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 6:5

6:5 So these men concluded, ⁹  “We won’t find any pretext against this man Daniel unless it is ¹⁰  in connection with the law of his God.”

Daniel 6:17-18

6:17 Then a stone was brought and placed over the opening ¹¹  to the den. The king sealed ¹²  it with his signet ring and with those ¹³  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 ¹⁴  were brought to him. He was unable to sleep. ¹⁵ 

Daniel 8:4

8:4 I saw that the ram was butting westward, northward, and southward. No animal ¹⁶  was able to stand before it, and there was none who could deliver from its power. ¹⁷  It did as it pleased and acted arrogantly. ¹⁸ 

Daniel 11:15

11:15 Then the king of the north will advance and will build siege mounds and capture a well-fortified city. ¹⁹  The forces of the south will not prevail, not even his finest contingents. ²⁰  They will have no strength to prevail.

Daniel 11:38

11:38 What he will honor is a god of fortresses – a god his fathers did not acknowledge he will honor with gold, silver, valuable stones, and treasured commodities.

[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.”

[6:5]  ¹³ tn Aram “were saying.”

[6:5]  ¹⁴ tn Aram “unless we find [it] against him.”

[6:17]  ¹⁶ tn Aram “mouth.”

[6:17]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Aram “the signet rings.”

[6:18]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Aram “his sleep fled from him.”

[8:4]  ²² tn Or “beast” (NAB).

[8:4]  ²³ tn Heb “hand.” So also in v. 7.

[8:4]  ²⁴ tn In the Hiphil the Hebrew verb גָּדַל (gadal, “to make great; to magnify”) can have either a positive or a negative sense. For the former, used especially of God, see Ps 126:2, 3; Joel 2:21. In this chapter (8:4, 8, 11, 25) the word has a pejorative sense, describing the self-glorification of this king. The sense seems to be that of vainly assuming one’s own superiority through deliberate hubris.

[11:15]  ²⁵ sn This well-fortified city is apparently Sidon. Its capture from the Ptolemies by Antiochus the Great was a strategic victory for the Seleucid kingdom.

[11:15]  ²⁶ tn Or “choice troops” (BDB 104 s.v. מִבְחָר), or “elite troops” (HALOT 542 s.v. מִבְחָר).