¹¹ interpretation to the king.

Daniel 5:15

5:15 Now the wise men and¹² astrologers were brought before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation. But they were unable to disclose the interpretation of the message.

Daniel 5:17

Daniel Interprets the Handwriting on the Wall

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 its¹³ interpretation.

Daniel 7:16

7:16 I approached one of those standing nearby and asked him about the meaning¹⁴ of all this. So he spoke with me and revealed¹⁵ to me the interpretation of the vision:¹⁶

¹tn Aram “answered and said,” a common idiom to indicate a reply, but redundant in contemporary English.

²tn 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.

³tn Aram “made limbs.” Cf. 3:29.

⁴tn 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.

⁷tn Aram “kings.”

⁸tn Aram “the knowers of understanding.”

¹⁰tn Aram “your thoughts upon your bed went up to what will be after this.”

¹³tn Aram “from me there was placed a decree.”

¹⁴tn The Aramaic infinitive here is active.

¹⁶sn 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).

¹⁹tc Read וּפִשְׁרֵהּ (ufishreh) with the Qere rather than וּפִשְׁרָא (ufishra’) of the Kethib.

²²tn 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).

²⁵tn Or “the.”

²⁸tn Aram “what is certain.”

²⁹tn Aram “and made known.”

³⁰tn Aram “matter,” but the matter at hand is of course the vision.