Daniel 1:1-21
Konteks1:1 In the third 1 year of the reign of King Jehoiakim of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar 2 of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem 3 and laid it under siege. 4 1:2 Now the Lord 5 delivered 6 King Jehoiakim of Judah into his power, 7 along with some of the vessels 8 of the temple of God. 9 He brought them to the land of Babylonia 10 to the temple of his god 11 and put 12 the vessels in the treasury of his god.
1:3 The king commanded 13 Ashpenaz, 14 who was in charge of his court officials, 15 to choose 16 some of the Israelites who were of royal and noble descent 17 – 1:4 young men in whom there was no physical defect and who were handsome, 18 well versed in all kinds of wisdom, well educated 19 and having keen insight, 20 and who were capable 21 of entering the king’s royal service 22 – and to teach them the literature and language 23 of the Babylonians. 24 1:5 So the king assigned them a daily ration 25 from his royal delicacies 26 and from the wine he himself drank. They were to be trained 27 for the next three years. At the end of that time they were to enter the king’s service. 28 1:6 As it turned out, 29 among these young men 30 were some from Judah: 31 Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 32 1:7 But the overseer of the court officials renamed them. He gave 33 Daniel the name Belteshazzar, Hananiah he named Shadrach, Mishael he named Meshach, and Azariah he named Abednego. 34
1:8 But Daniel made up his mind 35 that he would not defile 36 himself with the royal delicacies or the royal wine. 37 He therefore asked the overseer of the court officials for permission not to defile himself. 1:9 Then God made the overseer of the court officials sympathetic to Daniel. 38 1:10 But he 39 responded to Daniel, “I fear my master the king. He is the one who has decided 40 your food and drink. What would happen if he saw that you looked malnourished in comparison to the other young men your age? 41 If that happened, 42 you would endanger my life 43 with the king!” 1:11 Daniel then spoke to the warden 44 whom the overseer of the court officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: 1:12 “Please test your servants for ten days by providing us with some vegetables to eat and water to drink. 1:13 Then compare our appearance 45 with that of 46 the young men who are eating the royal delicacies; 47 deal with us 48 in light of what you see.” 1:14 So the warden 49 agreed to their proposal 50 and tested them for ten 51 days.
1:15 At the end of the ten days their appearance was better and their bodies were healthier 52 than all the young men who had been eating the royal delicacies. 1:16 So the warden removed the delicacies and the wine 53 from their diet 54 and gave them a diet of vegetables instead. 1:17 Now as for these four young men, God endowed them with knowledge and skill in all sorts of literature and wisdom – and Daniel had insight into all kinds of visions and dreams.
1:18 When the time appointed by the king arrived, 55 the overseer of the court officials brought them into Nebuchadnezzar’s presence. 1:19 When the king spoke with them, he did not find among the entire group 56 anyone like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, or Azariah. So they entered the king’s service. 57 1:20 In every matter of wisdom and 58 insight the king asked them about, he found them to be ten times 59 better than any of the magicians and astrologers that were in his entire empire. 1:21 Now Daniel lived on until the first 60 year of Cyrus the king.
Hakim-hakim 7:1-25
Konteks7:1 Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and his men 61 got up the next morning and camped near the spring of Harod. 62 The Midianites 63 were camped north of them near the hill of Moreh in the valley. 7:2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to hand Midian over to you. 64 Israel might brag, 65 ‘Our own strength has delivered us.’ 66 7:3 Now, announce to the men, 67 ‘Whoever is shaking with fear 68 may turn around and leave Mount Gilead.’” 69 Twenty-two thousand men 70 went home; 71 ten thousand remained. 7:4 The Lord spoke to Gideon again, “There are still too many men. 72 Bring them down to the water and I will thin the ranks some more. 73 When I say, ‘This one should go with you,’ pick him to go; 74 when I say, 75 ‘This one should not go with you,’ do not take him.” 76 7:5 So he brought the men 77 down to the water. Then the Lord said to Gideon, “Separate those who lap the water as a dog laps from those who kneel to drink.” 78 7:6 Three hundred men lapped; 79 the rest of the men 80 kneeled to drink water. 7:7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped I will deliver the whole army 81 and I will hand Midian over to you. 82 The rest of the men should go home.” 83 7:8 The men 84 who were chosen 85 took supplies 86 and their trumpets. Gideon 87 sent all the men of Israel back to their homes; 88 he kept only three hundred men. Now the Midianites 89 were camped down below 90 in the valley.
7:9 That night the Lord said to Gideon, 91 “Get up! Attack 92 the camp, for I am handing it over to you. 93 7:10 But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with Purah your servant 7:11 and listen to what they are saying. Then you will be brave 94 and attack the camp.” So he went down with Purah his servant to where the sentries were guarding the camp. 95 7:12 Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east covered the valley like a swarm of locusts. 96 Their camels could not be counted; they were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore. 7:13 When Gideon arrived, he heard a man telling another man about a dream he had. 97 The man 98 said, “Look! I had a dream. I saw 99 a stale cake of barley bread rolling into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent so hard it knocked it over and turned it upside down. The tent just collapsed.” 100 7:14 The other man said, 101 “Without a doubt this symbolizes 102 the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God is handing Midian and all the army over to him.”
7:15 When Gideon heard the report of the dream and its interpretation, he praised God. 103 Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said, “Get up, for the Lord is handing the Midianite army over to you!” 7:16 He divided the three hundred men into three units. 104 He gave them all trumpets and empty jars with torches inside them. 105 7:17 He said to them, “Watch me and do as I do. Watch closely! 106 I am going to the edge of the camp. Do as I do! 7:18 When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, you also blow your trumpets all around the camp. Then say, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”
7:19 Gideon took a hundred men to the edge of the camp 107 at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guards. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars they were carrying. 108 7:20 All three units blew their trumpets and broke their jars. They held the torches in their left hand and the trumpets in their right. 109 Then they yelled, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 7:21 They stood in order 110 all around the camp. The whole army ran away; they shouted as they scrambled away. 111 7:22 When the three hundred men blew their trumpets, the Lord caused the Midianites to attack one another with their swords 112 throughout 113 the camp. The army fled to Beth Shittah on the way to Zererah. They went 114 to the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. 7:23 Israelites from Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh answered the call and chased the Midianites. 115
7:24 Now Gideon sent messengers throughout the Ephraimite hill country who announced, “Go down and head off the Midianites. 116 Take control of the fords of the streams 117 all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River.” 118 When all the Ephraimites had assembled, 119 they took control of the fords 120 all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River. 7:25 They captured the two Midianite generals, Oreb and Zeeb. 121 They executed Oreb on the rock of Oreb and Zeeb 122 in the winepress of Zeeb. They chased the Midianites 123 and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was now on the other side of the Jordan River. 124
[1:1] 1 sn The third year of the reign of Jehoiakim would be ca. 605
[1:1] 2 sn King Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon from ca. 605-562
[1:1] 3 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[1:1] 4 sn This attack culminated in the first of three major deportations of Jews to Babylon. The second one occurred in 597
[1:2] 5 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
[1:2] 7 tn Heb “hand,” which is often used idiomatically for one’s power and authority. See BDB 390 s.v. יָד 2.
[1:2] 8 tn Or “utensils”; or “articles.”
[1:2] 9 tn Heb “house of God.”
[1:2] 10 sn The land of Babylonia (Heb “the land of Shinar”) is another name for Sumer and Akkad, where Babylon was located (cf. Gen 10:10; 11:2; 14:1, 9; Josh 7:21; Isa 11:11; Zech 5:11).
[1:2] 11 tn Or “gods” (NCV, NRSV, TEV; also later in this verse). The Hebrew term can be used as a numerical plural for many gods or as a plural of majesty for one particular god. Since Nebuchadnezzar was a polytheist, it is not clear if the reference here is to many gods or one particular deity. The plural of majesty, while normally used for Israel’s God, is occasionally used of foreign gods (cf. BDB 43 s.v. אֱלֹהִים 1, 2). See Judg 11:24 (of the Moabite god Chemosh); 1 Sam 5:7 (of the Philistine god Dagon); 1 Kgs 11:33 (of the Canaanite goddess Astarte, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god Milcom); 2 Kgs 19:37 (of the Assyrian god Nisroch). Since gods normally had their own individual temples, Dan 1:2 probably refers to a particular deity, perhaps Marduk, the supreme god of Babylon, or Marduk’s son Nabu, after whom Nebuchadnezzar was named. The name Nebuchadnezzar means “Nabu has protected the son who will inherit” (HALOT 660 s.v. נְבוּכַדְרֶאצַּר). For a discussion of how temples functioned in Babylonian religion see H. Ringgren, Religions of the Ancient Near East, 77-81.
[1:2] 12 tn Heb “brought.” Though the Hebrew verb “brought” is repeated in this verse, the translation uses “brought…put” for stylistic variation.
[1:3] 13 tn Or “gave orders to.” Heb “said to.”
[1:3] 14 sn It is possible that the word Ashpenaz is not a proper name at all, but a general term for “innkeeper.” See J. J. Collins, Daniel (Hermeneia), 127, n. 9. However, the ancient versions understand the term to be a name, and the present translation (along with most English versions) understands the word in this way.
[1:3] 15 sn The word court official (Hebrew saris) need not mean “eunuch” in a technical sense (see Gen 37:36, where the term refers to Potiphar, who had a wife), although in the case of the book of Daniel there was in Jewish literature a common tradition to that effect. On the OT usage of this word see HALOT 769-70 s.v. סָרֹיס.
[1:3] 17 tn Heb “and from the seed of royalty and from the nobles.”
[1:4] 18 tn Heb “good of appearance.”
[1:4] 19 tn Heb “knowers of knowledge.”
[1:4] 20 tn Heb “understanders of knowledge.”
[1:4] 21 tn Heb “who had strength.”
[1:4] 22 tn Heb “to stand in the palace of the king.” Cf. vv. 5, 19.
[1:4] 23 sn The language of the Chaldeans referred to here is Akkadian, an East Semitic cuneiform language.
[1:4] 24 tn Heb “Chaldeans” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV). This is an ancient name for the Babylonians.
[1:5] 25 tn Heb “a thing of a day in its day.”
[1:5] 26 tn Heb “from the delicacies of the king.”
[1:5] 27 tn Or “educated.” See HALOT 179 s.v. I גדל.
[1:5] 28 tn Heb “stand before the king.”
[1:6] 29 tn Heb “and it happened that.”
[1:6] 30 tn Heb “among them”; the referent (the young men taken captive from Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:6] 31 tn Heb “the sons of Judah.”
[1:6] 32 sn The names reflect a Jewish heritage. In Hebrew Daniel means “God is my judge”; Hananiah means “the Lord is gracious”; Mishael means “who is what God is?”; Azariah means “the Lord has helped.”
[1:7] 33 tc The LXX and Vulgate lack the verb here.
[1:7] 34 sn The meanings of the Babylonian names are more conjectural than is the case with the Hebrew names. The probable etymologies are as follows: Belteshazzar means “protect his life,” although the MT vocalization may suggest “Belti, protect the king” (cf. Dan 4:8); Shadrach perhaps means “command of Aku”; Meshach is of uncertain meaning; Abednego means “servant of Nego.” Assigning Babylonian names to the Hebrew youths may have been an attempt to erase from their memory their Israelite heritage.
[1:8] 35 tn Heb “placed on his heart.”
[1:8] 36 tn Or “would not make himself ceremonially unclean”; TEV “become ritually unclean.”
[1:8] sn Various reasons have been suggested as to why such food would defile Daniel. Perhaps it had to do with violations of Mosaic law with regard to unclean foods, or perhaps it had to do with such food having been offered to idols. Daniel’s practice in this regard is strikingly different from that of Esther, who was able successfully to conceal her Jewish identity.
[1:8] 37 tn Heb “with the delicacies of the king and with the wine of his drinking.”
[1:9] 38 tn Heb “Then God granted Daniel loyal love and compassion before the overseer of the court officials.” The expression “loyal love and compassion” is a hendiadys; the two words combine to express one idea.
[1:10] 39 tn Heb “The overseer of the court officials.” The subject has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.
[1:10] 40 tn Heb “assigned.” See v. 5.
[1:10] 41 tn Heb “Why should he see your faces thin from the young men who are according to your age?” The term translated “thin” occurs only here and in Gen 40:6, where it appears to refer to a dejected facial expression. The word is related to an Arabic root meaning “be weak.” See HALOT 277 s.v. II זעף.
[1:10] 42 tn The words “if that happened” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.
[1:10] 43 tn Heb “my head.” Presumably this is an implicit reference to capital punishment (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT), although this is not entirely clear.
[1:11] 44 sn Having failed to convince the overseer, Daniel sought the favor of the warden whom the overseer had appointed to care for the young men.
[1:13] 45 tn Heb “let our appearance be seen before you.”
[1:13] 46 tn Heb “the appearance of.”
[1:13] 47 tn Heb “delicacies of the king.” So also in v. 15.
[1:13] 48 tn Heb “your servants.”
[1:14] 49 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the warden mentioned in v. 11) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:14] 50 tn Heb “listened to them with regard to this matter.”
[1:14] 51 sn The number ten is sometimes used in the OT as an ideal number of completeness. Cf. v. 20; Zech 8:23; Rev 2:10.
[1:15] 52 tn Heb “fat of flesh”; KJV, ASV “fatter in flesh”; NASB, NRSV “fatter” (although this is no longer a sign of health in Western culture).
[1:16] 53 tn Heb “the wine of their drinking.”
[1:16] 54 tn The words “from their diet” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.
[1:18] 55 tn Heb “at the end of the days which the king said to bring them.”
[1:19] 56 tn Heb “from all of them.”
[1:19] 57 tn Heb “stood before the king.”
[1:20] 58 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.
[1:21] 60 sn The Persian king Cyrus’ first year in control of Babylon was 539
[7:1] 61 tn Heb “and all the people who were with him.”
[7:1] 62 sn The name Harod means, ironically, “trembling.”
[7:1] 63 tn Heb “Midian.” The LXX reads “and Amalek” (cf. v. 12; 6:33).
[7:2] 64 tn Heb “the people who are with you are too numerous for me to give Midian into their hand.”
[7:2] 65 tn Heb “might glorify itself against me.”
[7:2] 66 tn Heb “my hand has delivered me.”
[7:3] 67 tn Heb “call into the ears of the people.”
[7:3] 68 tn Heb “afraid and shaking.”
[7:3] 69 tc Many interpreters reject the MT reading “and leave Mount Gilead” for geographical reasons. A possible alternative, involving rather radical emendation of the Hebrew text, would be, “So Gideon tested them” (i.e., thinned the ranks in this manner).
[7:3] 70 tn Heb “people.” The translation uses “men” because warriors are in view, and in ancient Israelite culture these would be only males. (This is also the case in vv. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.)
[7:3] 71 tn Or “turned around, back.”
[7:4] 72 tn Heb “too many people.”
[7:4] 73 tn Heb “test them for you there.”
[7:4] 74 tn Heb “he should go with you.”
[7:4] 75 tn Heb also has “to you.”
[7:4] 76 tn Heb “he should not go.”
[7:5] 78 tn Heb “Everyone who laps with his tongue from the water, as a dog laps, put him by himself, as well as the one who gets down on his knees to drink.”
[7:6] 79 tc The Hebrew text adds, “with their hands to their mouths,” This makes no sense in light of v. 5, which distinguishes between dog-like lappers (who would not use their hands to drink) and those who kneel (who would use their hands). It seems likely that the words “with their hands to their mouths” have been misplaced from v. 6. They fit better at the end of v. 5 or v. 6. Perhaps these words were originally a marginal scribal note which was later accidentally inserted into the text in the wrong place.
[7:7] 81 tn Heb “you.” The Hebrew pronoun is masculine plural, probably referring to the entire army.
[7:7] 82 tn The Hebrew pronoun here is singular.
[7:7] 83 tn Heb “All the people should go, each to his place.”
[7:8] 85 tn The words “who were chosen” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[7:8] 86 tn The Hebrew text has “in their hands.”
[7:8] 87 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:8] 90 tn The Hebrew text adds “him” (i.e., Gideon).
[7:9] 91 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:9] 92 tn Heb “Go down against.”
[7:9] 93 tn The Hebrew verbal form is a perfect, emphasizing the certainty of the promise.
[7:11] 94 tn Heb “your hands will be strengthened.”
[7:11] 95 tn Heb “to the edge of the ones in battle array who were in the camp.”
[7:12] 96 tn Heb “Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east were falling in the valley like locusts in great number.”
[7:13] 97 tn Heb “And Gideon came, and, look, a man was relating to his friend a dream.”
[7:13] 98 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man mentioned in the previous clause) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:13] 99 tn Heb “Look!” The repetition of this interjection, while emphatic in Hebrew, would be redundant in the English translation.
[7:13] 100 tn Heb “It came to the tent and struck it and it fell. It turned it upside down and the tent fell.”
[7:14] 101 tn Heb “answered and said.”
[7:14] 102 tn Heb “This can be nothing but.”
[7:15] 103 tn Heb “he bowed down” or “worshiped.”
[7:16] 105 tn Heb “the jars.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“them”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:16] sn They hid the torches inside the earthenware jars to disguise their approach and to keep the torches from being extinguished by the breeze.
[7:19] 107 tn Heb “Gideon went, along with the hundred men who were with him, to the edge of the camp.”
[7:19] 108 tn Heb “that were in their hands.”
[7:20] 109 tn The Hebrew text adds, “in order to blow [them].” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:21] 110 tn Heb “each in his place.”
[7:22] 112 tn Heb “the
[7:22] 113 tc MT has “and throughout the camp,” but the conjunction (“and”) is due to dittography and should be dropped. Compare the ancient versions, which lack the conjunction here.
[7:22] 114 tn The words “they went” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[7:24] 116 tn Heb “to meet Midian.”
[7:24] 117 tn Heb “capture before them the waters.”
[7:24] 118 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification (also later in this verse).
[7:24] 119 tn Heb “And all the men of Ephraim were summoned.”
[7:24] 120 tn Heb “they captured the waters.”
[7:25] 121 sn The names Oreb and Zeeb, which mean “Raven” and “Wolf” respectively, are appropriate because the Midianites had been like scavengers and predators to Israel.
[7:25] 122 tn The Hebrew text repeats the verb “executed.” This has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:25] 124 tn Heb “beyond the Jordan.” The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarity (also in 8:4).
