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 ¹  dreams, solve riddles, and decipher knotty problems. ²  Now summon ³  Daniel, and he will disclose the interpretation.”

Daniel 5:14

5:14 I have heard about you, how there is a spirit of the gods in you, and how you have ⁴  insight, discernment, and extraordinary wisdom.

Daniel 9:23

9:23 At the beginning of your requests a message went out, and I have come to convey it to you, for you are of great value in God’s sight. ⁵  Therefore consider the message and understand the vision: ⁶ 

Genesis 41:38-41

41:38 So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find a man like Joseph, ⁷  one in whom the Spirit of God is present?” ⁸  41:39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has enabled you to know all this, there is no one as wise and discerning ⁹  as you are! 41:40 You will oversee my household, and all my people will submit to your commands. ¹⁰  Only I, the king, will be greater than you. ¹¹ 

41:41 “See here,” Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I place ¹²  you in authority over all the land of Egypt.” ¹³ 

Nehemiah 7:2

7:2 I then put in charge over Jerusalem ¹⁴  my brother Hanani and Hananiah ¹⁵  the chief of the citadel, for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many do.

Proverbs 3:3-4

3:3 Do not let truth and mercy ¹⁶  leave you;

bind them around your neck,

write them on the tablet of your heart. ¹⁷ 

3:4 Then you will find ¹⁸  favor and good understanding, ¹⁹ 

in the sight of God and people. ²⁰ 

Proverbs 17:27

17:27 The truly wise person ²¹  restrains ²²  his words,

and the one who stays calm ²³  is discerning.

Ecclesiastes 2:13

2:13 I realized that wisdom is preferable to folly, ²⁴ 

just as light is preferable to darkness:

[5:12]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Aram “to loose knots.”

[5:12]  ³ tn Aram “let [Daniel] be summoned.”

[5:14]  ⁴ tn Aram “there has been found in you.”

[9:23]  ⁵ tn Or “a precious treasure”; KJV “greatly beloved”; NASB, NIV “highly esteemed.”

[9:23]  ⁶ tn This sentence is perhaps a compound hendiadys (“give serious consideration to the revelatory vision”).

[41:38]  ⁷ tn Heb “like this,” but the referent could be misunderstood to be a man like that described by Joseph in v. 33, rather than Joseph himself. For this reason the proper name “Joseph” has been supplied in the translation.

[41:38]  ⁸ tn The rhetorical question expects the answer “No, of course not!”

[41:39]  ⁹ tn Heb “as discerning and wise.” The order has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[41:40]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and at your mouth (i.e., instructions) all my people will kiss.” G. J. Wenham translates this “shall kowtow to your instruction” (Genesis [WBC], 2:395). Although there is some textual support for reading “will be judged, ruled by you,” this is probably an attempt to capture the significance of this word. Wenham lists a number of references where individuals have tried to make connections with other words or expressions – such as a root meaning “order themselves” lying behind “kiss,” or an idiomatic idea of “kiss” meaning “seal the mouth,” and so “be silent and submit to.” See K. A. Kitchen, “The Term Nsq in Genesis 41:40,” ExpTim 69 (1957): 30; D. S. Sperling, “Genesis 41:40: A New Interpretation,” JANESCU 10 (1978): 113-19.

[41:40]  ¹¹ tn Heb “only the throne, I will be greater than you.”

[41:41]  ¹² tn The translation assumes that the perfect verbal form is descriptive of a present action. Another option is to understand it as rhetorical, in which case Pharaoh describes a still future action as if it had already occurred in order to emphasize its certainty. In this case one could translate “I have placed” or “I will place.” The verb נָתַן (natan) is translated here as “to place in authority [over].”

[41:41]  ¹³ sn Joseph became the grand vizier of the land of Egypt. See W. A. Ward, “The Egyptian Office of Joseph,” JSS 5 (1960): 144-50; and R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 129-31.

[7:2]  ¹⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[7:2]  ¹⁵ tn Some have suggested that “Hananiah” is another name for Hanani, Nehemiah’s brother, so that only one individual is mentioned here. However, the third person plural in v. 3 indicates two people are in view.

[3:3]  ¹⁶ tn The two words חֶסֶד וֶאֶמֶת (khesed ve’emet, “mercy and truth”) form a nominal hendiadys, the second word becoming an adjective: “faithful covenant love” or “loyal [covenant] love and faithfulness.”

[3:3]  ¹⁷ sn This involves two implied comparisons (hypocatastasis). One is a comparison of living out the duties and responsibilities taught with binding a chain around the neck, and the other is a comparison of the inward appropriation of the teachings with writing them on a tablet. So the teachings are not only to become the lifestyle of the disciple but his very nature.

[3:4]  ¹⁸ tn The form וּמְצָא (umÿtsa’, “find”) is the imperative but it functions as a purpose/result statement. Following a string of imperatives (v. 3), the imperative with a prefixed vav introduces a volitive sequence expressing purpose or result (v. 4).

[3:4]  ¹⁹ tn The noun שֵׂכֶל (sekhel, “understanding”) does not seem to parallel חֵן (khen, “favor”). The LXX attaches the first two words to v. 3 and renders v. 4: “and devise excellent things in the sight of the Lord and of men.” Tg. Prov 3:4 and Syriac Peshitta list all three words separately: “favor and good and understanding.” C. H. Toy (Proverbs [ICC], 59) suggests emending the MT’s שֵׂכֶל־טוֹב (sekhel-tov, “good understanding”) to שֵׁם־טוֹב (shem-tov, “a good name”). It is also possible to take the two words as a hendiadys: the favor of good understanding, meaning, a reputation for good understanding.

[3:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “man.”

[17:27]  ²¹ tn Heb “the one knowing knowledge.” The cognate accusative underscores the meaning of the participle – this is a truly knowledgeable person.

[17:27]  ²² sn The participle חוֹשֵׂךְ (khosekh) means “withholds; restrains; refrains; spares; holds in check,” etc. One who has knowledge speaks carefully.

[17:27]  ²³ tn Heb “cool of spirit.” This genitive of specification describes one who is “calm” (so NCV, TEV, CEV) or “even-tempered” (so NIV, NLT); he is composed.

[2:13]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and I saw that there is profit for wisdom more than folly.”