In every matter of wisdom and understanding, concerning which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters who were in all his realm.
Parallel Translations
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In every matter of wisdom and understanding, concerning which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters who were in all his realm.
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And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.
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And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his realm.
Cross-references (23)
Passages linked to Daniel 1:20 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 8:19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is God’s finger;” but Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.
- 1 Kings 4:29-34 God gave Solomon abundant wisdom and understanding, and very great understanding, even as the sand that is on the seashore. Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all the nations all around. He spoke three thousand proverbs; and his songs numbered one thousand five. He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows out of the wall; he also spoke of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish. People of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, sent by all kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.
- Isaiah 47:12-14 “Stand now with your enchantments and with the multitude of your sorceries, in which you have labored from your youth, as if you might profit, as if you might prevail. You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels. Now let the astrologers, the stargazers, and the monthly prognosticators, stand up and save you from the things that will happen to you. Behold, they are like stubble. The fire will burn them. They won’t deliver themselves from the power of the flame. It won’t be a coal to warm at or a fire to sit by.
- Genesis 41:8 In the morning, his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all of Egypt’s magicians and wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.
- Genesis 31:7 Your father has deceived me, and changed my wages ten times, but God didn’t allow him to hurt me.
- Exodus 7:22 The magicians of Egypt did the same thing with their enchantments. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.
- Exodus 8:7 The magicians did the same thing with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.
- Numbers 14:22 because all those men who have seen my glory, and my signs, which I worked in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tempted me these ten times, and have not listened to my voice;
- 1 Kings 10:1-3 When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning Yahweh’s name, she came to test him with hard questions. She came to Jerusalem with a very great caravan, with camels that bore spices, very much gold, and precious stones; and when she had come to Solomon, she talked with him about all that was in her heart. Solomon answered all her questions. There wasn’t anything hidden from the king which he didn’t tell her.
- 1 Kings 10:23-24 So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. All the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.
- Nehemiah 4:12 When the Jews who lived by them came, they said to us ten times from all places, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”
- Job 19:3 You have reproached me ten times. You aren’t ashamed that you attack me.
- Isaiah 19:3 The spirit of Egypt will fail within it. I will destroy its counsel. They will seek the idols, the charmers, those who have familiar spirits, and the wizards.
- Exodus 7:11-12 Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers. They also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same thing with their enchantments. For they each cast down their rods, and they became serpents; but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.
- Psalms 119:99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.
- Daniel 2:2-11 Then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be called to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. The king said to them, “I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in the Syrian language, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” The king answered the Chaldeans, “The thing has gone from me. If you don’t make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be cut in pieces, and your houses will be made a dunghill. But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you will receive of me gifts and rewards and great honor. Therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.” They answered the second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” The king answered, “I know of a certainty that you are trying to gain time, because you see the thing has gone from me. But if you don’t make known to me the dream, there is but one law for you; for you have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, until the situation changes. Therefore tell me the dream, and I will know that you can show me its interpretation.” The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, “There is not a man on the earth who can show the king’s matter, because no king, lord, or ruler, has asked such a thing of any magician, or enchanter, or Chaldean. It is a rare thing that the king requires, and there is no other who can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”
- Daniel 2:13 So the decree went out, and the wise men were to be slain. They sought Daniel and his companions to be slain.
- Daniel 2:21 He changes the times and the seasons. He removes kings, and sets up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those who have understanding.
- Daniel 2:27-28 Daniel answered before the king, and said, “The secret which the king has demanded can’t be shown to the king by wise men, enchanters, magicians, or soothsayers; but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head on your bed, are these:
- Daniel 4:7-18 Then the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers came in; and I told the dream before them; but they didn’t make known to me its interpretation. But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. I told the dream before him, saying, “Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and no secret troubles you, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and its interpretation. Thus were the visions of my head on my bed: I saw, and behold, a tree in the middle of the earth; and its height was great. The tree grew, and was strong, and its height reached to the sky, and its sight to the end of all the earth. The leaves of it were beautiful, and it had much fruit, and in it was food for all. The animals of the field had shade under it, and the birds of the sky lived in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it. “I saw in the visions of my head on my bed, and behold, a watcher and a holy one came down from the sky. He cried aloud, and said this, ‘Cut down the tree, and cut off its branches! Shake off its leaves, and scatter its fruit! Let the animals get away from under it, and the fowls from its branches. Nevertheless leave the stump of its roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of the sky. Let his portion be with the animals in the grass of the earth. Let his heart be changed from man’s, and let an animal’s heart be given to him. Then let seven times pass over him. “ ‘The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones; to the intent that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever he will, and sets up over it the lowest of men.’ “This dream I, king Nebuchadnezzar, have seen; and you, Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation, because all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in you.”
- Daniel 5:7-8 The king cried aloud to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” Then all the king’s wise men came in; but they could not read the writing, and couldn’t make known to the king the interpretation.
- Daniel 5:17 Then Daniel answered before the king, “Let your gifts be to yourself, and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king, and make known to him the interpretation.
- 2 Timothy 3:8-9 Even as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind, who concerning the faith are rejected. But they will proceed no further. For their folly will be evident to all men, as theirs also came to be.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Dan 1:20 And in all matters of wisdom [and]…
Dan 1:20 And in all matters of wisdom [and] understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians [and] astrologers that [were] in all his realm.
Ver. 20. And in all matters of wisdom.] God will honour them that honour him: his gifts and graces he giveth to pure souls, and according to their study of purity, as to Daniel chiefly.
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He found them ten times better.] Masters of knowledge, skilled usque ad apices literarum, right up to the very peak of learning, {a} and therefore highly favoured by the king, who was himself a great philosopher. Daniel was a leviathan of learning, both divine and human, as one saith of Archbishop Ussher; Unicum istius cetatis miraculum et musarum delicium, as Erasmus saith of Alciat, the miracle of his age, and the muse’s darling - one that better deserved, for his learning, to be called Magnus Great than ever Albertus did. The perfection even of human arts is to be found in the Church. See my Common Place of "Arts."
{a} Mr Fuller.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain This is a further confirmation of the king’s noble…
This is a further confirmation of the king’s noble endowments of mind, and of his great care whom he chose to be in offices of trust; namely, persons excellently qualified to serve him in the great affairs of the kingdom, not to serve his lusts by them for base jobs, for which men of no abilities or honour are usually chosen.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And in all matters of wisdom and understanding that…
And in all matters of wisdom and understanding that the king inquired of them,.... At the time of their examination before him, when he put questions to them, which they gave a ready, pertinent, and solid answer to: and afterwards, when he had occasion to consult them on any affair,
he found them ten times, or ten hands (g) better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm; than all the magi and sophies, the enchanters, diviners, soothsayers, and such who pretended to judicial astrology, and to judge of and foretell things by the position of the stars; these young men were able to give more pertinent answers to questions put to them, and better advice and counsel when asked of them, than all the persons before described, throughout the king's dominions.
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(g) "decem manibus", Montanus.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The king inquired - This is a farther confirmation…
The king inquired - This is a farther confirmation of the king's noble endowments, and of his great care whom he chose to be in offices of trust, namely persons excellently qualified to serve him in the great affairs of the kingdom. And thus did God pour contempt upon the pride of the Chaldeans, and put honour on the low estate of his people.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 20. Magicians and astrologers] Probably the same as…
Verse 20. Magicians and astrologers] Probably the same as philosophers and astronomers among us.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And in all matters of wisdom and understanding -…
And in all matters of wisdom and understanding - Margin, “of.” The Hebrew is, “Everything of wisdom of understanding.” The Greek, “In all things of wisdom “and” knowledge.” The meaning is, in everything which required peculiar wisdom to understand and explain it. The points submitted were such as would appropriately come before the minds of the sages and magicians who were employed as counselors at court.
He found them ten times better - Better counselors, better informed. Hebrew, “ten “hands” above the magicians;” that is, ten “times,” or “many” times. In this sense the word “ten” is used in Gen 31:7, Gen 31:41; Num 14:22; Neh 4:12; Job 19:3. They greatly surpassed them.
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Than all the magicians - Greek, τοὺς ἐπαοιδοὺς tous epaoidous. The Greek word means, “those singing to;” then those who propose to heal the sick by singing; then those who practice magical arts or incantations - particularly with the idea of charming with songs; and then those who accomplish anything surpassing human power by mysterious and supernatural means. - Passow. The Hebrew word (הרטמים chareṭummı̂ym), occurs only in the following places in the Scriptures, in all of which it is rendered “magicians:” - Gen 41:8, Gen 41:24; Exo 7:11, Exo 7:22; Exo 8:7 (3), 18 (14), 19 (15); Exo 9:11; Dan 1:20; Dan 2:2. From this it appears that it applied only to the magicians in Egypt and in Babylon, and doubtless substantially the same class of persons is referred to. It is found only in the plural number, “perhaps” implying that they formed companies, or that they were always associated together, so that different persons performed different parts in their incantations.
The word is defined by Gesenius to mean, “Sacred scribes, skilled in the sacred writings or hieroglyphics - ἱερογραμματεῖς hierogrammateis - a class of Egyptian priests.” It is, according to him (Lex.), of Hebrew origin, and is derived from חרט chereṭ, “stylus” - an instrument of writing, and the formative מ (m). It is not improbable, he suggests, that the Hebrews with these letters imitated a similar Egyptian word. Prof. Stuart (in loc.) says that the word would be correctly translated “pen-men,” and supposes that it originally referred to those who were “busied with books and writing, and skilled in them.” It is evident that the word is not of Persian origin, since it was used in Egypt long before it occurs in Daniel. A full and very interesting account of the Magians and their religion may be found in Creuzer, “Mythologie und Symbolik,” i. pp. 187-234. Herodotus mentions the “Magi” as a distinct people, i. 101.
The word “Mag” or “Mog” (from the μάγοι magoi of the Greeks, and the “magi” of the Romans) means, properly, a “priest;” and at a very early period the names “Chaldeans” and “Magi” were interchangeable, and both were regarded as of the same class. - Creuzer, i. 187, note. They were doubtless, at first, a class of priests among the Medes and Persians, who were employed, among other things, in the search for wisdom; who were connected with pagan oracles; who claimed acquaintance with the will of the gods, and who professed to have the power, therefore, of making known future events, by explaining dreams, visions, preternatural appearances, etc. The Magi formed one of the six tribes into which the Medes were formerly divided (Herodotus, i. 101), but on the downfall of the Median empire they continued to retain at the court of the conqueror a great degree of power and authority. “The learning of the Magi was connected with astrology and enchantment, in which they were so celebrated that their name was applied to all orders of magicians and enchanters.” - Anthon, “Class. Dic.” These remarks may explain the reason why the word “magician” comes to be applied to this class of men, though we are not to suppose that the persons referred to in Genesis and Exodus, under the appellation of the Hebrew name there given to them (הרטמים chareṭummı̂ym), or those found in Babylon, referred to in the passage before us, to whom the same name is applied, were of that class of priests.
The name “magi,” or “magician,” was so extended as to embrace “all” who made pretensions to the kind of knowledge for which the magi were distinguished, and hence, came also to be synonymous with the “Chaldeans,” who were also celebrated for this. Compare the notes at Dan 2:2. In the passage before us it cannot be determined with certainty, that the persons were of “Magian” origin, though it is possible, as in Dan 2:2, they are distinguished from the Chaldeans. All that is certainly meant is, that they were persons who laid claim to the power of diving into future events; of explaining mysteries; of interpreting dreams; of working by enchantments, etc.
And astrologers - - האשׁפים hâ'ashâpı̂ym. This word is rendered by the Septuagint, μάγους magous, “magians.” So also in the Vulgate, “magos.” The English word “astrologer” denotes “one who professes to foretell future events by the aspects and situation of the stars.” - Webster. The Hebrew word - אשׁפים 'ashâpı̂ym - according to Gesenius, means “enchanters, magicians.” It is derived, probably, from the obsolete root אשׁף 'âshap, “to cover,” “to conceal,” and refers to those who were devoted to the practice of occult arts, and to the cultivation of recondite and cabalistic sciences. It is supposed by some philologists to have given rise, by dropping the initial א to the Greek σοφος sophos, “wise, wise man,” and the Persian sophi, an epithet of equivalent import. See Gesenius on the word, and compare Bush on Dan 2:2. The word is found only in Daniel, Dan 1:20; Dan 2:2, Dan 2:10, Dan 2:27; Dan 4:7 (4); Dan 5:7, Dan 5:11, Dan 5:15, in every instance rendered “astrologer” and “astrologers.” There is no evidence, however, that the science of astrology enters into the meaning of the word, or that the persons referred to attempted to pracrise divination by the aid of the stars. It is to be regretted that the term “astrologer” should have been employed in our translation, as it conveys an intimation which is not found in the original. It is, indeed, in the highest degree probable, that a part of their pretended wisdom consisted in their ability to cast the fates of men by the conjunctions and opposition of the stars, but this is not necessarily implied in the word. Prof. Stuart renders it “enchanters.”
In all his realm - Not only in the capital, but throughout the kingdom. These arts were doubtless practiced extensively elsewhere, but it is probable that the most skillful in them would be assembled at the capital.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Diviners, or fortune-tellers. --- Wise men. Septuagint, "philosophers." (Calmet)…
Diviners, or fortune-tellers. --- Wise men. Septuagint, "philosophers." (Calmet) --- Hebrew, Ashaphim, may come from the Greek sophoi. (Grotius) --- They had been educated three years. (ver. 5) (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain ten times--literally, "ten hands."
ten times--literally, "ten hands."
magicians--properly, "sacred scribes, skilled in the sacred writings, a class of Egyptian priests" [GESENIUS]; from a Hebrew root, "a pen." The word in our English Version, "magicians," comes from mag, that is, "a priest." The Magi formed one of the six divisions of the Medes.
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astrologers--Hebrew, "enchanters," from a root, "to conceal," pactisers of the occult arts.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 20. The king found further, upon putting to them…
20. The king found further, upon putting to them difficult questions, that in a knowledge of the technicalities of their science the four Jewish youths excelled even the wise men of Babylon themselves.
and in every particular of reasoned wisdom] lit. wisdom of understanding, i.e. wisdom determined or regulated by understanding, ‘wisdom’ having the same concrete sense of ‘science’ which it has in Dan_1:17. Marti, however, following Theod., reads ‘wisdom and understanding.’
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magicians] ḥarṭummim, recurring in Dan_2:2; Dan_2:10; Dan_2:27, Dan_4:7; Dan_4:9, Dan_5:7, probably of Egyptian origin (though not at present known to occur in Egyptian inscriptions), used otherwise only of the ‘magicians’ of Egypt (Gen_41:8; Gen_41:24; Exo_7:11; Exo_7:22; Exo_8:7; Exo_8:18-19; Exo_9:11), and no doubt borrowed from the Pent. by the author of Daniel. The precise sense of the term is difficult to fix. It is not improbable that originally it denoted the sacred scribes (ἱερογραμματεῖς)[186] of Egypt; but, even if this opinion be accepted, it is doubtful how far the idea was consciously present to the Hebrews who in later times used the word. In Gen. the ḥarṭummim appear as interpreters of dreams (LXX. ἐξηγηταί), in Ex. as men able to work magic (LXX. ἐπαοιδοί, in Dan_9:11 φαρπακοί): Theod. in Dan. renders by ἐπαοιδοί. Probably the word was used by the author of Daniel in the sense of men acquainted with occult arts in general, so that the rendering ‘magician’ may be allowed to stand.
[186] Clem. Alex. Strom. vi. 36; cf. Ebers, Aeg. u. die Bb. Mose’s, pp. 343, 347. On the functions of these sacred scribes, and the nature of the literature with which they had to deal (which included a knowledge of magic and charms), see Brugsch, Aegyptologie (1891), pp. 77, 85, 149–159.
astrologers] enchanters, Heb. ’ashshâph, Aram. ’âshaph, found only in the Book of Daniel (Dan_2:2; Dan_2:10; Dan_2:27, Dan_4:4, Dan_5:7; Dan_5:11; Dan_5:15), the Assyrian ashipu (Schrader, KAT[187][188] ad loc), which passed also into Syriac, where it is used specially of the charmers of serpents.
[187] AT. Eb. Schrader, Die Keilinschriften und das A. T., ed. 2, 1883 (translated under the title The Cuneiform Inscriptions and the O.T. 1885, 1888). The references are to the pagination of the original, which is given on the margin of the English translation.
[188] Eb. Schrader, Die Keilinschriften und das A. T., ed. 2, 1883 (translated under the title The Cuneiform Inscriptions and the O.T. 1885, 1888). The references are to the pagination of the original, which is given on the margin of the English translation.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that…
And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm. The Septuagint rendering here has a considerable addition, which really means, as it seems to us, the coalescence of two readings. It reads thus: "And in all learning (logw, a literal rendering of rb; d; dabhar, "a word" or "thing"), and knowledge and education (paideia) whatsoever the king asked of them, he found them ten times wiser than all the wise and learned men in all his kingdom." Thus far the verse is a rendering, almost slavishly close, of the Massoretic text; while the translator has recognized that the sentence is incomplete as it stands, and has inserted sofwterouv, and translated l (al) by uJper. But the translation proceeds, "And the king honoured them, and appointed them rulers." This seems to have been due to a various reading. The sentence here translated was probably, in an old recension of the text, all that stood here, and some scribe, finding it, inserted it here to complete the sentence. The translation, however, proceeds yet further, "And constituted (ajnedeixen) them wiser than all those of his in affairs in all his land and in his kingdom." This sentence has all the appearance of an attempt to render into Greek a piece of Hebrew that the translator imperfectly understood. As we find that ajnadeiknumi, represents occasionally dwh, and as the Syriac vav and the old Hebrew were almost identical in shape, dyO (yoda,) might be read as hwOdy evidently the translator has read (hacmeem) instead of ( hartummeem), and has transferred the al col from before hartummeem to before the next word, which seems to have read, not ashshapheem, but hartzo, the relative seems to have been omitted, and the second col, "all." This great variety of reading suggests suspicions of the verse altogether, which the content of the verse rather strengthens. Theodotion is in strict agreement with the Massoretic text. The Peshitta also is at one with it in this, but these are late compared with the Septuagint. It has been tea,sued that the Book of Daniel is a story modelled on the history of Joseph, and the presence of harlummeem here is regarded as a proof of this quasi Egyptian origin. (see Gen_41:8; Exo_7:11, etc.) One thing is clear, that the word whatever it was was unknown in Alexandria, where this translation was made; hartummeern, as occurring in the Pentateuch, the earliest part of the Old Testament translated, was certain to be known: how did the word here happen not to be known? We can understand the phenomenon if some word, probably of Babylonian origin, and unknown in Egypt and Palestine, occupied the place and was modified into a more intelligible shape by being turned into hartummeem. As the verse stands, hartummeem is grammatically placed in apposition to the following word, ashshapheem, as there is no conjunction to unite the two words. It is acknowledged by Professor Bevan that the latter word has an Assyrian origin; it is not inconceivable that hartummeem is really the explanatory word, though the arrangement of the words is decidedly against this view. It is to be observed here that ashshapheem has been naturalized in Eastern Aramaic, but has not found a lodgment in Western, save in Daniel. We cannot help feeling a little suspicion of the authenticity of this verse. This phrase, "ten times better," has all the look of that exaggeration which became the prevailing vice of later Judaism. As we have indicated, the variations in regard to the precise reading deepen this suspicion. If, however, the reference here is really to Daniel"s revelation to the king of his dream, then the statement in the text is less objectionable. This was such a marvellous feat, and one that so put Daniel,boys all the wise men of Babylon, that the language of the verse before us is rather rhetorical than exaggerated.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:20 The magicians were a class of soothsayer priests…
1:20 The magicians were a class of soothsayer priests who could also interpret dreams (cp. Gen 44:1-15) and do wonders (cp. Exod 7:11). The term enchanters (Hebrew ’ashap), found only in Daniel, comes from an Akkadian term for people who uttered spells.
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