1 Kings 4:29

4:29 God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment; the breadth of his understanding ¹  was as infinite as the sand on the seashore.

1 Kings 4:2

4:2 These were his officials:

Azariah son of Zadok was the priest.

1 Kings 9:22

9:22 Solomon did not assign Israelites to these work crews; ²  the Israelites served as his soldiers, attendants, officers, charioteers, and commanders of his chariot forces. ³ 

Isaiah 19:11

19:11 The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools; ⁴ 

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?” ⁵ 

Daniel 1:4

1:4 young men in whom there was no physical defect and who were handsome, ⁶  well versed in all kinds of wisdom, well educated ⁷  and having keen insight, ⁸  and who were capable ⁹  of entering the king’s royal service ¹⁰  – and to teach them the literature and language ¹¹  of the Babylonians. ¹² 

Daniel 1:17-20

1:17 Now as for these four young men, God endowed them with knowledge and skill in all sorts of literature and wisdom – and Daniel had insight into all kinds of visions and dreams.

1:18 When the time appointed by the king arrived, ¹³  the overseer of the court officials brought them into Nebuchadnezzar’s presence. 1:19 When the king spoke with them, he did not find among the entire group ¹⁴  anyone like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, or Azariah. So they entered the king’s service. ¹⁵  1:20 In every matter of wisdom and ¹⁶  insight the king asked them about, he found them to be ten times ¹⁷  better than any of the magicians and astrologers that were in his entire empire.

[4:29]  ¹ tn Heb “heart,” i.e., mind. (The Hebrew term translated “heart” often refers to the mental faculties.)

[9:22]  ² sn These work crews. The work crews referred to here must be different than the temporary crews described in 5:13-16.

[9:22]  ³ tn Heb “officers of his chariots and his horses.”

[19:11]  ⁴ tn Or “certainly the officials of Zoan are fools.” אַךְ (’akh) can carry the sense, “only, nothing but,” or “certainly, surely.”

[19:11]  ⁵ 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.

[1:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “good of appearance.”

[1:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “knowers of knowledge.”

[1:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “understanders of knowledge.”

[1:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “who had strength.”

[1:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to stand in the palace of the king.” Cf. vv. 5, 19.

[1:4]  ¹¹ sn The language of the Chaldeans referred to here is Akkadian, an East Semitic cuneiform language.

[1:4]  ¹² tn Heb “Chaldeans” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV). This is an ancient name for the Babylonians.

[1:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “at the end of the days which the king said to bring them.”

[1:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “from all of them.”

[1:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “stood before the king.”

[1:20]  ¹⁶ tc The MT lacks the conjunction, reading the first word in the phrase as a construct (“wisdom of insight”). While this reading is not impossible, it seems better to follow Theodotion, the Syriac, the Vulgate, and the Sahidic Coptic, all of which have the conjunction.

[1:20]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “hands.”