DAN 6:4 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) That led the high officials and the governors to try to find some fault with Daniel with regard to his administrative duties. However, they weren’t able to find any misdemeanours or corruption that he could be accused of because he was honest, reliable, and diligent.

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 Then the high officials and the satraps were seeking to find a ground for accusation against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they were not able to find any ground for accusation or corruption because he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption was found in him.

UST Then, the other administrators and the governors became jealous. So they began to search to find something that they could criticize about the way I was working for the king. But I always did my work faithfully and honestly, and was never lazy. So they could not find anything to criticize.

BSB Thus the administrators and satraps sought a charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find no charge or corruption, because he was trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption was found in him.

OEB No OEB DAN book available

WEBBE Then the presidents and the local governors sought to find occasion against Daniel as touching the kingdom; but they could find no occasion or fault, because he was faithful. There wasn’t any error or fault found in him.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Consequently the supervisors and satraps were trying to find some pretext against Daniel in connection with administrative matters. But they were unable to find any such damaging evidence, because he was trustworthy and guilty of no negligence or corruption.

LSV Then the presidents and satraps have been seeking to find a cause of complaint against Daniel concerning the kingdom, and any cause of complaint and corruption they are not able to find, because that he [is] faithful, and any error and corruption have not been found in him.

FBV As a result the other chief ministers and provincial governors tried to find a pretext against Daniel as to the way he ran the kingdom. But they couldn't find any cause for complaint or any corruption, for he was trustworthy. They could not discover any evidence that Daniel was negligent or corrupt.

T4T Then, the other administrators and the governors became jealous. So they began to try to find something that they could criticize about the way I was working for the king. But I always did my work faithfully and honestly, and was never lazy. So they could not find anything to criticize.

LEB Then the other administrators and satraps _⌊began to seek_⌋[fn] to find a pretext against Daniel _⌊in connection with the kingdom_⌋,[fn] but they were not able to find any pretext and _⌊corruption_⌋[fn] _⌊because_⌋[fn] he was trustworthy, and no[fn] negligence or _⌊corruption_⌋[fn] _⌊could be found in him_⌋.[fn]

6:4 Literally “were seeking”

6:4 Literally “from the side of the kingdom”

6:4 Literally “being corrupt”

6:4 Literally “all because that”

6:4 Aramaic “any”

6:4 Literally “not could be found”

BBE Then the chief rulers and the captains were looking for some cause for putting Daniel in the wrong in connection with the kingdom, but they were unable to put forward any wrongdoing or error against him; because he was true, and no error or wrong was to be seen in him.

Moff So the presidents and the satraps endeavoured to find some ground of complaint against Daniel in the matter of his public service, but they could find no ground of complaint or blame, for he was faithful, and no error or fault was to be found in him.

JPS (6-5) Then the presidents and the satraps sought to find occasion against Daniel as touching the kingdom; but they could find no occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.

ASV Then the presidents and the satraps sought to find occasion against Daniel as touching the kingdom; but they could find no occasion nor fault, forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.

DRA And the king thought to set him over all the kingdom: whereupon the princes, and the governors sought to find occasion against Daniel with regard to the king: and they could find no cause, nor suspicion, because he was faithful, and no fault, nor suspicion was found in him.

YLT Then the presidents and satraps have been seeking to find a cause of complaint against Daniel concerning the kingdom, and any cause of complaint and corruption they are not able to find, because that he [is] faithful, and any error and corruption have not been found in him.

Drby Then the presidents and the satraps sought to find a pretext against Daniel with respect to the kingdom; but they could not find any pretext or fault; inasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.

RV Then the presidents and the satraps sought to find occasion against Daniel as touching the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.

SLT Then the presidents and satraps were seeking to find a pretext against Daniel from the part of the kingdom; and they will not be able to find any pretext and corruption, because that he was faithful, and any error and corruption was not found upon him.

Wbstr Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.

KJB-1769 ¶ Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.

KJB-1611 ¶ Then the Presidents and Princes sought to finde occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdome, but they could finde none occasion, nor fault: forasmuch as he was faithfull, neither was there any errour or fault found in him.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation)

Bshps Wherfore the rulers and gouernours sought an occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdome, but they coulde finde none occasion nor fault: for he was so faithfull, that there was no blame nor fault founde in him.
(Wherefore the rulers and governors sought an occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find none occasion nor fault: for he was so faithful, that there was no blame nor fault found in him.)

Gnva Wherefore the rulers and gouernours sought an occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdome: but they could finde none occasion nor fault: for he was so faithfull that there was no blame nor fault found in him.
(Wherefore the rulers and governors sought an occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom: but they could find none occasion nor fault: for he was so faithful that there was no blame nor fault found in him. )

Cvdl Wherfore the prynces and lordes sought, to pyke out in Daniel some quarel agaynst the kyngdome: yet coude they fynde none occasion ner fawte vpon him. For why: he was so faythful, yt there was no blame ner dishonesty founde in him.
(Wherefore the princes and lords sought, to pyke out in Daniel some quarrel against the kingdom: yet could they find none occasion nor fault upon him. For why: he was so faithful, it there was no blame nor dishonesty found in him.)

Wycl Certis the kyng thouyte to ordeyne hym on al the rewme. Wherfor princes and duikis souyten to fynde occasioun to Danyel, of the side of the kyng; and thei miyten fynde no cause and suspicioun, for he was feithful, and no blame and suspicioun was foundun in hym.
(Certis the king thought to ordain him on all the realm. Wherefore princes and dukes sought to find occasioun to Daniel, of the side of the king; and they might find no cause and suspicion, for he was faithful, and no blame and suspicion was found in him.)

Luth Daniel aber übertraf die Fürsten und Landvögte alle, denn es war ein hoher Geist in ihm; darum gedachte der König ihn über das ganze Königreich zu setzen.
(Daniel but exceeded the prince(s)/ruler(s) and bailiffs all, because/than it what/which a higher spirit in him; therefore thought the/of_the king him/it above the whole/all kingdom to/for set/put/place.)

ClVg Porro rex cogitabat constituere eum super omne regnum: unde principes, et satrapæ quærebant occasionem ut invenirent Danieli ex latere regis: nullamque causam, et suspicionem reperire potuerunt, eo quod fidelis esset, et omnis culpa, et suspicio non inveniretur in eo.
(Further king forcesabat constituere him over everything kingdom: from_where/who leaders, and satrapæ they_were_looking_for opportunity as to_findnt Danieli from on_the_side king: noneque cause, and suspicionem findre they_could, by_him that faithful was, and everyone guilt, and suspicio not/no would_findur in/into/on by_him. )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 6:1–28: God delivered Daniel from the lions’ den

The new Persian king, Darius the Mede, chose Daniel to be one of the three officials who administered the kingdom. Daniel did his work so well that the other officials became jealous of him. One day they asked the king to pass a law that forbade praying to anyone but him for a period of thirty days. The king signed the law. Daniel, however, refused to obey it and continued to pray to the one true God, the God of Israel. When the king heard that Daniel had disobeyed the law, he ordered his soldiers to throw Daniel into the pit where he kept hungry lions. But God protected Daniel. The lions did not hurt him. When the king saw this, he punished Daniel’s enemies and honored Daniel and the God of Israel.

Other possible headings for this section include:

Daniel in the Pit of Lions (GNT)

Daniel and the Lions (NCV)

God protected Daniel from lions

Historical Background: The Persian empire under Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon in 539/538 BC, when Daniel was over seventy years old.Daniel was taken captive and brought to Babylon in approximately 605 B.C. If he was 12 years old when he came, he would have been 78 when this story began. The Persian empire became larger than the Babylonian empire had ever been. It extended west to include both Egypt and Libya. It extended east as far as the Indus River in what is now Pakistan. It was the largest empire in the history of the world up to that time.

Some commentators think that Darius the Mede was another name or title for the Persian King Cyrus or for the governor under him, Gubaru.

Text:

The verse numbers in the NJPS and the NJB are different from the verse numbers in the BSB. For example, 6:1 in the NJPS and the NJB is 5:31 in the BSB. The difference is because the NJPS and NJB follow the numbers in the Hebrew Bible. These Notes follow the verse numbers in the BSB.

Special Problems:

1. Lists: The author liked to include lists. In Daniel 6, he listed the different officials who conspired against Daniel (6:1–2; 7). Some languages may not have so many terms for officials. The Notes will suggest some ways to translate these lists.

2. Repetition: The author liked to repeat words and phrases in order to create suspense and emphasis. The Notes will give some suggestions on how to translate words or phrases that are repeated.

3. Verbs of Speech: The author sometimes used more than one verb of speech to introduce a quotation. In some languages, this may not be natural. The Notes will offer some options on how to translate these verbs.

4. Synonyms: The author liked to use synonyms or near synonyms to refer to the same idea. For example: 6:7–9 (ordinance, law, decree); 6:14 (rescue, delivering); 6:26 (kingdom, dominion); 6:27b (signs, wonders). The Notes will suggest different ways to translate these terms.

Paragraph 6:3–5

The other government officials became jealous of Daniel and began to plot against him.

6:4a

Thus the administrators and satraps sought a charge against Daniel

After that, the overseers and governors tried to find a reason to accuse Daniel
Then the other officials looked for a way to find fault with Daniel

Thus: The Aramaic connector that the BSB translates as Thus here introduces what happened when the administrators and satraps heard what the king was planning. Other ways to translate this include:

So (NRSV)

because of this (NCV)

when they heard this

the administrators and satraps sought a charge against Daniel: The other officials did not want Daniel to be in charge of the whole government. They tried to avoid this by looking for a way to make him look bad in the king’s eyes. They wanted to discredit Daniel, so they looked for evidence that he was corrupt or incompetent. Here are some other ways to translate this:

The other men tried to find something wrong with the way Daniel did his work for the king. (CEV)

the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs (NLT)

There is some implied information here. It is implied that the other officials were not happy about the king’s plan. They were angry and became jealous of Daniel. In some languages it may be necessary to indicate some of this implied information. For example:

the administrators and satraps became angry/jealous and tried to find a reason to charge Daniel with wrongdoing.

the administrators and satraps: The text is referring to the officials mentioned in 6:1, 6:2a. But Daniel himself is not included. So in some languages it may be natural to include a word meaning “other.” For example:

the other supervisors and governors (NCV)

the two other supervisors and all the governors

sought: The Aramaic phrase that the BSB translates as sought is literally “were seeking to find.” The officials searched for a reason to accuse Daniel of something bad. Other ways to say this in English are:

began searching for (NLT)

looked for (NJPS)

Translate this in a way that is natural in your language.

a charge against Daniel: The Aramaic word that the BSB translates as a charge is a general word meaning “matter, affair, occasion.”ʾellaʿ “matter, affair, occasion,” BDB, 1106; “reason for making a complaint, pretext” HALOT, 1947. The men wanted to find something, anything, that they could use as a reason for making a complaint. In this context the word refers to an inadequate reason, that is, a pretext. Other ways English versions translate this are:

something to accuse Daniel of (GW)

reasons to accuse Daniel (NCV)

something wrong (GNT)

6:4b

concerning the kingdom,

in the way that he administrated the kingdom.
in his management of the government,

concerning the kingdom: The officials wanted to show the king that Daniel was failing in the way he conducted his government duties. Here are some other ways to translate this:

with regard to the kingdom (RSV)

in his duties for the kingdom (GW)

with the way Daniel administered the empire (GNT)

General Comment on 6:4a–b

In some languages it may be natural to reorder and combine the information in 6:4a–b. For example:

^4a-bWhen the other administrators and governors heard about this, they began to examine the way Daniel did his work in order to accuse him of something wrong.

6:4c

but they could find no charge or corruption,

but they could not discover anything to criticize him for.
but they could not find any fault to accuse him of.

but: The Aramaic connector that the BSB translates as but here introduces a contrast. In spite of their efforts, the officials could not discover anything about Daniel that they could complain about to the king.

they could find no charge or corruption: See the Notes at 6:4a. Some English versions, such as the RSV and BSB, follow the Aramaic and repeat this idea. For example:

but they could find no ground for complaint (RSV)

But in many languages such a repetition may be unnatural. It may be more natural to translate this phrase in another way. For example:

they couldn’t find anything to criticize (NLT)

they could not find anything wrong (GW)

but they couldn’t (GNT)

The Aramaic phrase that the BSB translates as they could find no charge or corruption here indicates that it was clear to the officials that Daniel was not corrupt. He never took bribes or placed his own interests above his duties. Here are some other ways to translate this:

But they were unable to find any such damaging evidence (NET)

They could find nothing to his discredit. (NJB)

but they failed to find any malpractice on his part (REB)

It is important to avoid implying that the officials could not find corruption but that it was secretly present. The author was not saying that Daniel was able to hide his corrupt dealings. If a literal translation would give this wrong meaning, it may be necessary to say:

they found he had never acted corruptly

they found him to be incorruptible/honest

corruption: The Aramaic word that the BSB translates as corruption is also used in 2:9c, where the BSB translates it as “fraudulent.” It literally refers to something that is spoiled or bad. In this context it refers to accepting bribes and using public office for personal gain.

6:4d

because he was trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption was found in him.

They saw/realized that he was not corrupt. He was reliable and honest and did/fulfilled all his duties/responsibilities.
He did not use his office for personal gain and was dependable. He did not neglect to do anything he was supposed to do, and he did not act dishonestly.

because he was trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption was found in him: The Aramaic connector that the BSB translates as because introduces the reason why the official could not find any fault with Daniel. It was because there were no faults in his behavior, public or private.

he was trustworthy: The Aramaic word that the BSB translates as trustworthy is also used in 2:45f.In Daniel 2:45f it is used as an adjective to describe Daniel’s interpretation. The RSV translates it “sure.” The GNT has “true.” The NJB has “exact.” In this context, it describes Daniel as honest and dependable. Here are some other ways to translate this idea:

he was faithful (RSV)

Daniel was reliable (GNT)

and no negligence or corruption was found in him: This is a passive clause. There are at least two ways to translate it:

Using a passive verb. For example:
and no error or fault was found in him (RSV)
Using an active verb. For example:
and did not do anything wrong or dishonest (GNT)
No one could accuse him of laziness or dishonesty.
He was not guilty of any negligence or corruption.Similarly, the NET.

no negligence or corruption: The Aramaic text says “any negligence and corruption.” Use the order and grammatical form that is most natural in your language. For example:

neither corrupt nor negligent (NIV)

corruption: The Aramaic word that the BSB translates as corruption refers to self-serving behavior, acting for personal gain rather than the common good. See the Notes at 6:4c-d. Other ways to translate this are:

corrupt (NIV)

dishonest (GNT)

negligence: The Aramaic word that the BSB translates as negligence refers to a habit of working in a careless and lazy way. A negligent person is one who does not fulfill their duties and responsibilities. Other ways to translate this include:

lazy (NCV)

irresponsible

General Comment on 6:4d

In some languages it is more natural to translate all of 6:4d in a positive way. For example:

He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy. (NLT)

because he was honest and faithful and did everything he was supposed to do (CEV)

Parallel DAN 6:4