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 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 ⁸  insight, discernment, and wisdom like that ⁹  of the gods. ¹⁰  King Nebuchadnezzar your father appointed him chief of the magicians, astrologers, wise men, and diviners. ¹¹ 

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

⁹ tn Aram “wisdom like the wisdom.” This would be redundant in terms of English style.

¹⁰ tc Theodotion lacks the phrase “and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods.”

¹¹ 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.