DAN 6:5 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) Then these men concluded, “We won’t find any grounds for making an accusation against this Daniel unless we find something against him to do with the laws of his god.”

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 these men said, “We will not find any ground for accusation against this Daniel unless we find something against him with regard to the law of his God.”

UST They concluded, “The only way we can find something for which we can criticize Daniel will be something concerning the laws that his god has given him.”

BSB Finally these men said, “We will never find any charge against this Daniel unless we find [something] against him concerning the law of his God.”

OET editor’s note on BSB: his God: Why capitalise God here? It seems to wrongly suggest that they believed in Daniel's God?

OEB No OEB DAN book available

OET editor’s note on OEB: his God: Why capitalise God here? It seems to wrongly suggest that they believed in Daniel's God?

WEBBE Then these men said, “We won’t find any occasion against this Daniel, unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.”

OET editor’s note on WEBBE: his God: Why capitalise God here? It seems to wrongly suggest that they believed in Daniel's God?

WMBB (Same as above)

NET So these men concluded, “We won’t find any pretext against this man Daniel unless it is in connection with the law of his God.”

OET editor’s note on NET: his God: Why capitalise God here? It seems to wrongly suggest that they believed in Daniel's God?

LSV Then these men are saying, “We do not find against this Daniel any cause of complaint, except we have found [it] against him in the Law of his God.”

FBV So they said to themselves, “We won't find any pretext to attack Daniel unless we use his observance of his God's laws against him.”

T4T They concluded, “The only way we can find something for which we can criticize Daniel will be something concerning the laws that his god his given him.”

LEB Then these men _⌊said_⌋,[fn] “We will not find any pretext[fn] against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.”

6:5 Literally “were saying”

6:5 Or “basis for accusation”

BBE Then these men said, We will only get a reason for attacking Daniel in connection with the law of his God.

Moff The men thought, “We shall never find any ground of complaint against this Daniel, unless we find it in connexion with the law of his god.”

JPS (6-6) Then said these men: 'We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him in the matter of the law of his God.'

ASV Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.

DRA Then these men said: We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, unless perhaps concerning the law of his God.

YLT Then these men are saying, 'We do not find against this Daniel any cause of complaint, except we have found [it] against him in the law of his God.'

Drby Then said these men, We shall not find any pretext against this Daniel, unless we find [it] against him touching the law of his [fn]God.

6.5 Elohim

RV Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.

SLT Then these men saying that, We shall not find against this Daniel any pretext except we shall find against him in the law of his God.

Wbstr Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.

KJB-1769 Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.

KJB-1611 Then said these men, We shall not finde any occasion against this Daniel, except wee finde it against him concerning the Law of his God.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation)

Bshps Then saide these men, We shall finde none occasion against this Daniel, except we finde it against him concerning the lawe of his God.
(Then said these men, We shall find none occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.)

Gnva Then sayd these men, We shall not finde an occasion against this Daniel, except we finde it against him concerning the Law of his God.
(Then said these men, We shall not find an occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the Law of his God. )

Cvdl Then sayde these men: we will get no quarell agaynst this Daniel, excepte it be in the lawe off his God.
(Then said these men: we will get no quarrel against this Daniel, except it be in the law off his God.)

Wycl Therfor tho men seiden, We schulen not fynde ony occasioun to this Danyel, no but in hap in the lawe of his God.
(Therefore those men said, We should not find any occasioun to this Daniel, no but in hap in the law of his God.)

Luth Derhalben trachteten die Fürsten und Landvögte danach, wie sie eine Sache zu Daniel fänden, die wider das Königreich wäre; aber sie konnten keine Sache noch Übeltat finden, denn er war treu, daß man keine Schuld noch Übeltat an ihm finden mochte.
(Therefore sought the prince(s)/ruler(s) and bailiffs after/thereafter/then, as/like they/she/them a/one matter to/for Daniel foundn, the against the kingdom were; but they/she/them could no matter still eviltat find, because/than he what/which faithful, that man no fault/blame(n) still eviltat at/to him find want.)

ClVg Dixerunt ergo viri illi: Non inveniemus Danieli huic aliquam occasionem, nisi forte in lege Dei sui.
(They_said therefore men them: Not/No I_foundemus Danieli to_this some opportunity, except perhaps in/into/on lawfully of_God self. )

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.

6:5a

Finally these men said, “We will never find any charge against this Daniel,

Then the officials said to each other: “We will never discover any reason to accuse Daniel,
The men discussed this together and said, “We will never be able to accuse Daniel of doing something wrong.
The men concluded that they would never be able to bring charges against Daniel for the way he did his work.

Finally: The Aramaic word that the BSB translates as Finally here introduces the next event in the narrative. See the Notes at 6:3a, where the same word occurs. Here is another way to translate this:

Then (RSV)

these men said: The Aramaic phrase that the BSB translates as these men said here introduces what the officials said to each other. In some languages it may be natural to make this explicit:

They said to each other (GNT)

they said to one another (CEV)

We will never find any charge against this Daniel: The officials realized that they would not be able to find any fault with Daniel’s work. See the Notes at 6:4c-d. Here are some other ways to translate this:

We will never be able to bring any charge against Daniel (CEV)

We will never find any reason to accuse Daniel (NCV)

We shall never find a way of discrediting Daniel (NJB)

We: If your language distinguishes between the inclusive “we” and the exclusive “we,” use the inclusive form. The men were talking to one another.

any charge: The Aramaic word that the BSB translates as charge here refers to a reason for making a complaint. Translate this as you did in 6:4a, b. Here are some other ways to translate this word:

pretext (NET)

fault (NJPS)

ground of complaint (RSV)

this Daniel: See the Notes at 6:3a. Here, however, the use of the pronoun this may have a negative or derogatory implication.

6:5b

unless we find something against him concerning the law of his God.”

unless we find a reason that has to do with the law of his God.”
The only way we can accuse him is to find something connected/related to the law of the God he worships.”
Only in connection with the law of his God might they bring such a charge.

unless we find something against him concerning the law of his God: The Aramaic connector that the BSB translates as unless here introduces an exception to the previous clause.HALOT, 1908. It also occurs in 2:11; 3:28; 6:8–13. The officials agreed that they might be able to accuse Daniel of something related to the laws of his God. Your languages may have a different way to translate exceptions like this. For example:

only if it is something to do with the laws of his God

except a complaint in connection with the laws of his God

In some languages it may be natural to translate this as a separate sentence. For example:

It will only be possible to find such a ground for complaint in connection with the law of his God

something against him concerning the law of his God: Other ways to say this include:

in connection with the law of his God (NRSV)

it is connected with his religion (REB)

it is about the law of his God (NCV)

it is in relation to the law of his God

the law of his God: The phrase the law of his God refers in general to the collection of laws that Daniel’s God had given to his people. The officials knew that Daniel always obeyed this law. The word is singular, although the plural “laws” is also acceptable in this context. For example:

the rules of his religion (NLT)

law: The Aramaic word that the BSB translates as law usually refers to a royal command (2:13–15) or to laws made by the government (2:16; 6:8,12, 15).daṯ. HALOT, 1856. Here, however, it refers to religious law.HALOT, 1856.

General Comment on 6:5a–b

In some languages it may be more natural to translate this verse in a positive way. For example:

The only way we can accuse him is in connection with his religious duties/obligations.

The only point that we can catch him is in his loyalty to the law of his God.GeCL97.

Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion. (NLT)

Parallel DAN 6:5

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

Paragraph 6:3–5

6:5a

6:5b

General Comment on 6:5a–b