41:8 In the morning he 1 was troubled, so he called for 2 all the diviner-priests 3 of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, 4 but no one could interpret 5 them for him. 6
19:11 The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools; 10
Pharaoh’s wise advisers give stupid advice.
How dare you say to Pharaoh,
“I am one of the sages,
one well-versed in the writings of the ancient kings?” 11
19:12 But where, oh where, are your wise men? 12
Let them tell you, let them find out
what the Lord who commands armies has planned for Egypt.
47:12 Persist 13 in trusting 14 your amulets
and your many incantations,
which you have faithfully recited 15 since your youth!
Maybe you will be successful 16 –
maybe you will scare away disaster. 17
47:13 You are tired out from listening to so much advice. 18
Let them take their stand –
the ones who see omens in the sky,
who gaze at the stars,
who make monthly predictions –
let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you! 19
3:8 Now 40 at that time certain 41 Chaldeans came forward and brought malicious accusations against 42 the Jews.
1 tn Heb “his spirit.”
2 tn Heb “he sent and called,” which indicates an official summons.
3 tn The Hebrew term חַרְטֹם (khartom) is an Egyptian loanword (hyr-tp) that describes a class of priests who were skilled in such interpretations.
4 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).
5 tn “there was no interpreter.”
6 tn Heb “for Pharaoh.” The pronoun “him” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
7 tn Heb “like this,” but the referent could be misunderstood to be a man like that described by Joseph in v. 33, rather than Joseph himself. For this reason the proper name “Joseph” has been supplied in the translation.
8 tn The rhetorical question expects the answer “No, of course not!”
9 tn Heb “as discerning and wise.” The order has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
10 tn Or “certainly the officials of Zoan are fools.” אַךְ (’akh) can carry the sense, “only, nothing but,” or “certainly, surely.”
11 tn Heb “A son of wise men am I, a son of ancient kings.” The term בֶּן (ben, “son of”) could refer to literal descent, but many understand the word, at least in the first line, in its idiomatic sense of “member [of a guild].” See HALOT 138 s.v. בֶּן and J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:371. If this is the case, then one can take the word in a figurative sense in the second line as well, the “son of ancient kings” being one devoted to their memory as preserved in their literature.
12 tn Heb “Where are they? Where are your wise men?” The juxtaposition of the interrogative pronouns is emphatic. See HALOT 38 s.v. אֶי.
13 tn Heb “stand” (so KJV, ASV); NASB, NRSV “Stand fast.”
14 tn The word “trusting” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See v. 9.
15 tn Heb “in that which you have toiled.”
16 tn Heb “maybe you will be able to profit.”
17 tn Heb “maybe you will cause to tremble.” The object “disaster” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See the note at v. 9.
18 tn Heb “you are tired because of the abundance of your advice.”
19 tn Heb “let them stand and rescue you – the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make known by months – from those things which are coming upon you.”
20 tn Heb “said.” So also in v. 12.
21 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.
22 tn Heb “to explain to the king his dreams.”
23 tn Heb “stood before the king.”
24 sn This explanation of the meaning of the name Belteshazzar may be more of a paronomasia than a strict etymology.
25 tc The present translation assumes the reading חֲזִי (khazi, “consider”) rather than the MT חֶזְוֵי (khezvey, “visions”). The MT implies that the king required Daniel to disclose both the dream and its interpretation, as in chapter 2. But in the following verses Nebuchadnezzar recounts his dream, while Daniel presents only its interpretation.
26 tn Aram “in strength.”
27 tn Aram “cause to enter.”
28 tn Aram “answered and said.”
29 sn Purple was a color associated with royalty in the ancient world.
30 tn The term translated “golden collar” here probably refers to something more substantial than merely a gold chain (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT) or necklace (cf. NASB).
31 tn Aram “[there were] discovered to be in him.”
32 tn Aram “wisdom like the wisdom.” This would be redundant in terms of English style.
33 tc Theodotion lacks the phrase “and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods.”
34 tc The MT includes a redundant reference to “your father the king” at the end of v. 11. None of the attempts to explain this phrase as original are very convincing. The present translation deletes the phrase, following Theodotion and the Syriac.
35 tn Or perhaps, “when he had tasted” (cf. NASB) in the sense of officially initiating the commencement of the banquet. The translation above seems preferable, however, given the clear evidence of inebriation in the context (cf. also CEV “he got drunk and ordered”).
36 tn Or “ancestor”; or “predecessor” (also in vv. 11, 13, 18). The Aramaic word translated “father” can on occasion denote these other relationships.
37 tn Or “taken.”
38 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
39 sn Making use of sacred temple vessels for an occasion of reveling and drunkenness such as this would have been a religious affront of shocking proportions to the Jewish captives.
40 tc This expression is absent in Theodotion.
41 tn Aram “men.”
42 tn Aram “ate the pieces of.” This is a rather vivid idiom for slander.
43 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of an unexpected development in the account: The opposing armies do not come together in battle; rather the leader of one side is captured.
44 tn For this meaning see BDAG 342 s.v. ἐνώπιον 4.b, “by the authority of, on behalf of Rv 13:12, 14; 19:20.”
45 tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”