DAN 2:1 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) Back in the second year of King Nevukadnetstsar’s reign, the king had had some dreams that troubled him—leaving him unable to sleep.

Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams. His spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him.

UST One night during the second year that Nebuchadnezzar ruled, he had a dream. The dream worried him very much; and as a result he could not sleep.

OEB No OEB DAN book available

WEBBE In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamt dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep went from him.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET In the second year of his reign Nebuchadnezzar had many dreams. His mind was disturbed and he suffered from insomnia.

LSV And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar has dreamed dreams, and his spirit moves itself, and his sleep has been against him;

FBV In the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign the king had dreams that upset him so much that he found it difficult to sleep.

T4T One night during the second year that Nebuchadnezzar ruled, he had a dream. The dream worried him very much; and as a result he could not sleep.

LEB Now[fn] in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him.

2:1 Hebrew “And”

BBE In the second year of the rule of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep went from him.

Moff Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams that disturbed his mind, till sleep forsook him.

JPS And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep broke from him.

ASV And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep went from him.

DRA In the second year of the reign of Nabuchodonosor, Nabuchodonosor had a dream, and his spirit was terrified, and his dream went out of his mind.

YLT And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, dreamed hath Nebuchadnezzar dreams, and his spirit doth move itself, and his sleep hath been against him;

Drby And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep went from him.

RV And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.

SLT And in the second year to the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, and his spirit will be moved, and his sleep was broken upon him.

Wbstr And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, with which his spirit was troubled, and his sleep broke from him.

KJB-1769 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.

KJB-1611 ¶ And in the second yeere of the reigne of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchad-nezzar dreamed dreames, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleepe brake from him.
(¶ And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchad-nezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.)

Bshps In the second yere of the raigne of Nabuchodonozor, had Nabuchodonozor a dreame, wherthorowe his spirite was troubled & his sleepe brake from him.
(In the second year of the reign of Nabuchodonozor, had Nabuchodonozor a dream, wherthrough his spirit was troubled and his sleep brake from him.)

Gnva And in the seconde yeere of the raygne of Nebuchad-nezzar, Nebuchad-nezzar dreamed dreames wherewith his spirite was troubled, and his sleepe was vpon him.
(And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchad-nezzar, Nebuchad-nezzar dreamed dreams wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep was upon him. )

Cvdl In the secode yeare off the raigne of Nabuchodonosor, had Nabuchodonosor a dreame, where thorow his sprete was vexed, and his slepe brake from him.
(In the secode year off the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, had Nebuchadnezzar a dream, where through his spirit was vexed, and his sleep brake from him.)

Wycl In the secounde yeer of the rewme of Nabugodonosor, Nabugodonosor siy a dreem; and his spirit was aferd, and his dreem fledde awei fro hym.
(In the second year of the realm of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar saw a dream; and his spirit was afraid, and his dream fled away from him.)

Luth Im andern Jahr des Reichs Nebukadnezars hatte Nebukadnezar einen Traum, davon er erschrak, daß er aufwachte.
(In_the change year the kingdom Nebukadnezars had Nebukadnezar a dream, of_that he frightened, that he wakes_upe.)

ClVg In anno secundo regni Nabuchodonosor, vidit Nabuchodonosor somnium, et conterritus est spiritus ejus, et somnium ejus fugit ab eo.
(In in_the_year secondly of_the_kingdom Nabuchodonosor, he_saw Nabuchodonosor a_dream/sleep, and conterritus it_is spirit his, and a_dream/sleep his he_fled away by_him. )

SOTN 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 2:1–3

This paragraph introduces the problem that is resolved in this section. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, was troubled by his dreams. He asked his advisers to explain them to him.

2:1a

In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams

¶ During Nebuchadnezzar’s second year as king, he began to have/see dreams
¶ Two years after Nebuchadnezzar had become king, he dreamed strange/unusual dreams.

In the second year of his reign: This clause tells when the events of this section took place.Some commentators see an apparent contradiction between this reference and the reference to “three years” in 1:5 and in 1:18 (“the time specified by the king” in 1:18 means “three years”). One way to explain this problem is to consider the way the Hebrews counted the years a king reigned. They counted the fraction of the first calendar year as a full year. Thus the second year according to the Babylonian way of counting would have been the third year according to the way the Hebrews counted. Baldwin (p. 85) explains that Nebuchadnezzar’s second year would have been March/April 603 BC. Others who take a similar view are Driver, Lucas, Showers, Wiseman, Walvoord. Wood, and Young.Goldingay explains that if this view is correct, then the “denouements in 1:18–20 and 2:45–49 might then refer to the same events.” This would solve a number of other apparent problems, including the fact that the king does not seem to know Daniel in chapter 2. It was about the year 603 BC, when Nebuchadnezzar had been reigning more than a year but less than three years. Other ways to translate this include:

Two years after he became king

During the second year that Nebuchadnezzar was king (CEV)

During Nebuchadnezzar’s second year as king (NCV)

his reign: The pronoun his here refers to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia. In the Hebrew text the name is explicit. See the General Comment on 2:1.

Nebuchadnezzar had dreams: The Hebrew phrase that the BSB translates as Nebuchadnezzar had dreams is literally “Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams.” Use the idiom that is natural in your language. For example:

as Nebuchadnezzar lay in bed, he dreamed.

as he was sleeping, dreams came to him

Nebuchadnezzar: See how you spelled this name in 1:1b. In some languages it may be natural to include Nebuchadnezzar’s title here:

King Nebuchadnezzar

dreams: In some languages there may be special words for certain types of dreams. Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams were of unusual and disturbing events. He thought they must have some supernatural meaning. Use the word or phrase that is natural to refer to such dreams. For example:

strange dreams

The BSB, following the Hebrew, uses the plural form dreams. However, the context focuses on one specific dream. Nebuchadnezzar perhaps dreamed the same dream several times. Another way to translate this is:

had a series of dreams (NJB)

In some languages it may be more natural to use a singular form. For example:

he had a dream (GNT)

General Comment on 2:1a

In the Hebrew text the name “Nebuchadnezzar” is used twice in this verse part. In many languages it will be more natural to use a pronoun in one of these two references. For example:

In the second year that Nebuchadnezzar was king, he had a dream. (GNT)

In the second year of his reign Nebuchadnezzar was troubled by dreams. (REB)

2:1b

that troubled his spirit, and sleep escaped him.

that disturbed him. He could not sleep,
They made him so worried that he was unable to sleep.

In the Hebrew text this verse part connects to the previous verse part with the common connector that several English versions translate as “and.” In this context the connector introduces a result. The king’s dreams caused him to worry and not be able to sleep. Use a natural form in your language to express this meaning. For example:

dreamed such dreams that his spirit was troubled (NRSV)

that troubled his spirit: The clause that the BSB translates as that troubled his spirit indicates that King Nebuchadnezzar felt anxious or worried. Other ways to translate this clause are:

his mind was troubled (NIV)

It worried him so much (GNT)

that bothered him (NCV)

he became very anxious

his spirit: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as his spirit here refers to Nebuchadnezzar’s thoughts and emotions.

and: The Hebrew connector that the BSB translates as and here introduces the second result of the dream. Use a form that is natural in your language to express this idea.

sleep escaped him: The Hebrew expression that the BSB translates as sleep escaped him probably indicates that Nebuchadnezzar was no longer able to sleep. It implies that the dream frightened Nebuchadnezzar so much that it woke him up. He could not go back to sleep again. Some ways to translate this in English are:

his sleep left him (RSV)

kept him awake (NCV)

General Comment on 2:1a–b

In some languages it may be natural to combine the information in 2:1a and 2:1b. For example: