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.”

Job 5:12-13

5:12 He frustrates ³  the plans ⁴  of the crafty ⁵ 

so that ⁶  their hands cannot accomplish

what they had planned! ⁷ 

5:13 He catches ⁸  the wise in their own craftiness, ⁹ 

and the counsel of the cunning ¹⁰  is brought to a quick end. ¹¹ 

Psalms 25:14

25:14 The Lord’s loyal followers receive his guidance, ¹² 

and he reveals his covenantal demands to them. ¹³ 

Isaiah 19:11-13

19:11 The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools; ¹⁴ 

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?” ¹⁵ 

19:12 But where, oh where, are your wise men? ¹⁶ 

Let them tell you, let them find out

what the Lord who commands armies has planned for Egypt.

19:13 The officials of Zoan are fools,

the officials of Memphis ¹⁷  are misled;

the rulers ¹⁸  of her tribes lead Egypt astray.

Isaiah 29:14

29:14 Therefore I will again do an amazing thing for these people –

an absolutely extraordinary deed. ¹⁹ 

Wise men will have nothing to say,

the sages will have no explanations.” ²⁰ 

Daniel 2:4-11

2:4 The wise men replied to the king: [What follows is in Aramaic ²¹ ] “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will disclose its ²²  interpretation.” 2:5 The king replied ²³  to the wise men, “My decision is firm. ²⁴  If you do not inform me of both the dream and its interpretation, you will be dismembered ²⁵  and your homes reduced to rubble! 2:6 But if you can disclose the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts, a reward, and considerable honor. So disclose to me the dream and its interpretation!” 2:7 They again replied, “Let the king inform us ²⁶  of the dream; then we will disclose its ²⁷  interpretation.” 2:8 The king replied, “I know for sure that you are attempting to gain time, because you see that my decision is firm. 2:9 If you don’t inform me of the dream, there is only one thing that is going to happen to you. ²⁸  For you have agreed among yourselves to report to me something false and deceitful ²⁹  until such time as things might change. So tell me the dream, and I will have confidence ³⁰  that you can disclose its interpretation.”

2:10 The wise men replied to the king, “There is no man on earth who is able to disclose the king’s secret, ³¹  for no king, regardless of his position and power, has ever requested such a thing from any magician, astrologer, or wise man. 2:11 What the king is asking is too difficult, and no one exists who can disclose it to the king, except for the gods – but they don’t live among mortals!” ³² 

Daniel 2:27-28

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. 2:28 However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, ³³  and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the times to come. ³⁴  The dream and the visions you had while lying on your bed ³⁵  are as follows.

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 ³⁶  interpretation to the king.

Daniel 5:1

Belshazzar Sees Mysterious Handwriting on a Wall

5:1 King Belshazzar ³⁷  prepared a great banquet ³⁸  for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in front of ³⁹  them all. ⁴⁰ 

Colossians 1:19

1:19 For God ⁴¹  was pleased to have all his ⁴²  fullness dwell ⁴³  in the Son ⁴⁴ 

Colossians 3:18-20

Exhortation to Households

3:18 Wives, submit to your ⁴⁵  husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 3:19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them. 3:20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing in the Lord.

[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.

[5:12]  ³ tn The Hiphil form מֵפֵר (mefer) is the participle from פָּרַר (parar, “to annul; to frustrate; to break”). It continues the doxological descriptions of God; but because of the numerous verses in this section, it may be clearer to start a new sentence with this form (rather than translating it “who…”).

[5:12]  ⁴ tn The word is related to the verb “to think; to plan; to devise,” and so can mean “thoughts; plans; imagination.” Here it refers to the plan of the crafty that must be frustrated (see also Isa 44:25 for the contrast).

[5:12]  ⁵ tn The word עֲרוּמִים (’arumim) means “crafty” or “shrewd.” It describes the shrewdness of some to achieve their ends (see Gen 3:1, where the serpent is more cunning than all the creatures, that is, he knows where the dangers are and will attempt to bring down the innocent). In the next verse it describes the clever plans of the wise – those who are wise in their own sight.

[5:12]  ⁶ tn The consecutive clause showing result or purpose is simply introduced with the vav and the imperfect/jussive (see GKC 504-5 §166.a).

[5:12]  ⁷ tn The word תּוּשִׁיָּה (tushiyyah) is a technical word from wisdom literature. It has either the idea of the faculty of foresight, or of prudence in general (see 12:6; 26:3). It can be parallel in the texts to “wisdom,” “counsel,” “help,” or “strength.” Here it refers to what has been planned ahead of time.

[5:13]  ⁸ tn The participles continue the description of God. Here he captures or ensnares the wise in their wickedly clever plans. See also Ps 7:16, where the wicked are caught in the pit they have dug – they are only wise in their own eyes.

[5:13]  ⁹ sn This is the only quotation from the Book of Job in the NT (although Rom 11:35 seems to reflect 41:11, and Phil 1:19 is similar to 13:6). Paul cites it in 1 Cor 3:19.

[5:13]  ¹⁰ tn The etymology of נִפְתָּלִים (niftalim) suggests a meaning of “twisted” (see Prov 8:8) in the sense of tortuous. See Gen 30:8; Ps 18:26 [27].

[5:13]  ¹¹ tn The Niphal of מָהַר (mahar) means “to be hasty; to be irresponsible.” The meaning in the line may be understood in this sense: The counsel of the wily is hastened, that is, precipitated before it is ripe, i.e., frustrated (A. B. Davidson, Job, 39).

[25:14]  ¹² tn Heb “the advice of the Lord belongs to those who fear him.”

[25:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “and his covenant, to make them know.”

[19:11]  ¹⁴ tn Or “certainly the officials of Zoan are fools.” אַךְ (’akh) can carry the sense, “only, nothing but,” or “certainly, surely.”

[19:11]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Where are they? Where are your wise men?” The juxtaposition of the interrogative pronouns is emphatic. See HALOT 38 s.v. אֶי.

[19:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Noph” (so KJV); most recent English versions substitute the more familiar “Memphis.”

[19:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the cornerstone.” The singular form should be emended to a plural.

[29:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Therefore I will again do something amazing with these people, an amazing deed, an amazing thing.” This probably refers to the amazing transformation predicted in vv. 17-24, which will follow the purifying judgment implied in vv. 15-16.

[29:14]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the wisdom of their wise ones will perish, the discernment of their discerning ones will keep hidden.”

[2:4]  ²¹ sn Contrary to common belief, the point here is not that the wise men (Chaldeans) replied to the king in the Aramaic language, or that this language was uniquely the language of the Chaldeans. It was this view that led in the past to Aramaic being referred to as “Chaldee.” Aramaic was used as a lingua franca during this period; its origins and usage were not restricted to the Babylonians. Rather, this phrase is better understood as an editorial note (cf. NAB) marking the fact that from 2:4b through 7:28 the language of the book shifts from Hebrew to Aramaic. In 8:1, and for the remainder of the book, the language returns to Hebrew. Various views have been advanced to account for this change of language, most of which are unconvincing. Most likely the change in language is a reflection of stages in the transmission history of the book of Daniel.

[2:4]  ²² tn Or “the.”

[2:5]  ²³ tn Aram “answered and said,” a common idiom to indicate a reply, but redundant in contemporary English.

[2:5]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ tn Aram “made limbs.” Cf. 3:29.

[2:7]  ²⁶ tn Aram “his servants.”

[2:7]  ²⁷ tn Or “the.”

[2:9]  ²⁸ tn Aram “one is your law,” i.e., only one thing is applicable to you.

[2:9]  ²⁹ tn Aram “a lying and corrupt word.”

[2:9]  ³⁰ tn Aram “I will know.”

[2:10]  ³¹ tn Aram “matter, thing.”

[2:11]  ³² tn Aram “whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

[2:28]  ³³ tn Aram “a revealer of mysteries.” The phrase serves as a quasi-title for God in Daniel.

[2:28]  ³⁴ tn Aram “in the latter days.”

[2:28]  ³⁵ tn Aram “your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed.”

[5:8]  ³⁶ tc Read וּפִשְׁרֵהּ (ufishreh) with the Qere rather than וּפִשְׁרָא (ufishra’) of the Kethib.

[5:1]  ³⁷ sn As is clear from the extra-biblical records, it was actually Nabonidus (ca. 556-539 B.C.) who was king of Babylon at this time. However, Nabonidus spent long periods of time at Teima, and during those times Belshazzar his son was de facto king of Babylon. This arrangement may help to explain why later in this chapter Belshazzar promises that the successful interpreter of the handwriting on the wall will be made third ruler in the kingdom. If Belshazzar was in effect second ruler in the kingdom, this would be the highest honor he could grant.

[5:1]  ³⁸ sn This scene of a Babylonian banquet calls to mind a similar grandiose event recorded in Esth 1:3-8. Persian kings were also renowned in the ancient Near Eastern world for their lavish banquets.

[5:1]  ³⁹ sn The king probably sat at an elevated head table.

[5:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Aram “the thousand.”

[1:19]  ⁴¹ tn The noun “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but since God is the one who reconciles the world to himself (cf. 2 Cor 5:19), he is clearly the subject of εὐδόκησεν (eudokhsen).

[1:19]  ⁴² tn The Greek article τό (to), insofar as it relates to God, may be translated as a possessive pronoun, i.e., “his.” BDAG 404 s.v. εὐδοκέω 1 translates the phrase as “all the fullness willed to dwell in him” thus leaving the referent as impersonal. Insofar as Paul is alluding to the so-called emanations from God this is acceptable. But the fact that “the fullness” dwells in a person (i.e., “in him”) seems to argue for the translation “his fullness” where “his” refers to God.

[1:19]  ⁴³ tn The aorist verb κατοικῆσαι (katoikhsai) could be taken as an ingressive, in which case it refers to the incarnation and may be translated as “begin to dwell, to take up residence.” It is perhaps better, though, to take it as a constative aorist and simply a reference to the fact that the fullness of God dwells in Jesus Christ. This is a permanent dwelling, though, not a temporary one, as the present tense in 2:9 makes clear.

[1:19]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the Son; see v. 13) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:18]  ⁴⁵ tn The article τοῖς (tois) with ἀνδράσιν (andrasin, “husbands”) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (“your”); see ExSyn 215.