2:10 The wise men replied to the king, “There is no man on earth who is able to disclose the king’s secret, 7 for no king, regardless of his position and power, has ever requested such a thing from any magician, astrologer, or wise man.
1 tn Aram “answered and said,” a common Aramaic idiom that occurs repeatedly in this chapter.
2 sn O king, live forever! is a comment of typical court courtesy that is not necessarily indicative of the real sentiments of the speaker. Ancient oriental court protocol could sometimes require a certain amount of hypocrisy.
3 tn Aram “his servants.”
4 tn Or “the.”
5 tc In the MT this word is understood to begin the following address (“answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar’”). However, it seems unlikely that Nebuchadnezzar’s subordinates would address the king in such a familiar way, particularly in light of the danger that they now found themselves in. The present translation implies moving the atnach from “king” to “Nebuchadnezzar.”
6 tn Aram “to return a word to you.”
7 tn Aram “matter, thing.”
9 tn Aram “from the sons of the captivity [of].”
10 tn Aram “prays his prayer.”