Chapter Overview
Summary
The dream of Nebuchadnezzar's statue. Theodotion follows the MT closely. The OG has some expansions, particularly in the dialogue scenes, but the core content — the four-kingdom statue and the stone not cut by human hands — is consistent across all versions.
Notable Variants
The OG expands some of Daniel's prayer language and adds minor details to the court scenes. The description of the statue and its interpretation are substantively identical.
Structural Notes
All three versions have 49 verses. The OG occasionally has longer verses with additional clauses.
In the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams that troubled his spirit, and sleep escaped him.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
The king gave orders to summon the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and Chaldeans to explain his dreams to him. When they came and stood before the king,
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
the king said to them, "I have had a dream, and my spirit is troubled trying to understand it."
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
The Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic: "O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will provide the interpretation."
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
The king replied to the Chaldeans, "My decision is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb, and your houses will be turned into rubble heaps.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
But if you reveal the dream and its interpretation, you will receive gifts, rewards, and great honor from me. So tell me the dream and its interpretation."
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
They answered a second time, "Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will provide the interpretation."
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
The king responded, "I know with certainty that you are trying to buy time, because you see that my decision is final.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
If you do not tell me the dream, there is only one sentence for you. You have agreed among yourselves to present false and deceptive words before me, hoping circumstances will change. So tell me the dream, and then I will know that you can show me its interpretation."
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
The Chaldeans answered the king, "There is no one on earth who can fulfill what the king demands. No king, however great or powerful, has ever asked such a thing of any magician, enchanter, or Chaldean.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not among mortals."
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
Because of this, the king became enraged and furious, and ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
The decree was issued and the wise men were about to be killed. They searched for Daniel and his companions to put them to death as well.
Masoretic (WLC)
דָנִיֵּאל וְחַבְרוֹהִי
Daniel and his companions
Septuagint (LXX)
Δανιηλ καὶ τοὺς φίλους αὐτοῦ
Daniel and his friends
OG uses philous (friends); Theodotion has the same. The Aramaic chavrohiy means 'companions/associates.'
Then Daniel responded with prudence and discretion to Arioch, the commander of the king's guard, who had gone out to execute the wise men of Babylon.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
He asked Arioch, the king's officer, "Why is this decree from the king so urgent?" Then Arioch explained the situation to Daniel.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
Daniel then went in and asked the king to grant him time, and he would reveal the interpretation to the king.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
Then Daniel went to his house and informed his companions Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah about the matter,
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
urging them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions would not be destroyed along with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision during the night, and Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
Daniel declared: "Let the name of God be blessed from age to age, for wisdom and power belong to him.
Masoretic (WLC)
מִן־עָלְמָא וְעַד־עָלְמָא
from everlasting to everlasting
Septuagint (LXX)
ἀπὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος καὶ ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος
from the age and unto the age
Standard Greek rendering of the Aramaic idiom. Both mean 'forever and ever.'
He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and raises up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.
Masoretic (WLC)
מְהַשְׁנֵא עִדָּנַיָּא וְזִמְנַיָּא
He changes times and seasons
Septuagint (LXX)
αὐτὸς ἀλλοιοῖ καιροὺς καὶ χρόνους
He himself changes seasons and times
Greek reverses the order of 'times and seasons' compared to the Aramaic. OG adds αὐτός (he himself) for emphasis.
He reveals what is deep and hidden; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
To you, God of my ancestors, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and strength, and now you have made known to me what we asked of you — you have revealed to us the king's matter."
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, "Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Bring me before the king, and I will reveal the interpretation to him."
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king and said, "I have found a man among the Judean exiles who can make the interpretation known to the king."
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
The king asked Daniel, who was called Belteshazzar, "Are you able to make known to me the dream I saw and its interpretation?"
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
Daniel answered the king, "The mystery that the king demands — no wise man, enchanter, magician, or diviner can reveal it to the king.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the latter days. This is your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you lay on your bed:
Masoretic (WLC)
אֱלָהּ בִּשְׁמַיָּא
a God in heaven
Septuagint (LXX)
θεὸς ἐν οὐρανῷ
a God in heaven
OG expands this verse with additional reverential language about God's sovereignty not found in the MT or Theodotion.
As for you, O king — while you were on your bed, thoughts came to you about what would happen in the future, and the Revealer of mysteries has shown you what will take place.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
As for me, this mystery was not revealed to me because I possess more wisdom than any other living person, but so that the interpretation may be made known to the king and you may understand the thoughts of your own heart.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
You, O king, were looking, and there before you stood a great statue. That statue was immense and extraordinarily brilliant, standing before you, and its appearance was terrifying.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
The head of that statue was of pure gold, its chest and arms were of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze,
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
You watched as a stone was cut out — not by human hands — and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, shattering them.
Masoretic (WLC)
אֶבֶן דִּי־לָא בִידַיִן
a stone not cut by hands
Septuagint (LXX)
λίθος ἄνευ χειρῶν
a stone without hands
Both Greek versions render identically. The image of the stone cut without human agency is consistent across all traditions.
Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were all crushed together and became like chaff on a summer threshing floor. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the entire earth.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
This was the dream, and now we will tell the king its interpretation.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
You, O king, are king of kings. The God of heaven has given you the kingdom, the power, the strength, and the glory.
Masoretic (WLC)
מֶלֶךְ מַלְכַיָּא
king of kings
Septuagint (LXX)
βασιλεὺς βασιλέων
king of kings
Standard equivalence. The title basileus basileōn appears in Revelation 19:16 applied to Christ.
Wherever people dwell — along with the wild animals and birds of the sky — he has placed them under your authority and made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours, and then a third kingdom, of bronze, which will rule over the entire earth.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
A fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron, for just as iron shatters and crushes everything, so it will shatter and crush all the others.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
As you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron — it will be a divided kingdom, though it will have some of the strength of iron in it, since you saw iron mixed with common clay.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
Just as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
As you saw the iron mixed with common clay, so they will mix with one another through human alliances, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not bond with clay.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will establish a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will its sovereignty be left to another people. It will shatter and bring to an end all those kingdoms, but it itself will stand forever.
Masoretic (WLC)
יְקִים אֱלָהּ שְׁמַיָּא מַלְכוּ
the God of heaven will set up a kingdom
Septuagint (LXX)
ἀναστήσει ὁ θεὸς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ βασιλείαν
the God of heaven will raise up a kingdom
OG uses anastēsei (raise up), Theodotion uses stēsei (set up). The OG verb is stronger, connoting resurrection language.
Just as you saw that a stone was cut from the mountain without human hands, and it crushed the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold — the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future. The dream is certain and its interpretation is trustworthy."
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and paid homage to Daniel. He ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him.
Masoretic (WLC)
נְפַל עַל־אַנְפּוֹהִי
fell on his face
Septuagint (LXX)
πεσὼν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον
falling upon his face
OG adds that Nebuchadnezzar commanded that offerings and incense be brought to Daniel — an expansion not in the MT.
The king said to Daniel, "Truly, your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings, and a Revealer of mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery."
Masoretic (WLC)
אֱלָהֲכוֹן אֱלָהּ אֱלָהִין
your God is a God of gods
Septuagint (LXX)
ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν αὐτός ἐστιν θεὸς τῶν θεῶν
your God, he is God of gods
OG emphasizes with autos estin (he is/he himself is), a stronger identification.
Then the king promoted Daniel to a high position, gave him many lavish gifts, and made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.
At Daniel's request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the administration of the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the king's court.
No significant variant between the LXX/Theodotion and the MT for this verse.