Discovery Box1 Samuel 22:11-19
Context22:11 Then the king arranged for a meeting with the priest Ahimelech son of Ahitub and all the priests of his father’s house who were at Nob. They all came to the king. 22:12 Then Saul said, “Listen, son of Ahitub.” He replied, “Here I am, my lord.” 22:13 Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and this son of Jesse? You gave 1 him bread and a sword and inquired of God on his behalf, so that he opposes 2 me and waits in ambush, as is the case today!”
22:14 Ahimelech replied to the king, “Who among all your servants is faithful like David? He is the king’s son-in-law, the leader of your bodyguard, and honored in your house! 22:15 Was it just today that I began to inquire of God on his behalf? Far be it from me! The king should not accuse 3 his servant or any of my father’s house. For your servant is not aware of all this – not in whole or in part!” 4
22:16 But the king said, “You will surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house! 22:17 Then the king said to the messengers 5 who were stationed beside him, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, for they too have sided 6 with David! They knew he was fleeing, but they did not inform me.” But the king’s servants refused to harm 7 the priests of the Lord.
22:18 Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests!” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests. He killed on that day eighty-five 8 men who wore the linen ephod. 22:19 As for Nob, the city of the priests, he struck down with the sword men and women, children and infants, oxen, donkeys, and sheep – all with the sword.
Daniel 2:5-13
Context2:5 The king replied 9 to the wise men, “My decision is firm. 10 If you do not inform me of both the dream and its interpretation, you will be dismembered 11 and your homes reduced to rubble! 2:6 But if you can disclose the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts, a reward, and considerable honor. So disclose to me the dream and its interpretation!” 2:7 They again replied, “Let the king inform us 12 of the dream; then we will disclose its 13 interpretation.” 2:8 The king replied, “I know for sure that you are attempting to gain time, because you see that my decision is firm. 2:9 If you don’t inform me of the dream, there is only one thing that is going to happen to you. 14 For you have agreed among yourselves to report to me something false and deceitful 15 until such time as things might change. So tell me the dream, and I will have confidence 16 that you can disclose its interpretation.”
2:10 The wise men replied to the king, “There is no man on earth who is able to disclose the king’s secret, 17 for no king, regardless of his position and power, has ever requested such a thing from any magician, astrologer, or wise man. 2:11 What the king is asking is too difficult, and no one exists who can disclose it to the king, except for the gods – but they don’t live among mortals!” 18
2:12 Because of this the king got furiously angry 19 and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 2:13 So a decree went out, and the wise men were about 20 to be executed. They also sought 21 Daniel and his friends so that they could be executed.
Matthew 2:16
Context2:16 When Herod 22 saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged. He sent men 23 to kill all the children in Bethlehem 24 and throughout the surrounding region from the age of two and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men.
Acts 12:19
Context12:19 When Herod 25 had searched 26 for him and did not find him, he questioned 27 the guards and commanded that they be led away to execution. 28 Then 29 Herod 30 went down from Judea to Caesarea 31 and stayed there.
[22:13] 2 tn Heb “rises up against.”
[22:15] 3 tn Heb “set a matter against.”
[22:15] 4 tn Heb “small or great.”
[22:17] 6 tn Heb “their hand is.”
[22:17] 7 tn Heb “to extend their hand to harm.”
[22:18] 8 tc The number is confused in the Greek
[2:5] 9 tn Aram “answered and said,” a common idiom to indicate a reply, but redundant in contemporary English.
[2:5] 10 tn 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.
[2:5] 11 tn Aram “made limbs.” Cf. 3:29.
[2:7] 12 tn Aram “his servants.”
[2:9] 14 tn Aram “one is your law,” i.e., only one thing is applicable to you.
[2:9] 15 tn Aram “a lying and corrupt word.”
[2:9] 16 tn Aram “I will know.”
[2:10] 17 tn Aram “matter, thing.”
[2:11] 18 tn Aram “whose dwelling is not with flesh.”
[2:12] 19 tn Aram “was angry and very furious.” The expression is a hendiadys (two words or phrases expressing a single idea).
[2:13] 20 tn The Aramaic participle is used here to express the imminent future.
[2:13] 21 tn The impersonal active plural (“they sought”) of the Aramaic verb could also be translated as an English passive: “Daniel and his friends were sought” (cf. NAB).
[2:16] 22 sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1. Note the fulfillment of the prophecy given by the angel in 2:13.
[2:16] 24 map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.
[12:19] 25 sn King Herod was Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod I (Herod the Great).
[12:19] 26 tn Or “had instigated a search” (Herod would have ordered the search rather than conducting it himself).
[12:19] 27 tn “Questioned” is used to translate ἀνακρίνας (anakrina") here because a possible translation offered by BDAG 66 s.v. ἀνακρίνω for this verse is “examined,” which could be understood to mean Herod inspected the guards rather than questioned them. The translation used by the NIV, “cross-examined,” also avoids this possible misunderstanding.
[12:19] 28 tn The meaning “led away to execution” for ἀπαχθῆναι (apacqhnai) in this verse is given by BDAG 95 s.v. ἀπάγω 2.c. Although an explicit reference to execution is lacking here, it is what would usually occur in such a case (Acts 16:27; 27:42; Code of Justinian 9.4.4). “Led away to torture” is a less likely option (Pliny the Younger, Letters 10, 96, 8).
[12:19] 29 tn Grk “and,” but the sequence of events is better expressed in English by “then.” A new sentence is begun in the translation because of the length of the sentence in Greek, which exceeds normal English sentence length.
[12:19] 30 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Since Herod has been the subject of the preceding material, and the circumstances of his death are the subject of the following verses (20-23), it is best to understand Herod as the subject here. This is especially true since according to Josephus, Ant. 19.8.2 [19.343-352], Herod Agrippa I died at Caesarea in
[12:19] 31 sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1.
