Genesis 40:8

40:8 They told him, “We both had dreams, ¹  but there is no one to interpret them.” Joseph responded, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell them ²  to me.”

Genesis 41:15-16

41:15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, ³  and there is no one who can interpret ⁴  it. But I have heard about you, that ⁵  you can interpret dreams.” ⁶  41:16 Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “It is not within my power, ⁷  but God will speak concerning ⁸  the welfare of Pharaoh.” ⁹ 

Genesis 41:38-39

41:38 So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find a man like Joseph, ¹⁰  one in whom the Spirit of God is present?” ¹¹  41:39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has enabled you to know all this, there is no one as wise and discerning ¹²  as you are!

Job 33:23

33:23 If there is an angel beside him,

one mediator ¹³  out of a thousand,

to tell a person what constitutes his uprightness; ¹⁴ 

Proverbs 1:6

1:6 To discern ¹⁵  the meaning of ¹⁶  a proverb and a parable, ¹⁷ 

the sayings of the wise ¹⁸  and their ¹⁹  riddles. ²⁰ 

Daniel 2:28-30

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.

2:29 “As for you, O king, while you were in your bed your thoughts turned to future things. ²⁴  The revealer of mysteries has made known to you what will take place. 2:30 As for me, this mystery was revealed to me not because I possess more wisdom ²⁵  than any other living person, but so that the king may understand ²⁶  the interpretation and comprehend the thoughts of your mind. ²⁷ 

Daniel 2:47

2:47 The king replied to Daniel, “Certainly your God is a God of gods and Lord of kings and revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery!”

Daniel 4:18-19

4:18 “This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare its ²⁸  interpretation, for none of the wise men in ²⁹  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 Interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

4:19 Then Daniel (whose name is also Belteshazzar) was upset for a brief time; ³⁰  his thoughts were alarming him. The king said, “Belteshazzar, don’t let the dream and its interpretation alarm you.” But Belteshazzar replied, “Sir, ³¹  if only the dream were for your enemies and its interpretation applied to your adversaries!

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 1:20

1:20 In every matter of wisdom and ³²  insight the king asked them about, he found them to be ten times ³³  better than any of the magicians and astrologers that were in his entire empire.

[40:8]  ¹ tn Heb “a dream we dreamed.”

[40:8]  ² tn The word “them” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[41:15]  ³ tn Heb “dreamed a dream.”

[41:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “there is no one interpreting.”

[41:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “saying.”

[41:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “you hear a dream to interpret it,” which may mean, “you only have to hear a dream to be able to interpret it.”

[41:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “not within me.”

[41:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “God will answer.”

[41:16]  ⁹ tn The expression שְׁלוֹם פַּרְעֹה (shÿlom par’oh) is here rendered “the welfare of Pharaoh” because the dream will be about life in his land. Some interpret it to mean an answer of “peace” – one that will calm his heart, or give him the answer that he desires (cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[41:38]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn The rhetorical question expects the answer “No, of course not!”

[41:39]  ¹² tn Heb “as discerning and wise.” The order has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[33:23]  ¹³ sn The verse is describing the way God can preserve someone from dying by sending a messenger (translated here as “angel”), who could be human or angelic. This messenger will interpret/mediate God’s will. By “one … out of a thousand” Elihu could have meant either that one of the thousands of messengers at God’s disposal might be sent or that the messenger would be unique (see Eccl 7:28; and cp. Job 9:3).

[33:23]  ¹⁴ tn This is a smoother reading. The MT has “to tell to a man his uprightness,” to reveal what is right for him. The LXX translated this word “duty”; the choice is adopted by some commentaries. However, that is too far from the text, which indicates that the angel/messenger is to call the person to uprightness.

[1:6]  ¹⁵ tn The infinitive construct + ל (lamed) means “to discern” and introduces the fifth purpose of the book. It focuses on the benefits of proverbs from the perspective of the reader. By studying proverbs the reader will discern the hermeneutical key to understanding more and more proverbs.

[1:6]  ¹⁶ tn The phrase “the meaning of” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:6]  ¹⁷ tn The noun מְלִיצָה (mÿlitsah) means “allusive expression; enigma” in general, and “proverb, parable” in particular (BDB 539 s.v.; HALOT 590 s.v.). The related noun מֵלִיץ means “interpreter” (Gen 42:23). The related Arabic root means “to turn aside,” so this Hebrew term might refer to a saying that has a “hidden meaning” to its words; see H. N. Richardson, “Some Notes on לִיץ and Its Derivatives,” VT 5 (1955): 163-79.

[1:6]  ¹⁸ tn This line functions in apposition to the preceding, further explaining the phrase “a proverb and a parable.”

[1:6]  ¹⁹ tn The term “their” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but seems to be implied; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[1:6]  ²⁰ tn The noun חִידָה (khidah, “riddle”) designates enigmatic sayings whose meaning is obscure or hidden, such as a riddle (Num 12:8; Judg 14:12, 19), allegory (Ezek 17:2), perplexing moral problem (Pss 49:5; 78:2), perplexing question (1 Kgs 10:1 = 2 Chr 9:1) or ambiguous saying (Dan 8:23); see BDB 295 s.v. and HALOT 309 s.v. If this is related to Arabic hada (“to turn aside, avoid”), it refers to sayings whose meanings are obscure. The sayings of the wise often take the form of riddles that must be discerned.

[2:28]  ²¹ tn Aram “a revealer of mysteries.” The phrase serves as a quasi-title for God in Daniel.

[2:28]  ²² tn Aram “in the latter days.”

[2:28]  ²³ tn Aram “your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed.”

[2:29]  ²⁴ tn Aram “your thoughts upon your bed went up to what will be after this.”

[2:30]  ²⁵ tn Aram “not for any wisdom which is in me more than [in] any living man.”

[2:30]  ²⁶ tn Aram “they might cause the king to know.” The impersonal plural is used here to refer to the role of God’s spirit in revealing the dream and its interpretation to the king. As J. A. Montgomery says, “it appropriately here veils the mysterious agency” (Daniel [ICC], 164-65).

[2:30]  ²⁷ tn Aram “heart.”

[4:18]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ tn Aram “of.”

[4:19]  ³⁰ tn Aram “about one hour.” The expression refers idiomatically to a brief period of time of undetermined length.

[4:19]  ³¹ tn Aram “my lord.”

[1:20]  ³² tc The MT lacks the conjunction, reading the first word in the phrase as a construct (“wisdom of insight”). While this reading is not impossible, it seems better to follow Theodotion, the Syriac, the Vulgate, and the Sahidic Coptic, all of which have the conjunction.

[1:20]  ³³ tn Heb “hands.”