Daniel 1:4

1:4 young men in whom there was no physical defect and who were handsome, ¹  well versed in all kinds of wisdom, well educated ²  and having keen insight, ³  and who were capable ⁴  of entering the king’s royal service ⁵  – and to teach them the literature and language ⁶  of the Babylonians. ⁷ 

Daniel 1:10

1:10 But he ⁸  responded to Daniel, “I fear my master the king. He is the one who has decided ⁹  your food and drink. What would happen if he saw that you looked malnourished in comparison to the other young men your age? ¹⁰  If that happened, ¹¹  you would endanger my life ¹²  with the king!”

Daniel 2:10

2:10 The wise men replied to the king, “There is no man on earth who is able to disclose the king’s secret, ¹³  for no king, regardless of his position and power, has ever requested such a thing from any magician, astrologer, or wise man.

Daniel 3:27

3:27 Once the satraps, prefects, governors, and ministers of the king had gathered around, they saw that those men were physically ¹⁴  unharmed by the fire. ¹⁵  The hair of their heads was not singed, nor were their trousers damaged. Not even the smell of fire was to be found on them!

Daniel 4:18

4:18 “This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare its ¹⁶  interpretation, for none of the wise men in ¹⁷  my kingdom are able to make known to me the interpretation. But you can do so, for a spirit of the holy gods is in you.”

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 ¹⁸  insight, discernment, and wisdom like that ¹⁹  of the gods. ²⁰  King Nebuchadnezzar your father appointed him chief of the magicians, astrologers, wise men, and diviners. ²¹ 

Daniel 6:24

6:24 The king gave another order, ²²  and those men who had maliciously accused ²³  Daniel were brought and thrown ²⁴  into the lions’ den – they, their children, and their wives. ²⁵  They did not even reach the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

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¹ tn Heb “good of appearance.”

² tn Heb “knowers of knowledge.”

³ tn Heb “understanders of knowledge.”

⁴ tn Heb “who had strength.”

⁵ tn Heb “to stand in the palace of the king.” Cf. vv. 5, 19.

⁶ sn The language of the Chaldeans referred to here is Akkadian, an East Semitic cuneiform language.

⁷ tn Heb “Chaldeans” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV). This is an ancient name for the Babylonians.

⁸ tn Heb “The overseer of the court officials.” The subject has been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

⁹ tn Heb “assigned.” See v. 5.

¹⁰ 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.

¹¹ tn The words “if that happened” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

¹² tn Heb “my head.” Presumably this is an implicit reference to capital punishment (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT), although this is not entirely clear.

¹³ tn Aram “matter, thing.”

¹⁴ tn Aram “in their bodies.”

¹⁵ tn Aram “the fire did not have power.”

¹⁶ tc The present translation reads פִּשְׁרֵהּ (pishreh, “its interpretation”) with the Qere and many medieval Hebrew MSS; the Kethib is פִּשְׁרָא (pishra’, “the interpretation”); so also v. 16.

¹⁷ tn Aram “of.”

¹⁸ tn Aram “[there were] discovered to be in him.”

¹⁹ tn Aram “wisdom like the wisdom.” This would be redundant in terms of English style.

²⁰ tc Theodotion lacks the phrase “and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods.”

²¹ 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.

²² tn Aram “said.”

²³ tn Aram “had eaten the pieces of.” The Aramaic expression is ironic, in that the accusers who had figuratively “eaten the pieces of Daniel” are themselves literally devoured by the lions.

²⁴ tn The Aramaic active impersonal verb is often used as a substitute for the passive.

²⁵ tc The LXX specifies only the two overseers, together with their families, as those who were cast into the lions’ den.