DAN 2:34 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 2:1–49: Daniel explained the king’s dream

These Notes interpret Daniel 2:1–49 as a complete narrative unit. However, in some languages it may be helpful to divide this chapter into more than one section and to give each section a separate heading. For example:

The BSB has four sections.
1. Nebuchadnezzar’s Troubling Dream (2:1–13)
2. The Dream Revealed to Daniel (2:14–23)
3. Daniel Interprets the Dream (2:24–45)
4. Nebuchadnezzar Promotes Daniel (2:46–49)
The GNT has three sections:

(a) Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (2:1–13)

(b) God shows Daniel what the dream means (2:14–23)

This section tells how Nebuchadnezzar had a disturbing dream. He asked his advisers to tell him what he had dreamed and its meaning. They were unable to do so, and the king threatened them with death. But God revealed the meaning of the dream to Daniel. Daniel then told the king what he had dreamed and what it meant. The king honored Daniel and Daniel’s God.

The climax of this narrative occurs in 2:47. There the king declared that the God whom Daniel worshiped was the greatest of all gods.

Special Translation Problems:

1. Lists: The author of the book of Daniel liked to use lists (2:2, 10). However, the author did not intend for these lists to be complete or exact. The lists usually provide examples of the types of people or things that belong in a certain group or category. The Notes will suggest options on how to translate these lists.

2. Synonyms: The text often uses different terms for similar ideas. For example, there are several verbs that mean “to reveal” or “to make known.” There are three different Aramaic verbs in 2:40 that mean “crush, break to pieces.” In some languages it may be difficult or confusing to use several different words for similar ideas. The Notes will suggest how you might translate these similar words and terms.

3. Poetry: You will need to think carefully about how you will translate the poetic section in this chapter (2:20–23). Authors of Hebrew poetry usually wrote using matching pairs of lines. The relationship between these parallel lines differs. Sometimes the second line repeats the information in the first line using different words. Sometimes the second line contrasts with the first line. Hebrew poetry also has word plays, figurative speech, and alliteration. It may not always be easy to translate these literary features into your language. The Notes will suggest ways of translating the different features of Hebrew poetry. For more information about how to translate Hebrew poetry, see the Bible Translation Handbook of the Psalms. The poetry in 2:20–23 is a song of praise or thanksgiving. If your language has a special poetic form that fits this song, you can use it here.

4. Ambiguity: In the section where Daniel interpreted the last part of the king’s dream, there are a number of ambiguous references. For example, in 2:44a Daniel referred to “those kings” without identifying who those kings were. In 2:44b Daniel spoke of “all these kingdoms.” The ambiguity may be deliberate, since the dream itself is a mystery. It will be important not to over-interpret these passages by assuming a particular historical context. The Notes will suggest several options for how to translate these verses.

5. Repetition: Daniel interpreted the meaning of the first three kingdoms in a very brief way. He used many more words to describe the fourth kingdom (2:36–45). In this section he also repeated much of what was described before. In this way, Daniel emphasized the fourth kingdom as the most important. Some of the repetition in this section emphasizes specific ideas. Sometimes the repetition has another function. You will need to evaluate if this kind of repetition is natural in your language. If not, you will need to find another way to emphasize these ideas.

Paragraph 2:31–2:35

Daniel told the king what he had seen in his dream.

2:34a

As you watched, a stone was cut out,

As you^(sing) were looking at the statue, suddenly, someone cut out a rock from a mountain ,
As you^(sing) watched the statue, someone cut out a stone from a mountain.

As you watched, a stone was cut out: The king watched as a stone was cut out. That is, in his dream he saw this happening. Other ways to translate this include

While you were watching, a rock was cut out (NIV)

You saw a rock being cut out

In your dream a rock was cut out

There is a textual problem in this verse part. Some ancient versions, such as the Greek Septuagint, include the phrase “from a mountain,” explaining from where the rock was cut. Scholars differ about whether this phrase was part of the original text:

Many English versions do not include this phrase. Only later in 2:45 does the text explain that the stone came from a mountain. For example:
As you looked, a stone was cut out (ESV) (BSB, KJV, NASB, ESV, RSV/NRSV, NCV, NJB, NJPS, NET, GW)
Some English versions do include this phrase. For example:
While you were looking at it, a great stone broke loose from a cliff (GNT) (NLT, GNT, CEV, REB)

It is recommended that you follow option (1). However, in some languages it may be good to include the phrase as implied information, to explain what the stone was cut from.

a stone was cut out: This is a passive clause. The Aramaic does not indicate who or what caused the rock to separate from the cliff face. It is implied in the context that it was God or his angels, but this is not stated explicitly. There are several ways to translate this clause:

Using an active verb with an indefinite subject supplied. For example:
one/they cut out the rock
Using an active verb with the stone itself as the subject. For example:
a stone broke away (NJB)
Using a passive verb. For example:
a stone was broken off (NASB)

Use the form that is most natural in your language.

stone: This may have been a large stone, such as workers would use in constructing a building.HALOT, p. 1844, describes it as “a block of stone.” The Translator’s Handbook on Daniel describes this stone as a “very large stone, more like a boulder.”

2:34b

but not by human hands.

but it was not a human being who did this.
This was not the deed of any mere mortal.

not by human hands: The Aramaic phrase that the BSB translates not by human hands is literally “not by hands.” The phrase indicates that a human being did not do this. It implies that a supernatural being cut the rock from the mountain. Some English versions translate literally. For example:

not by hands (NJPS)

However, in some languages a literal translation could imply that people used tools or some other way to cut out the stone. Check that your translation does not imply this. In some languages it may be necessary to avoid mention of hands. For example:

not by humans (GW)

You may have a way in your language to imply that God caused this to happen without saying so directly. The BSB implies this by supplying the word human. Other ways to imply this may include:

not by the hand of man

this was not the work of man

without human intervention

2:34c

It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them.

The rock hit the statue on its feet of iron and clay. It smashed the feet into pieces.
The stone hit the feet of the statue, the feet made from iron and clay. The stone shattered the feet into pieces.

It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them: The falling rock hit the statue and broke its feet. Other ways to translate this include:

It hit the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them (NCV)

it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and shattered them (REB)

statue: See the note at 2:31a. Use the same word here that you did there. In some languages it may be natural to leave the statue implicit, mentioning only the feet. For example:

The stone struck the feet (CEV)

on its feet of iron and clay: See the Notes at 2:33b. This information is repeated from 2:33. If this repetition is unnatural in your language, it may be possible to alter or shorten the expression in some way. For example:

on its iron and clay feet

on its feet made from iron and clay

Remind the readers of the composition of the feet in a way that is natural in your language.

and crushed them: The rock caused the statue’s feet to break up into smaller bits. Other ways to translate this include:

and broke them in pieces (RSV)

and shattered them (REB)

and smashed them (NIV)

Use the word or phrase that most naturally describes this action.

them: The pronoun them here refers to the feet of the statue.

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The Hebrew text, lemmas, and morphology are all thanks to the OSHB and some of the glosses are from Macula Hebrew.