2:10 The wise men replied to the king, “There is no man on earth who is able to disclose the king’s secret, 14 for no king, regardless of his position and power, has ever requested such a thing from any magician, astrologer, or wise man.
2:24 Then Daniel went in to see 15 Arioch (whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon). He came 16 and said to him, “Don’t destroy the wise men of Babylon! Escort me 17 to the king, and I will disclose the interpretation to him!” 18
1 tn Aram “his servants.”
2 tn Or “the.”
3 sn Contrary to common belief, the point here is not that the wise men (Chaldeans) replied to the king in the Aramaic language, or that this language was uniquely the language of the Chaldeans. It was this view that led in the past to Aramaic being referred to as “Chaldee.” Aramaic was used as a lingua franca during this period; its origins and usage were not restricted to the Babylonians. Rather, this phrase is better understood as an editorial note (cf. NAB) marking the fact that from 2:4b through 7:28 the language of the book shifts from Hebrew to Aramaic. In 8:1, and for the remainder of the book, the language returns to Hebrew. Various views have been advanced to account for this change of language, most of which are unconvincing. Most likely the change in language is a reflection of stages in the transmission history of the book of Daniel.
4 tn Or “the.”
5 tc Theodotion and the Syriac lack the words “went in and.”
6 tn Aram “whose dwelling is not with flesh.”
7 tc The translation reads מִפְשַׁר (mifshar) rather than the MT מְפַשַּׁר (mÿfashar) and later in the verse reads וּמִשְׁרֵא (mishre’) rather than the MT וּמְשָׁרֵא (mÿshare’). The Masoretes have understood these Aramaic forms to be participles, but they are more likely to be vocalized as infinitives. As such, they have an epexegetical function in the syntax of their clause.
8 tn Aram “to loose knots.”
9 tn Aram “let [Daniel] be summoned.”
10 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).
11 tn Aram “one is your law,” i.e., only one thing is applicable to you.
12 tn Aram “a lying and corrupt word.”
13 tn Aram “I will know.”
14 tn Aram “matter, thing.”
15 tc The MT has עַל עַל (’al ’al, “he entered upon”). Several medieval Hebrew
16 tc The LXX and Vulgate, along with one medieval Hebrew
17 tn Aram “cause me to enter.” So also in v. 25.
18 tn Aram “the king.”
19 tn Aram “in strength.”
20 tn Aram “cause to enter.”
21 tn Aram “answered and said.”
22 sn Purple was a color associated with royalty in the ancient world.
23 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).