2 Kings 6:9-10

6:9 But the prophet sent this message to the king of Israel, “Make sure you don’t pass through this place because Syria is invading there.” 6:10 So the king of Israel sent a message to the place the prophet had pointed out, warning it ¹  to be on its guard. This happened on several occasions. ² 

Isaiah 29:15

29:15 Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are as good as dead, ³ 

who do their work in secret and boast, ⁴ 

“Who sees us? Who knows what we’re doing?” ⁵ 

Jeremiah 23:23-24

23:23 Do you people think ⁶  that I am some local deity

and not the transcendent God?” ⁷  the Lord asks. ⁸ 

23:24 “Do you really think anyone can hide himself

where I cannot see him?” the Lord asks. ⁹ 

“Do you not know that I am everywhere?” ¹⁰ 

the Lord asks. ¹¹ 

Daniel 2:22-23

2:22 he reveals deep and hidden things.

He knows what is in the darkness,

and light resides with him.

2:23 O God of my fathers, I acknowledge and glorify you,

for you have bestowed wisdom and power on me.

Now you have enabled me to understand what I ¹²  requested from you.

For you have enabled me to understand the king’s dilemma.” ¹³ 

Daniel 2:28-30

2:28 However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, ¹⁴  and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the times to come. ¹⁵  The dream and the visions you had while lying on your bed ¹⁶  are as follows.

2:29 “As for you, O king, while you were in your bed your thoughts turned to future things. ¹⁷  The revealer of mysteries has made known to you what will take place. 2:30 As for me, this mystery was revealed to me not because I possess more wisdom ¹⁸  than any other living person, but so that the king may understand ¹⁹  the interpretation and comprehend the thoughts of your mind. ²⁰ 

Daniel 2:47

2:47 The king replied to Daniel, “Certainly your God is a God of gods and Lord of kings and revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery!”

Daniel 4:9-18

4:9 saying, “Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, in whom I know there to be a spirit of the holy gods and whom no mystery baffles, consider ²¹  my dream that I saw and set forth its interpretation! 4:10 Here are the visions of my mind ²²  while I was on my bed.

While I was watching,

there was a tree in the middle of the land. ²³ 

It was enormously tall. ²⁴ 

4:11 The tree grew large and strong.

Its top reached far into the sky;

it could be seen ²⁵  from the borders of all the land. ²⁶ 

4:12 Its foliage was attractive and its fruit plentiful;

on it there was food enough for all.

Under it the wild animals ²⁷  used to seek shade,

and in its branches the birds of the sky used to nest.

All creatures ²⁸  used to feed themselves from it.

4:13 While I was watching in my mind’s visions ²⁹  on my bed,

a holy sentinel ³⁰  came down from heaven.

4:14 He called out loudly ³¹  as follows: ³² 

‘Chop down the tree and lop off its branches!

Strip off its foliage

and scatter its fruit!

Let the animals flee from under it

and the birds from its branches!

4:15 But leave its taproot ³³  in the ground,

with a band of iron and bronze around it ³⁴ 

surrounded by the grass of the field.

Let it become damp with the dew of the sky,

and let it live with ³⁵  the animals in the grass of the land.

4:16 Let his mind ³⁶  be altered from that of a human being,

and let an animal’s mind be given to him,

and let seven periods of time ³⁷  go by for ³⁸  him.

4:17 This announcement is by the decree of the sentinels;

this decision is by the pronouncement of the holy ones,

so that ³⁹  those who are alive may understand

that the Most High has authority over human kingdoms, ⁴⁰ 

and he bestows them on whomever he wishes.

He establishes over them even the lowliest of human beings.’

4:18 “This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare its ⁴¹  interpretation, for none of the wise men in ⁴²  my kingdom are able to make known to me the interpretation. But you can do so, for a spirit of the holy gods is in you.”

[6:10]  ¹ tn The vav + perfect here indicates action contemporary with the preceding main verb (“sent”). See IBHS 533-34 §32.2.3e.

[6:10]  ² tn Heb “and the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God spoke to him, and he warned it and he guarded himself there, not once and not twice.”

[29:15]  ³ tn Heb “Woe [to] those who deeply hide counsel from the Lord.” This probably alludes to political alliances made without seeking the Lord’s guidance. See 30:1-2 and 31:1.

[29:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “and their works are in darkness and they say.”

[29:15]  ⁵ tn The rhetorical questions suggest the answer, “no one.” They are confident that their deeds are hidden from others, including God.

[23:23]  ⁶ tn The words “Do you people think” at the beginning of this verse and “Do you really think” at the beginning of the next verse are not in the text but are a way of trying to convey the nature of the rhetorical questions which expect a negative answer. They are also a way of trying to show that the verses are still connected with the preceding discussion addressed to the people (cf. 23:16, 20).

[23:23]  ⁷ tn Heb “Am I a god nearby and not a god far off?” The question is sometimes translated as though there is an alternative being given in v. 23, one that covers both the ideas of immanence and transcendence (i.e., “Am I only a god nearby and not also a god far off?”). However, the hey interrogative (הַ) at the beginning of this verse and the particle (אִם, ’im) at the beginning of the next show that the linkage is between the question in v. 23 and that in v. 24a. According to BDB 210 s.v. הֲ 1.d both questions in this case expect a negative answer.

[23:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:24]  ⁹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:24]  ¹⁰ tn The words “Don’t you know” are not in the text. They are a way of conveying the idea that the question which reads literally “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” expects a positive answer. They follow the pattern used at the beginning of the previous two questions and continue that thought. The words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[23:24]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[2:23]  ¹² tn Aram “we.” Various explanations have been offered for the plural, but it is probably best understood as the editorial plural; so also with “me” later in this verse.

[2:23]  ¹³ tn Aram “the word of the king.”

[2:28]  ¹⁴ tn Aram “a revealer of mysteries.” The phrase serves as a quasi-title for God in Daniel.

[2:28]  ¹⁵ tn Aram “in the latter days.”

[2:28]  ¹⁶ tn Aram “your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed.”

[2:29]  ¹⁷ tn Aram “your thoughts upon your bed went up to what will be after this.”

[2:30]  ¹⁸ tn Aram “not for any wisdom which is in me more than [in] any living man.”

[2:30]  ¹⁹ tn Aram “they might cause the king to know.” The impersonal plural is used here to refer to the role of God’s spirit in revealing the dream and its interpretation to the king. As J. A. Montgomery says, “it appropriately here veils the mysterious agency” (Daniel [ICC], 164-65).

[2:30]  ²⁰ tn Aram “heart.”

[4:9]  ²¹ 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.

[4:10]  ²² tc The LXX lacks the first two words (Aram “the visions of my head”) of the Aramaic text.

[4:10]  ²³ tn Instead of “in the middle of the land,” some English versions render this phrase “a tree at the center of the earth” (NRSV); NAB, CEV “of the world”; NLT “in the middle of the earth.” The Hebrew phrase can have either meaning.

[4:10]  ²⁴ tn Aram “its height was great.”

[4:11]  ²⁵ tn Aram “its sight.” So also v. 17.

[4:11]  ²⁶ tn Or “to the end of all the earth” (so KJV, ASV); NCV, CEV “from anywhere on earth.”

[4:12]  ²⁷ tn Aram “the beasts of the field.”

[4:12]  ²⁸ tn Aram “all flesh.”

[4:13]  ²⁹ tn Aram “the visions of my head.”

[4:13]  ³⁰ tn Aram “a watcher and a holy one.” The expression is a hendiadys; so also in v. 23. This “watcher” is apparently an angel. The Greek OT (LXX) in fact has ἄγγελος (angelo", “angel”) here. Theodotion simply transliterates the Aramaic word (’ir). The term is sometimes rendered “sentinel” (NAB) or “messenger” (NIV, NLT).

[4:14]  ³¹ tn Aram “in strength.”

[4:14]  ³² tn Aram “and thus he was saying.”

[4:15]  ³³ tn Aram “the stock of its root.” So also v. 23. The implication here is that although the tree is chopped down, it is not killed. Its life-giving root is spared. The application to Nebuchadnezzar is obvious.

[4:15]  ³⁴ sn The function of the band of iron and bronze is not entirely clear, but it may have had to do with preventing the splitting or further deterioration of the portion of the tree that was left after being chopped down. By application it would then refer to the preservation of Nebuchadnezzar’s life during the time of his insanity.

[4:15]  ³⁵ tn Aram “its lot be.”

[4:16]  ³⁶ tn Aram “its heart.” The metaphor of the tree begins to fade here and the reality behind the symbol (the king) begins to emerge.

[4:16]  ³⁷ sn The seven periods of time probably refer to seven years.

[4:16]  ³⁸ tn Aram “over” (also in vv. 23, 25, 32).

[4:17]  ³⁹ tc The present translation follows an underlying reading of עַל־דִּבְרַת (’al-divrat, “so that”) rather than MT עַד־דִּבְרַת (’ad-divrat, “until”).

[4:17]  ⁴⁰ tn Aram “the kingdom of man”; NASB “the realm of mankind”; NCV “every kingdom on earth.”

[4:18]  ⁴¹ tc The present translation reads פִּשְׁרֵהּ (pishreh, “its interpretation”) with the Qere and many medieval Hebrew MSS; the Kethib is פִּשְׁרָא (pishra’, “the interpretation”); so also v. 16.

[4:18]  ⁴² tn Aram “of.”