Discovery BoxDaniel 2:2 
Context2:2 The king issued an order 1 to summon the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and wise men 2 in order to explain his dreams to him. 3 So they came and awaited the king’s instructions. 4
Daniel 8:27
Context8:27 I, Daniel, was exhausted 5 and sick for days. Then I got up and again carried out the king’s business. But I was astonished at the vision, and there was no one to explain it.
1 tn Heb “said.” So also in v. 12.
2 tn Heb “Chaldeans.” The term Chaldeans (Hebrew כַּשְׂדִּים, kasdim) is used in the book of Daniel both in an ethnic sense and, as here, to refer to a caste of Babylonian wise men and astrologers.
3 tn Heb “to explain to the king his dreams.”
4 tn Heb “stood before the king.”
5 tn The Hebrew word here is נִהְיֵיתִי (nihyetiy). Its meaning is not entirely clear. Hebrew הָיָה (hayah) normally has meanings such as “to be” or “become.” Here, however, it describes Daniel’s emotional and physical response to the enigmatic vision that he has seen. It is parallel to the following verb, which refers to illness, and seems to refer to a state of utter exhaustion due to the amazing things that Daniel has just seen. The LXX lacks the word. On the meaning of the word see further, BDB 227-28 s.v. הָיָה Niph.2; DCH 2:540 s.v. היה I Ni.3.
