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 ¹  interpretation to the king.

Daniel 5:15

5:15 Now the wise men and ²  astrologers were brought before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation. But they were unable to disclose the interpretation of the message.

Daniel 5:17

Daniel Interprets the Handwriting on the Wall

5:17 But Daniel replied to the king, “Keep your gifts, and give your rewards to someone else! However, I will read the writing for the king and make known its ³  interpretation.

Daniel 5:16

5:16 However, I have heard ⁴  that you are able to provide interpretations and to decipher knotty problems. Now if you are able to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, you will wear purple and have a golden collar around your neck and be third ⁵  ruler in the kingdom.”

Daniel 5:7

5:7 The king called out loudly ⁶  to summon ⁷  the astrologers, wise men, and diviners. The king proclaimed ⁸  to the wise men of Babylon that anyone who could read this inscription and disclose its interpretation would be clothed in purple ⁹  and have a golden collar ¹⁰  placed on his neck and be third ruler in the kingdom.

Daniel 6:13

6:13 Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the captives ¹¹  from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the edict that you issued. Three times daily he offers his prayer.” ¹² 

Daniel 1:3-4

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 

Daniel 9:1

Daniel Prays for His People

9:1 In the first year of Darius ²⁵  son of Ahasuerus, ²⁶  who was of Median descent and who had been ²⁷  appointed king over the Babylonian ²⁸  empire –

[5:8]  ¹ tc Read וּפִשְׁרֵהּ (ufishreh) with the Qere rather than וּפִשְׁרָא (ufishra’) of the Kethib.

[5:15]  ² tn The Aramaic text does not have “and.” The term “astrologers” is either an appositive for “wise men” (cf. KJV, NKJV, ASV, RSV, NRSV), or the construction is to be understood as asyndetic (so the translation above).

[5:17]  ³ tn Or “the.”

[5:16]  ⁴ tn The Aramaic text has also the words “about you.”

[5:16]  ⁵ tn Or perhaps “one of three rulers,” in the sense of becoming part of a triumvir. So also v. 29.

[5:7]  ⁶ tn Aram “in strength.”

[5:7]  ⁷ tn Aram “cause to enter.”

[5:7]  ⁸ tn Aram “answered and said.”

[5:7]  ⁹ sn Purple was a color associated with royalty in the ancient world.

[5:7]  ¹⁰ 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).

[6:13]  ¹¹ tn Aram “from the sons of the captivity [of].”

[6:13]  ¹² tn Aram “prays his prayer.”

[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]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “bring.”

[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.

[9:1]  ²⁵ sn The identity of this Darius is a major problem in correlating the biblical material with the extra-biblical records of this period. Most modern scholars treat the reference as a mistaken allusion to Darius Hystaspes (ca. 522-486 B.C.). Others have maintained instead that this name is a reference to the Persian governor Gubaru. Still others understand the reference to be to the Persian king Cyrus (cf. 6:28, where the vav (ו) may be understood as vav explicativum, meaning “even”). Under either of these latter two interpretations, the first year of Darius would have been ca. 538 B.C. Daniel would have been approximately eighty-two years old at this time.

[9:1]  ²⁶ tc The LXX reads “Xerxes.” This is the reading used by some English versions (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV). Most other English versions retain the Hebrew name “Ahasuerus.”

[9:1]  ²⁷ tc The present translation follows the MT in reading a Hophal (i.e., passive). Theodotion, the Syriac, and the Vulgate all presuppose the Hiphil (i.e., active). Even though this is the only occurrence of the Hophal of this verb in the Bible, there is no need to emend the vocalization to the Hiphil.

[9:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans.”