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.
Yakobus 2:1-26
Konteks2:1 My brothers and sisters, 61 do not show prejudice 62 if you possess faith 63 in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. 64 2:2 For if someone 65 comes into your assembly 66 wearing a gold ring and fine clothing, and a poor person enters in filthy clothes, 2:3 do you pay attention to the one who is finely dressed and say, 67 “You sit here in a good place,” 68 and to the poor person, “You stand over there,” or “Sit on the floor”? 69 2:4 If so, have you not made distinctions 70 among yourselves and become judges with evil motives? 71 2:5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! 72 Did not God choose the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him? 2:6 But you have dishonored the poor! 73 Are not the rich oppressing you and dragging you into the courts? 2:7 Do they not blaspheme the good name of the one you belong to? 74 2:8 But if you fulfill the royal law as expressed in this scripture, 75 “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” 76 you are doing well. 2:9 But if you show prejudice, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as violators. 77 2:10 For the one who obeys the whole law but fails 78 in one point has become guilty of all of it. 79 2:11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” 80 also said, “Do not murder.” 81 Now if you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a violator of the law. 2:12 Speak and act as those who will be judged by a law that gives freedom. 82 2:13 For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over 83 judgment.
2:14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, 84 if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of faith 85 save him? 86 2:15 If a brother or sister 87 is poorly clothed and lacks daily food, 2:16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm and eat well,” but you do not give them what the body needs, 88 what good is it? 2:17 So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself. 2:18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” 89 Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by 90 my works. 2:19 You believe that God is one; well and good. 91 Even the demons believe that – and tremble with fear. 92
2:20 But would you like evidence, 93 you empty fellow, 94 that faith without works is useless? 95 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 2:22 You see that his faith was working together with his works and his faith was perfected by works. 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Now Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness,” 96 and he was called God’s friend. 97 2:24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 2:25 And similarly, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another way? 2:26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
[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
[2:1] 61 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.
[2:1] 63 tn Grk “do not have faith with personal prejudice,” with emphasis on the last phrase.
[2:1] 64 tn Grk “our Lord Jesus Christ of glory.” Here δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.
[2:2] 65 tn The word for “man” or “individual” here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which often means “male” or “man (as opposed to woman).” But as BDAG 79 s.v. 2 says, “equivalent to τὶς someone.”
[2:2] 66 tn Grk “synagogue.” Usually συναγωγή refers to Jewish places of worship (e.g., Matt 4:23, Mark 1:21, Luke 4:15, John 6:59). The word can be used generally to refer to a place of assembly, and here it refers specifically to a Christian assembly (BDAG 963 s.v. 2.b.).
[2:3] 67 tn Grk “and you pay attention…and say,” continuing the “if” clauses from v. 2. In the Greek text, vv. 2-4 form one long sentence.
[2:3] 68 tn Or “sit here, please.”
[2:3] 69 tn Grk “sit under my footstool.” The words “on the floor” have been supplied in the translation to clarify for the modern reader the undesirability of this seating arrangement (so also TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). Another option followed by a number of translations is to replace “under my footstool” with “at my feet” (NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[2:4] 70 tn Grk “have you not made distinctions” (as the conclusion to the series of “if” clauses in vv. 2-3).
[2:4] 71 tn Grk “judges of evil reasonings.”
[2:5] 72 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.
[2:6] 73 tn This is singular: “the poor person,” perhaps referring to the hypothetical one described in vv. 2-3.
[2:7] 74 tn Grk “that was invoked over you,” referring to their baptism in which they confessed their faith in Christ and were pronounced to be his own. To have the Lord’s name “named over them” is OT imagery for the Lord’s ownership of his people (cf. 2 Chr 7:14; Amos 9:12; Isa 63:19; Jer 14:9; 15:16; Dan 9:19; Acts 15:17).
[2:8] 75 tn Grk “according to the scripture.”
[2:8] 76 sn A quotation from Lev 19:18 (also quoted in Matt 19:19; 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Rom 13:9; Gal 5:14).
[2:9] 77 tn Or “transgressors.”
[2:10] 79 tn Grk “guilty of all.”
[2:11] 80 sn A quotation from Exod 20:14 and Deut 5:18.
[2:11] 81 sn A quotation from Exod 20:13 and Deut 5:17.
[2:12] 82 tn Grk “a law of freedom.”
[2:13] 83 tn Grk “boasts against, exults over,” in victory.
[2:14] 84 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.
[2:14] 85 tn Grk “the faith,” referring to the kind of faith just described: faith without works. The article here is anaphoric, referring to the previous mention of the noun πίστις (pisti") in the verse. See ExSyn 219.
[2:14] 86 sn The form of the question in Greek expects a negative answer.
[2:15] 87 tn It is important to note that the words ἀδελφός (adelfos) and ἀδελφή (adelfh) both occur in the Greek text at this point, confirming that the author intended to refer to both men and women. See the note on “someone” in 2:2.
[2:16] 88 tn Grk “what is necessary for the body.”
[2:18] 89 tn There is considerable doubt about where the words of the “someone” end and where James’ reply begins. Some see the quotation running to the end of v. 18; others to the end of v. 19. But most punctuate as shown above. The “someone” is then an objector, and the sense of his words is something like, “Some have faith; others have works; don’t expect everyone to have both.” James’ reply is that faith cannot exist or be seen without works.
[2:19] 91 tn Grk “you do well.”
[2:19] 92 tn Grk “believe and tremble.” The words “with fear” are implied.
[2:20] 93 tn Grk “do you want to know.”
[2:20] 94 tn Grk “O empty man.” Here the singular vocative ἄνθρωπε (anqrwpe, “man”) means “person” or even “fellow.” Cf. BDAG 82 s.v. ἄνθρωπος 8 which views this as an instance of rhetorical address in a letter; the pejorative sense is also discussed under the previous heading (7).
[2:20] 95 tc Most witnesses, including several important ones (א A C2 P Ψ 33 Ï sy bo), have νεκρά (nekra, “dead”) here, while Ì74 reads κενή (kenh, “empty”). Both variants are most likely secondary, derived from ἀργή (argh, “useless”). The reading of the majority is probably an assimilation to the statements in vv. 17 and 26, while Ì74’s reading picks up on κενέ (kene) earlier in the verse. The external evidence (B C* 323 945 1739 sa) for ἀργή is sufficient for authenticity; coupled with the strong internal evidence for the reading (if νεκρά were original, how would ἀργή have arisen here and not in vv. 17 or 26?), it is strongly preferred.
[2:23] 96 sn A quotation from Gen 15:6.
[2:23] 97 sn An allusion to 2 Chr 20:7; Isa 41:8; 51:2; Dan 3:35 (LXX), in which Abraham is called God’s “beloved.”
