Daniel 2:5

2:5 The king replied ¹  to the wise men, “My decision is firm. ²  If you do not inform me of both the dream and its interpretation, you will be dismembered ³  and your homes reduced to rubble!

Daniel 2:18

2:18 He asked them to pray for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery so that he ⁴  and his friends would not be destroyed along with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

Daniel 2:27

2:27 Daniel replied to the king, “The mystery that the king is asking about is such that no wise men, astrologers, magicians, or diviners can possibly disclose it to the king.

Daniel 2:34

2:34 You were watching as ⁵  a stone was cut out, ⁶  but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its iron and clay feet, breaking them in pieces.

Daniel 3:16

3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to King Nebuchadnezzar, ⁷  “We do not need to give you a reply ⁸  concerning this.

Daniel 4:7

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 4:30

4:30 The king uttered these words: “Is this not the great Babylon that I have built for a royal residence ⁹  by my own mighty strength ¹⁰  and for my majestic honor?”

Daniel 5:8

5:8 So all the king’s wise men came in, but they were unable to read the writing or to make known its ¹¹  interpretation to the king.

Daniel 5:15

5:15 Now the wise men and ¹²  astrologers were brought before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation. But they were unable to disclose the interpretation of the message.

Daniel 6:5

6:5 So these men concluded, ¹³  “We won’t find any pretext against this man Daniel unless it is ¹⁴  in connection with the law of his God.”

Daniel 6:17-18

6:17 Then a stone was brought and placed over the opening ¹⁵  to the den. The king sealed ¹⁶  it with his signet ring and with those ¹⁷  of his nobles so that nothing could be changed with regard to Daniel. 6:18 Then the king departed to his palace. But he spent the night without eating, and no diversions ¹⁸  were brought to him. He was unable to sleep. ¹⁹ 

Daniel 3:28

3:28 Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, ²⁰  “Praised be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent forth his angel ²¹  and has rescued his servants who trusted in him, ignoring ²²  the edict of the king and giving up their bodies rather than ²³  serve or pay homage to any god other than their God!

Daniel 6:12

6:12 So they approached the king and said to him, ²⁴  “Did you not issue an edict to the effect that for the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human other than to you, O king, would be thrown into a den of lions?” The king replied, “That is correct, ²⁵  according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed.”

[2:5]  ¹ tn Aram “answered and said,” a common idiom to indicate a reply, but redundant in contemporary English.

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

[2:18]  ⁴ tn Aram “Daniel.” The proper name is redundant here in English, and has not been included in the translation.

[2:34]  ⁷ tn Aram “until.”

[2:34]  ⁸ tc The LXX, Theodotion, and the Vulgate have “from a mountain,” though this is probably a harmonization with v. 45.

[3:16]  ¹⁰ tc In the MT this word is understood to begin the following address (“answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar’”). However, it seems unlikely that Nebuchadnezzar’s subordinates would address the king in such a familiar way, particularly in light of the danger that they now found themselves in. The present translation implies moving the atnach from “king” to “Nebuchadnezzar.”

[3:16]  ¹¹ tn Aram “to return a word to you.”

[4:30]  ¹³ tn Aram “house.”

[4:30]  ¹⁴ tn Aram “by the might of my strength.”

[5:8]  ¹⁶ tc Read וּפִשְׁרֵהּ (ufishreh) with the Qere rather than וּפִשְׁרָא (ufishra’) of the Kethib.

[5:15]  ¹⁹ tn The Aramaic text does not have “and.” The term “astrologers” is either an appositive for “wise men” (cf. KJV, NKJV, ASV, RSV, NRSV), or the construction is to be understood as asyndetic (so the translation above).

[6:5]  ²² tn Aram “were saying.”

[6:5]  ²³ tn Aram “unless we find [it] against him.”

[6:17]  ²⁵ tn Aram “mouth.”

[6:17]  ²⁶ sn The purpose of the den being sealed was to prevent unauthorized tampering with the opening of the den. Any disturbance of the seal would immediately alert the officials to improper activity of this sort.

[6:17]  ²⁷ tn Aram “the signet rings.”

[6:18]  ²⁸ tn The meaning of Aramaic דַּחֲוָה (dakhavah) is a crux interpretum. Suggestions include “music,” “dancing girls,” “concubines,” “table,” “food” – all of which are uncertain. The translation employed here, suggested by earlier scholars, is deliberately vague. A number of recent English versions follow a similar approach with “entertainment” (e.g., NASB, NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT). On this word see further, HALOT 1849-50 s.v.; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 37.

[6:18]  ²⁹ tn Aram “his sleep fled from him.”

[3:28]  ³¹ tn Aram “answered and said.”

[3:28]  ³² 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]  ³³ tn Aram “they changed” or “violated.”

[3:28]  ³⁴ tn Aram “so that they might not.”

[6:12]  ³⁴ tc The MT also has “about the edict of the king,” but this phrase is absent in the LXX and the Syriac. The present translation deletes the expression.

[6:12]  ³⁵ tn Aram “the word is true.”