Daniel 2:21

2:21 He changes times and seasons,

deposing some kings

and establishing others. ¹ 

He gives wisdom to the wise;

he imparts knowledge to those with understanding; ² 

Daniel 2:23

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 ³  requested from you.

For you have enabled me to understand the king’s dilemma.” ⁴ 

Daniel 2:1

Nebuchadnezzar Has a Disturbing Dream

2:1 In the second year of his ⁵  reign Nebuchadnezzar had many dreams. ⁶  His mind ⁷  was disturbed and he suffered from insomnia. ⁸ 

Daniel 3:12

3:12 But there are Jewish men whom you appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego – and these men ⁹  have not shown proper respect to you, O king. They don’t serve your gods and they don’t pay homage to the golden statue that you have erected.”

Daniel 3:28

3:28 Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, ¹⁰  “Praised be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent forth his angel ¹¹  and has rescued his servants who trusted in him, ignoring ¹²  the edict of the king and giving up their bodies rather than ¹³  serve or pay homage to any god other than their God!

Daniel 4:29-31

4:29 After twelve months, he happened to be walking around on the battlements ¹⁴  of the royal palace of Babylon. 4:30 The king uttered these words: “Is this not the great Babylon that I have built for a royal residence ¹⁵  by my own mighty strength ¹⁶  and for my majestic honor?” 4:31 While these words were still on the king’s lips, ¹⁷  a voice came down from heaven: “It is hereby announced to you, ¹⁸  King Nebuchadnezzar, that your kingdom has been removed from you!

Daniel 4:2

4:2 I am delighted to tell you about the signs and wonders that the most high God has done for me.

Daniel 1:10

1:10 But he ¹⁹  responded to Daniel, “I fear my master the king. He is the one who has decided ²⁰  your food and drink. What would happen if he saw that you looked malnourished in comparison to the other young men your age? ²¹  If that happened, ²²  you would endanger my life ²³  with the king!”

Daniel 1:12

1:12 “Please test your servants for ten days by providing us with some vegetables to eat and water to drink.

Job 32:8

32:8 But it is a spirit in people,

the breath ²⁴  of the Almighty,

that makes them understand.

Psalms 119:98-100

119:98 Your commandments ²⁵  make me wiser than my enemies,

for I am always aware of them.

119:99 I have more insight than all my teachers,

for I meditate on your rules.

119:100 I am more discerning than those older than I,

for I observe your precepts.

Proverbs 2:6

2:6 For ²⁶  the Lord gives ²⁷  wisdom,

and from his mouth ²⁸  comes ²⁹  knowledge and understanding.

Ecclesiastes 2:26

2:26 For to the one who pleases him, ³⁰  God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy,

but to the sinner, he gives the task of amassing ³¹  wealth ³²  –

only to give ³³  it ³⁴  to the one who pleases God.

This ³⁵  task of the wicked ³⁶  is futile – like chasing the wind!

Isaiah 28:26

28:26 His God instructs him;

he teaches him the principles of agriculture. ³⁷ 

Luke 21:15

21:15 For I will give you the words ³⁸  along with the wisdom ³⁹  that none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.

Acts 6:10

6:10 Yet ⁴⁰  they were not able to resist ⁴¹  the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.

Acts 7:10

7:10 and rescued him from all his troubles, and granted him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made ⁴²  him ruler over Egypt and over all his household.

Colossians 1:9

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ⁴³  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ⁴⁴  to fill ⁴⁵  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

James 1:5

1:5 But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him.

James 1:17

1:17 All generous giving and every perfect gift ⁴⁶  is from above, coming down ⁴⁷  from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change. ⁴⁸ 

[2:21]  ¹ tn Aram “kings.”

[2:21]  ² tn Aram “the knowers of understanding.”

[2:23]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Aram “the word of the king.”

[2:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “Nebuchadnezzar’s.” The possessive pronoun is substituted in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[2:1]  ⁶ 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.

[2:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “his spirit.”

[2:1]  ⁸ 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.

[3:12]  ⁹ sn Daniel’s absence from this scene has sparked the imagination of commentators, some of whom have suggested that perhaps he was unable to attend the dedication due to sickness or due to being away on business. Hippolytus supposed that Daniel may have been watching from a distance.

[3:28]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “answered and said.”

[3:28]  ¹¹ sn The king identifies the “son of the gods” (v. 25) as an angel. Comparable Hebrew expressions are used elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible for the members of God’s angelic assembly (see Gen 6:2, 4; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Pss 29:1; 89:6). An angel later comes to rescue Daniel from the lions (Dan 6:22).

[3:28]  ¹² tn Aram “they changed” or “violated.”

[3:28]  ¹³ tn Aram “so that they might not.”

[4:29]  ¹⁴ tn The word “battlements” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied from context. Many English versions supply “roof” here (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); cf. NLT “on the flat roof.”

[4:30]  ¹⁵ tn Aram “house.”

[4:30]  ¹⁶ tn Aram “by the might of my strength.”

[4:31]  ¹⁷ tn Aram “in the mouth of the king.”

[4:31]  ¹⁸ tn Aram “to you they say.”

[1:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “The overseer of the court officials.” The subject has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “assigned.” See v. 5.

[1:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “Why should he see your faces thin from the young men who are according to your age?” The term translated “thin” occurs only here and in Gen 40:6, where it appears to refer to a dejected facial expression. The word is related to an Arabic root meaning “be weak.” See HALOT 277 s.v. II זעף.

[1:10]  ²² tn The words “if that happened” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

[1:10]  ²³ tn Heb “my head.” Presumably this is an implicit reference to capital punishment (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT), although this is not entirely clear.

[32:8]  ²⁴ tn This is the word נְשָׁמָה (nÿshamah, “breath”); according to Gen 2:7 it was breathed into Adam to make him a living person (“soul”). With that divine impartation came this spiritual understanding. Some commentators identify the רוּחַ (ruakh) in the first line as the Spirit of God; this “breath” would then be the human spirit. Whether Elihu knew that much, however, is hard to prove.

[119:98]  ²⁵ tn The plural form needs to be revocalized as a singular in order to agree with the preceding singular verb and the singular pronoun in the next line. The Lord’s “command” refers here to the law (see Ps 19:8).

[2:6]  ²⁶ tn This is a causal clause. The reason one must fear and know the Lord is that he is the source of true, effectual wisdom.

[2:6]  ²⁷ tn The verb is an imperfect tense which probably functions as a habitual imperfect describing a universal truth in the past, present and future.

[2:6]  ²⁸ sn This expression is an anthropomorphism; it indicates that the Lord is the immediate source or author of the wisdom. It is worth noting that in the incarnation many of these “anthropomorphisms” become literal in the person of the Logos, the Word, Jesus, who reveals the Father.

[2:6]  ²⁹ tn The verb “comes” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[2:26]  ³⁰ tn Heb “for to a man who is good before him.”

[2:26]  ³¹ sn The phrase the task of amassing wealth (Heb “the task of gathering and heaping up”) implicitly compares the work of the farmer reaping his crops and storing them up in a barn, to the work of the laborer amassing wealth as the fruit of his labor. However, rather than his storehouse being safe for the future, the sinner is deprived of it.

[2:26]  ³² tn The word “wealth” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[2:26]  ³³ sn The three-fold repetition of the Hebrew word translated “give” in the first part of this verse creates irony: God “gives” the righteous the ability to prosper and to find enjoyment in his work; but to the wicked He “gives” the task of “giving” his wealth to the righteous.

[2:26]  ³⁴ tn The word “it” (an implied direct object) does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[2:26]  ³⁵ tn The antecedent of the demonstrative pronoun זֶה (zeh, “this”) is debated: (1) Some refer it to the enjoyment which Qoheleth had just commended in 2:24-26. However, this is inconsistent with the enjoyment theme found elsewhere in the book. It also ignores the fact that 2:24-26 states that such enjoyment is a good gift from God. (2) Others refer it to the term “toil” (עָמָל, ’amal) which is repeated throughout 2:18-26. However, Qoheleth affirmed that if one is righteous, he can find enjoyment in his toil, even though so much of it is ultimately futile. (3) Therefore, it seems best to refer it to the grievous “task” (עִנְיָן, ’inyan) God has given to the sinner in 2:26b. Consistent with the meaning of הֶבֶל (hevel, “futile; profitless; fruitless”), 2:26b emphasizes that the “task” of the sinner is profitless: he labors hard to amass wealth, only to see the fruit of his labor given away to someone else. The righteous man’s enjoyment of his work and the fruit of his labor under the blessing of God (2:24-26a) is not included in this.

[2:26]  ³⁶ tn The phrase “task of the wicked” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[28:26]  ³⁷ tn Heb “he teaches him the proper way, his God instructs him.”

[21:15]  ³⁸ tn Grk “a mouth.” It is a metonymy and refers to the reply the Lord will give to them.

[21:15]  ³⁹ tn Grk “and wisdom.”

[6:10]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “and.” The context, however, indicates that the conjunction carries an adversative force.

[6:10]  ⁴¹ sn They were not able to resist. This represents another fulfillment of Luke 12:11-12; 21:15.

[7:10]  ⁴² tn Or “appointed.” See Gen 41:41-43.

[1:9]  ⁴³ tn Or “heard about it”; Grk “heard.” There is no direct object stated in the Greek (direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context). A direct object is expected by an English reader, however, so most translations supply one. Here, however, it is not entirely clear what the author “heard”: a number of translations supply “it” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV; NAB “this”), but this could refer back either to (1) “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8, or (2) “your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). In light of this uncertainty, other translations supply “about you” (TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). This is preferred by the present translation since, while it does not resolve the ambiguity entirely, it does make it less easy for the English reader to limit the reference only to “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8.

[1:9]  ⁴⁴ tn The term “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the following reference to “the knowledge of his will” makes it clear that “God” is in view as the object of the “praying and asking,” and should therefore be included in the English translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ⁴⁵ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as substantival, indicating the content of the prayer and asking. The idea of purpose may also be present in this clause.

[1:17]  ⁴⁶ tn The first phrase refers to the action of giving and the second to what is given.

[1:17]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “All generous giving and every perfect gift from above is coming down.”

[1:17]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “variation or shadow of turning” (referring to the motions of heavenly bodies causing variations of light and darkness).