DAN 5:15 Parallel Verse View

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

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 Now the wise men and enchanters have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not show the interpretation of the matter.

UST My wise men and men who work magic have tried to read the writing on this wall and tell me what it means, but they are not able to do it.

OEB No OEB DAN book available

WEBBE Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known to me its interpretation; but they could not show the interpretation of the thing.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Now the wise men and astrologers were brought before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation. But they were unable to disclose the interpretation of the message.

LSV And now, caused to come up before me have been the wise men, the enchanters, that they may read this writing, and its interpretation to cause me to know: and they are not able to show the interpretation of the thing:

FBV Just now the wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this writing and explain it to me, but they weren't able to do so—they couldn't tell me what it meant.

T4T My wise men and men who work magic have tried to read the writing on this wall and tell me what it means, but they are not able to do it.

LEB And now the wise men and the conjurers[fn] were brought in before me so that they could read this writing in order to make its explanation[fn] known to me, but they were not able to disclose the explanation[fn] of the matter.

5:15 Or “enchanters”

5:15 Or “interpretation”

BBE And now the wise men, the users of secret arts, have been sent in before me for the purpose of reading this writing and making clear to me the sense of it: but they are not able to make clear the sense of the thing:

Moff Well now, the sages, the enchanters, have been brought into my presence to read this writing and to let me hear the meaning of it, but they could not explain its meaning.

JPS And now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof; but they could not declare the interpretation of the thing.

ASV And now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof; but they could not show the interpretation of the thing.

DRA And now the wise men the magicians have come in before me, to read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof: and they could not declare to me the meaning of this writing.

YLT 'And now, caused to come up before me have been the wise men, the enchanters, that this writing they may read, and its interpretation to cause me to know: and they are not able to shew the interpretation of the thing:

Drby And now the wise men, the magicians, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof; but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing.

RV And now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing.
(And now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not show the interpretation of the thing. )

SLT And now the wise ones, the enchanters, were brought in before me that they shall read this writing, and to make known to me its interpretation: and they were not able to show the interpretation of the word:

Wbstr And now the wise men , the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known to me the interpretation of it, but they could not show the interpretation of the thing:

KJB-1769 And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing:
(And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not show the interpretation of the thing: )

KJB-1611 And now the wise men, the astrologers haue bene brought in before me, that they should reade this writing, and make knowen vnto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not shewe the interpretation of the thing.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps Now haue there ben brought before me wyse men and soothsayers to reade this wryting, and to shewe me the interpretation therof: but they could not declare the interpretation of the thing.
(Now have there been brought before me wise men and soothsayers to read this writing, and to show me the interpretation thereof: but they could not declare the interpretation of the thing.)

Gnva Now therefore, wisemen and astrologians haue bene brought before me, that they should reade this writing, and shewe me the interpretation thereof: but they could not declare the interpretation of the thing.
(Now therefore, wisemen and astrologians have been brought before me, that they should read this writing, and show me the interpretation thereof: but they could not declare the interpretation of the thing. )

Cvdl Now haue there bene brought me, wise and connynge charmers, to rede this wrytynge, and to shewe me the meanynge theroff: But they coude not tell me, what this matter signified.
(Now have there been brought me, wise and cunning charmers, to read this writing, and to show me the meaning thereoff: But they could not tell me, what this matter signified.)

Wycl And now wise men, astronomyens, entriden in my siyt, to rede this scripture, and to schewe to me the interpretyng therof; and thei myyten not seie to me the vndurstondyng of this word.
(And now wise men, astronomyens, entered in my sight, to read this scripture, and to show to me the interpreting thereof; and they might not say to me the understanding of this word.)

Luth Nun hab ich vor mich fordern lassen die Klugen und Weisen, daß sie mir diese Schrift lesen und anzeigen sollen, was sie bedeute; und sie können mir nicht sagen, was solches bedeute.
(Now have I before/in_front_of me demand let the wise/clever_(person) and ways/manners, that they/she/them to_me this/these writing read and show/display(v) should, what/which they/she/them bedeute; and they/she/them can to_me not say, what/which such bedeute.)

ClVg Et nunc introgressi sunt in conspectu meo sapientes magi, ut scripturam hanc legerent, et interpretationem ejus indicarent mihi: et nequiverunt sensum hujus sermonis edicere.
(And now introgressi are in/into/on in_sight mine wise_people magi, as scripturam this lawfullyrent, and interpretation his to_indicidatent to_me: and nequiverunt sense of_this speech edicere. )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 5:1–31: God judged King Belshazzar

The author continued to write in the Aramaic language. He wrote about how King Belshazzar gave a big banquet and made use of the sacred treasures from the Jerusalem temple. Belshazzar saw a hand writing a mysterious message on the wall. Only Daniel was able to explain the message, that God was about to punish Belshazzar. That same night an army of Medes and Persians conquered the city and killed Belshazzar.

English versions give different headings to Daniel 5. These include:

The Handwriting on the Wall (GW)

The Writing on the Wall (NIV)

King Belshazzar’s Banquet (CEV)

In some languages it may be more natural to write the heading in the form of a clause. For example, you could say:

King Belshazzar saw a hand write on the wall.

King Belshazzar had/gave a banquet/feast.

Some versions give headings to the subsections of Daniel 5. For example, the NLT has two headings:

The Writing on the Wall (5:1)

Daniel explains the writing (5:13)

The NRSV has three headings:

Belshazzar’s Feast (5:1)

The Writing on the Wall (5:5)

The Writing on the Wall Interpreted (5:13)

You should decide the number of headings that is best in your translation. The purpose of headings is to help readers to follow the events of the story. Headings also help the reader understand the relationships between the different parts of the story. You should try not to have more headings than necessary.

Historical Background:

Nabonidus was the king of Babylon from 556 to 539 B.C. Historical records indicate that he married Nitocris, the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar, and that Belshazzar was their oldest son.See the ancient Greek historian Herodotus and the Nabonidus Chronicles. While Nabonidus was absent from Babylon during the last ten years of his reign, Belshazzar acted as king in his place.

Daniel 5 describes the last night of the Babylonian empire. From other historic sources we know that Cyrus, the king of Persia, attacked the Babylonian army during the 7th month of the year 539 B.C. On the 15th day of that month, they attacked the town of Sippar and King Nabonidus fled. The next day Cyrus’ army entered the city of Babylon without any battle and killed its ruler, Belshazzar. Daniel 5 describes what Belshazzar was doing on the last day of the Babylonian empire.

Paragraph 5:13–16

The king summoned Daniel and asked him to interpret the writing on the wall. Some versions have a new heading at this verse.The NLT has: “Daniel Explains the Writing.” The NRSV has: “The Writing on the Wall Interpreted.” The GNT has: “Daniel Explains the Writing.”

5:15a

Now the wise men and enchanters were brought before me

The wise/expert advisers and spell/charm makers have already come
My servants brought my wise advisers and spell/charm experts

Now the wise men and enchanters were brought before me: In the Aramaic text this verse connects to the previous verse with a conjunction that the BSB translates as Now. In this context it introduces an event that had just then taken place. In some languages it may be natural to say:

The sages and soothsayers have already been brought to me (NJB)

The wise men, the exorcists, have just been brought before me (REB)

the wise men and enchanters: The Aramaic phrase that the BSB translates as the wise men and enchanters is literally “The wise men, the enchanters.” This suggests that in this context both wise men and enchanters are general words. Both refer to the various experts whom the king had mentioned in 5:7a.

the wise men: In some languages a literal translation of the phrase the wise men may imply a wrong meaning in this context. These were men who worked as advisers for the king. They were not ordinary men with special wisdom. See the note at 5:7b. Other ways to say this are:

advisers (GNT)

The wise advisers (GW)

and enchanters: The same word occurs at 2:2a; 5:7a; 5:11d.See also 2:10c, 27b; 4:4; 5:11, 15. Here, however, it does not refer to a specific group of experts as it did in 5:11c. In this context you should use a general word that refers to any experts who try to use the occult to get information or cast spells.

were brought before me: This is a passive clause. If it is more natural in your language to use an active verb, you can say:

my servants brought them to me

they (indefinite) brought them to me

My advisers and enchanters have just come

before me: See the Notes at 5:13a. This expression describes a situation where a person of lower status comes to a person of higher status or higher authority. You can say:

into my presence

into my royal court

5:15b

to read this inscription and interpret it for me,

and tried to read the writing and tell me its meaning.
to read the message and interpret it,

to read this inscription: See the Notes at 5:7c. The Aramaic word that the BSB translates as to read here implies the meaning “to read aloud.” The king wanted his advisers to read the writing aloud. He did not know whether they would be able to do so. It may therefore be natural to say:

to try to read this writing to me

The Aramaic phrase that the BSB translates as inscription refers to the words that the hand had written on the wall. In some languages it may be necessary to include this information. For example:

to read the words on the wall (NLT)

and interpret it for me: See the Notes at 5:7c. This is the second thing the king wanted his experts and advisers to do. He wanted them to tell him the meaning of the words on the wall. Here are some other ways to translate this:

and tell me its meaning (GW)

and explain it to me

5:15c

but they could not give its interpretation.

But they could not tell me what it meant.
but they were not able to do it.

but: The Aramaic connector that the BSB translates as but here introduces a contrast. The king summoned his expert advisers to read and interpret the writing on the wall. However they were unable to do so.

they could not give its interpretation: The Aramaic text more literally says “they were not able to tell the interpretation of the matter.” In many languages it may be natural to translate the abstract term interpretation using a verb. Here are some other ways to do this:

But they could not tell me what it meant (NJPS)

they could not explain it (NIV)

But they have been unable to reveal its meaning.

but they cannot (NLT)

Parallel DAN 5:15

Section 5:1–31: God judged King Belshazzar

Paragraph 5:13–16

5:15a

5:15b

5:15c