Genesis 41:8

41:8 In the morning he ¹  was troubled, so he called for ²  all the diviner-priests ³  of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, ⁴  but no one could interpret ⁵  them for him. ⁶ 

Genesis 41:38-39

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!

Isaiah 19:11-12

19:11 The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools; ¹⁰ 

Pharaoh’s wise advisers give stupid advice.

How dare you say to Pharaoh,

“I am one of the sages,

one well-versed in the writings of the ancient kings?” ¹¹ 

19:12 But where, oh where, are your wise men? ¹² 

Let them tell you, let them find out

what the Lord who commands armies has planned for Egypt.

Isaiah 47:12-13

47:12 Persist ¹³  in trusting ¹⁴  your amulets

and your many incantations,

which you have faithfully recited ¹⁵  since your youth!

Maybe you will be successful ¹⁶  –

maybe you will scare away disaster. ¹⁷ 

47:13 You are tired out from listening to so much advice. ¹⁸ 

Let them take their stand –

the ones who see omens in the sky,

who gaze at the stars,

who make monthly predictions –

let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you! ¹⁹ 

Daniel 2:2

2:2 The king issued an order ²⁰  to summon the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and wise men ²¹  in order to explain his dreams to him. ²²  So they came and awaited the king’s instructions. ²³ 

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 4:7-9

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. 4:8 Later Daniel entered (whose name is Belteshazzar after the name of my god, ²⁴  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 ²⁵  my dream that I saw and set forth its interpretation!

Daniel 5:7

5:7 The king called out loudly ²⁶  to summon ²⁷  the astrologers, wise men, and diviners. The king proclaimed ²⁸  to the wise men of Babylon that anyone who could read this inscription and disclose its interpretation would be clothed in purple ²⁹  and have a golden collar ³⁰  placed on his neck and be third ruler in the kingdom.

Daniel 5:11

5:11 There is a man in your kingdom who has within him a spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, he proved to have ³¹  insight, discernment, and wisdom like that ³²  of the gods. ³³  King Nebuchadnezzar your father appointed him chief of the magicians, astrologers, wise men, and diviners. ³⁴ 

Daniel 5:2

5:2 While under the influence ³⁵  of the wine, Belshazzar issued an order to bring in the gold and silver vessels – the ones that Nebuchadnezzar his father ³⁶  had confiscated ³⁷  from the temple in Jerusalem ³⁸  – so that the king and his nobles, together with his wives and his concubines, could drink from them. ³⁹ 

Daniel 3:8

3:8 Now ⁴⁰  at that time certain ⁴¹  Chaldeans came forward and brought malicious accusations against ⁴²  the Jews.

Revelation 19:20

19:20 Now ⁴³  the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf ⁴⁴  – signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur. ⁴⁵ 

[41:8]  ¹ tn Heb “his spirit.”

[41:8]  ² tn Heb “he sent and called,” which indicates an official summons.

[41:8]  ³ tn The Hebrew term חַרְטֹם (khartom) is an Egyptian loanword (hyr-tp) that describes a class of priests who were skilled in such interpretations.

[41:8]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text has the singular (though the Samaritan Pentateuch reads the plural). If retained, the singular must be collective for the set of dreams. Note the plural pronoun “them,” referring to the dreams, in the next clause. However, note that in v. 15 Pharaoh uses the singular to refer to the two dreams. In vv. 17-24 Pharaoh seems to treat the dreams as two parts of one dream (see especially v. 22).

[41:8]  ⁵ tn “there was no interpreter.”

[41:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “for Pharaoh.” The pronoun “him” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[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.

[19:11]  ¹⁰ tn Or “certainly the officials of Zoan are fools.” אַךְ (’akh) can carry the sense, “only, nothing but,” or “certainly, surely.”

[19:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “A son of wise men am I, a son of ancient kings.” The term בֶּן (ben, “son of”) could refer to literal descent, but many understand the word, at least in the first line, in its idiomatic sense of “member [of a guild].” See HALOT 138 s.v. בֶּן and J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:371. If this is the case, then one can take the word in a figurative sense in the second line as well, the “son of ancient kings” being one devoted to their memory as preserved in their literature.

[19:12]  ¹² tn Heb “Where are they? Where are your wise men?” The juxtaposition of the interrogative pronouns is emphatic. See HALOT 38 s.v. אֶי.

[47:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “stand” (so KJV, ASV); NASB, NRSV “Stand fast.”

[47:12]  ¹⁴ tn The word “trusting” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See v. 9.

[47:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in that which you have toiled.”

[47:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “maybe you will be able to profit.”

[47:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “maybe you will cause to tremble.” The object “disaster” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See the note at v. 9.

[47:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “you are tired because of the abundance of your advice.”

[47:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “let them stand and rescue you – the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make known by months – from those things which are coming upon you.”

[2:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “said.” So also in v. 12.

[2:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “Chaldeans.” The term Chaldeans (Hebrew כַּשְׂדִּים, kasdim) is used in the book of Daniel both in an ethnic sense and, as here, to refer to a caste of Babylonian wise men and astrologers.

[2:2]  ²² tn Heb “to explain to the king his dreams.”

[2:2]  ²³ tn Heb “stood before the king.”

[4:8]  ²⁴ sn This explanation of the meaning of the name Belteshazzar may be more of a paronomasia than a strict etymology.

[4:9]  ²⁵ 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.

[5:7]  ²⁶ tn Aram “in strength.”

[5:7]  ²⁷ tn Aram “cause to enter.”

[5:7]  ²⁸ tn Aram “answered and said.”

[5:7]  ²⁹ sn Purple was a color associated with royalty in the ancient world.

[5:7]  ³⁰ tn The term translated “golden collar” here probably refers to something more substantial than merely a gold chain (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT) or necklace (cf. NASB).

[5:11]  ³¹ tn Aram “[there were] discovered to be in him.”

[5:11]  ³² tn Aram “wisdom like the wisdom.” This would be redundant in terms of English style.

[5:11]  ³³ tc Theodotion lacks the phrase “and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods.”

[5:11]  ³⁴ tc The MT includes a redundant reference to “your father the king” at the end of v. 11. None of the attempts to explain this phrase as original are very convincing. The present translation deletes the phrase, following Theodotion and the Syriac.

[5:2]  ³⁵ tn Or perhaps, “when he had tasted” (cf. NASB) in the sense of officially initiating the commencement of the banquet. The translation above seems preferable, however, given the clear evidence of inebriation in the context (cf. also CEV “he got drunk and ordered”).

[5:2]  ³⁶ tn Or “ancestor”; or “predecessor” (also in vv. 11, 13, 18). The Aramaic word translated “father” can on occasion denote these other relationships.

[5:2]  ³⁷ tn Or “taken.”

[5:2]  ³⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:2]  ³⁹ sn Making use of sacred temple vessels for an occasion of reveling and drunkenness such as this would have been a religious affront of shocking proportions to the Jewish captives.

[3:8]  ⁴⁰ tc This expression is absent in Theodotion.

[3:8]  ⁴¹ tn Aram “men.”

[3:8]  ⁴² tn Aram “ate the pieces of.” This is a rather vivid idiom for slander.

[19:20]  ⁴³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of an unexpected development in the account: The opposing armies do not come together in battle; rather the leader of one side is captured.

[19:20]  ⁴⁴ tn For this meaning see BDAG 342 s.v. ἐνώπιον 4.b, “by the authority of, on behalf of Rv 13:12, 14; 19:20.”

[19:20]  ⁴⁵ tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”