41:8 In the morning he 6 was troubled, so he called for 7 all the diviner-priests 8 of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, 9 but no one could interpret 10 them for him. 11
1:14 Now Enoch, the seventh in descent beginning with Adam, 17 even prophesied of them, 18 saying, “Look! The Lord is coming 19 with thousands and thousands 20 of his holy ones,
2:1 In the second year of his 21 reign Nebuchadnezzar had many dreams. 22 His mind 23 was disturbed and he suffered from insomnia. 24
1 tn Heb “dreamed a dream.”
2 tn Heb “a man his dream in one night.”
3 tn Heb “a man according to the interpretation of his dream.”
4 tn The verb זָעַף (za’af) only occurs here and Dan 1:10. It means “to be sick, to be emaciated,” probably in this case because of depression.
5 tn Heb “why are your faces sad today?”
6 tn Heb “his spirit.”
7 tn Heb “he sent and called,” which indicates an official summons.
8 tn The Hebrew term חַרְטֹם (khartom) is an Egyptian loanword (hyr-tp) that describes a class of priests who were skilled in such interpretations.
9 tn The Hebrew text has the singular (though the Samaritan Pentateuch reads the plural). If retained, the singular must be collective for the set of dreams. Note the plural pronoun “them,” referring to the dreams, in the next clause. However, note that in v. 15 Pharaoh uses the singular to refer to the two dreams. In vv. 17-24 Pharaoh seems to treat the dreams as two parts of one dream (see especially v. 22).
10 tn “there was no interpreter.”
11 tn Heb “for Pharaoh.” The pronoun “him” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
12 tn Grk “wild waves of the sea.”
13 tn Grk “foaming, causing to foam.” The verb form is intensive and causative. BDAG 360 s.v. ἐπαφρίζω suggests the meaning “to cause to splash up like froth, cause to foam,” or, in this context, “waves casting up their own shameless deeds like (dirty) foam.”
14 tn Grk “shames, shameful things.” It is uncertain whether shameful deeds or shameful words are in view. Either way, the picture has taken a decided turn: Though waterless clouds and fruitless trees may promise good things, but deliver nothing, wild sea-waves are portents of filth spewed forth from the belly of the sea.
15 sn The imagery of a star seems to fit the nautical theme that Jude is developing. Stars were of course the guides to sailors at night, just as teachers are responsible to lead the flock through a benighted world. But false teachers, as wayward stars, are not fixed and hence offer unreliable, even disastrous guidance. They are thus both the dangerous reefs on which the ships could be destroyed and the false guides, leading them into these rocks. There is a special irony that these lights will be snuffed out, reserved for the darkest depths of eternal darkness.
16 tn Grk “utter darkness of darkness for eternity.” See note on the word “utter” in v. 6.
17 tn Grk “the seventh from Adam.”
18 tn Grk “against them.” The dative τούτοις (toutois) is a dativus incommodi (dative of disadvantage).
19 tn Grk “has come,” a proleptic aorist.
20 tn Grk “ten thousands.” The word μυριάς (muria"), from which the English myriad is derived, means “ten thousand.” In the plural it means “ten thousands.” This would mean, minimally, 20,000 (a multiple of ten thousand). At the same time, the term was often used in apocalyptic literature to represent simply a rather large number, without any attempt to be specific.
21 tn Heb “Nebuchadnezzar’s.” The possessive pronoun is substituted in the translation for stylistic reasons.
22 tn Heb “dreamed dreams.” The plural is used here and in v. 2, but the singular in v. 3. The plural “dreams” has been variously explained. Some interpreters take the plural as denoting an indefinite singular (so GKC 400 §124.o). But it may be that it is describing a stream of related dreams, or a dream state. In the latter case, one might translate: “Nebuchadnezzar was in a trance.” See further, J. A. Montgomery, Daniel (ICC), 142.
23 tn Heb “his spirit.”
24 tn Heb “his sleep left (?) him.” The use of the verb הָיָה (hayah, “to be”) here is unusual. The context suggests a meaning such as “to be finished” or “gone.” Cf. Dan 8:27. Some scholars emend the verb to read נָדְדָה (nadÿdah, “fled”); cf. Dan 6:19. See further, DCH 2:540 s.v. היה I Ni.3; HALOT 244 s.v. היה nif; BDB 227-28 s.v. הָיָה Niph.2.
25 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
26 tn Or “the judge’s seat.”
27 tn The word “message” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
28 tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγουσα (legousa) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.
29 tn The Greek particle γάρ (gar, “for”) has not been translated here.
30 tn Or “suffered greatly in a dream.” See the discussion on the construction κατ᾿ ὄναρ (kat’ onar) in BDAG 710 s.v. ὄναρ.