Daniel 2:36

2:36 This was the dream. Now we ¹  will set forth before the king its interpretation.

Daniel 2:6

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!”

Daniel 7:1

Daniel has a Vision of Four Animals Coming up from the Sea

7:1 In the first ²  year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had ³  a dream filled with visions ⁴  while he was lying on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream in summary fashion. ⁵ 

Daniel 2:4

2:4 The wise men replied to the king: [What follows is in Aramaic ⁶ ] “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will disclose its ⁷  interpretation.”

Daniel 2:7

2:7 They again replied, “Let the king inform us ⁸  of the dream; then we will disclose its ⁹  interpretation.”

Daniel 4:5

4:5 I saw a dream that ¹⁰  frightened me badly. The things I imagined while lying on my bed – these visions of my mind – were terrifying me.

Daniel 2:9

2:9 If you don’t inform me of the dream, there is only one thing that is going to happen to you. ¹¹  For you have agreed among yourselves to report to me something false and deceitful ¹²  until such time as things might change. So tell me the dream, and I will have confidence ¹³  that you can disclose its interpretation.”

Daniel 4:19

Daniel Interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

4:19 Then Daniel (whose name is also Belteshazzar) was upset for a brief time; ¹⁴  his thoughts were alarming him. The king said, “Belteshazzar, don’t let the dream and its interpretation alarm you.” But Belteshazzar replied, “Sir, ¹⁵  if only the dream were for your enemies and its interpretation applied to your adversaries!

Daniel 2:5

2:5 The king replied ¹⁶  to the wise men, “My decision is firm. ¹⁷  If you do not inform me of both the dream and its interpretation, you will be dismembered ¹⁸  and your homes reduced to rubble!

Daniel 2:26

2:26 The king then asked Daniel (whose name was also Belteshazzar), “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I saw, as well as its interpretation?”

Daniel 4:6-7

4:6 So I issued an order ¹⁹  for all the wise men of Babylon to be brought ²⁰  before me so that they could make known to me the interpretation of the dream. 4:7 When the magicians, astrologers, wise men, and diviners entered, I recounted the dream for them. But they were unable to make known its interpretation to me.

Daniel 2:28

2:28 However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, ²¹  and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the times to come. ²²  The dream and the visions you had while lying on your bed ²³  are as follows.

Daniel 2:45

2:45 You saw that a stone was cut from a mountain, but not by human hands; it smashed the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold into pieces. The great God has made known to the king what will occur in the future. ²⁴  The dream is certain, and its interpretation is reliable.”

Daniel 4:8-9

4:8 Later Daniel entered (whose name is Belteshazzar after the name of my god, ²⁵  and in whom there is a spirit of the holy gods). I recounted the dream for him as well, 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 ²⁶  my dream that I saw and set forth its interpretation!

Daniel 4:18

4:18 “This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare its ²⁷  interpretation, for none of the wise men in ²⁸  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.”

Daniel 5:12

5:12 Thus there was found in this man Daniel, whom the king renamed Belteshazzar, an extraordinary spirit, knowledge, and skill to interpret ²⁹  dreams, solve riddles, and decipher knotty problems. ³⁰  Now summon ³¹  Daniel, and he will disclose the interpretation.”

[2:36]  ¹ tn Various suggestions have been made concerning the plural “we.” It is probably the editorial plural and could be translated here as “I.”

[7:1]  ² sn The first year of Belshazzar’s reign would have been ca. 553 B.C. Daniel would have been approximately 67 years old at the time of this vision.

[7:1]  ³ tn Aram “saw.”

[7:1]  ⁴ tn Aram “and visions of his head.” The Aramaic is difficult here. Some scholars add a verb thought to be missing (e.g., “the visions of his head [were alarming him]”), but there is no external evidence to support such a decision and the awkwardness of the text at this point may be original.

[7:1]  ⁵ tn Aram “head of words.” The phrase is absent in Theodotion. Cf. NIV “the substance of his dream.”

[2:4]  ³ sn Contrary to common belief, the point here is not that the wise men (Chaldeans) replied to the king in the Aramaic language, or that this language was uniquely the language of the Chaldeans. It was this view that led in the past to Aramaic being referred to as “Chaldee.” Aramaic was used as a lingua franca during this period; its origins and usage were not restricted to the Babylonians. Rather, this phrase is better understood as an editorial note (cf. NAB) marking the fact that from 2:4b through 7:28 the language of the book shifts from Hebrew to Aramaic. In 8:1, and for the remainder of the book, the language returns to Hebrew. Various views have been advanced to account for this change of language, most of which are unconvincing. Most likely the change in language is a reflection of stages in the transmission history of the book of Daniel.

[2:4]  ⁴ tn Or “the.”

[2:7]  ⁴ tn Aram “his servants.”

[2:7]  ⁵ tn Or “the.”

[4:5]  ⁵ tn Aram “and it.”

[2:9]  ⁶ tn Aram “one is your law,” i.e., only one thing is applicable to you.

[2:9]  ⁷ tn Aram “a lying and corrupt word.”

[2:9]  ⁸ tn Aram “I will know.”

[4:19]  ⁷ tn Aram “about one hour.” The expression refers idiomatically to a brief period of time of undetermined length.

[4:19]  ⁸ tn Aram “my lord.”

[2:5]  ⁸ tn Aram “answered and said,” a common idiom to indicate a reply, but redundant in contemporary English.

[2:5]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “made limbs.” Cf. 3:29.

[4:6]  ⁹ tn Aram “from me there was placed a decree.”

[4:6]  ¹⁰ tn The Aramaic infinitive here is active.

[2:28]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “a revealer of mysteries.” The phrase serves as a quasi-title for God in Daniel.

[2:28]  ¹¹ tn Aram “in the latter days.”

[2:28]  ¹² tn Aram “your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed.”

[2:45]  ¹¹ tn Aram “after this.”

[4:8]  ¹² sn This explanation of the meaning of the name Belteshazzar may be more of a paronomasia than a strict etymology.

[4:9]  ¹³ 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.

[4:18]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Aram “of.”

[5:12]  ¹⁵ tc The translation reads מִפְשַׁר (mifshar) rather than the MT מְפַשַּׁר (mÿfashar) and later in the verse reads וּמִשְׁרֵא (mishre’) rather than the MT וּמְשָׁרֵא (mÿshare’). The Masoretes have understood these Aramaic forms to be participles, but they are more likely to be vocalized as infinitives. As such, they have an epexegetical function in the syntax of their clause.

[5:12]  ¹⁶ tn Aram “to loose knots.”

[5:12]  ¹⁷ tn Aram “let [Daniel] be summoned.”