Daniel 1:20

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

In every matter of wisdom and insight the king asked them about, he found them to be ten times better than any of the magicians and astrologers that were in his entire empire.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וְכֹ֗ל דְּבַר֙ חָכְמַ֣ת בִּינָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־בִּקֵּ֥שׁ מֵהֶ֖ם הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ וַֽיִּמְצָאֵ֞ם עֶ֣שֶׂר יָד֗וֹת עַ֤ל כָּל־הַֽחַרְטֻמִּים֙ הָֽאַשָּׁפִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֖ר בְּכָל־מַלְכוּתֽוֹ׃

Transliteration

and-every dəbhar ḥokhmath bînāh ʾăsher-biqqēsh from-them the-melekh wayyimtsāʾēm ten yādhôth above all-the-ḥarṭummîm the-ʾashshāphîm ʾăsher in-all-malkhûthô

Grammar Details

• *dəbhar*: noun masculine singular construct - matter of
• *ḥokhmath*: noun feminine singular construct - wisdom of
• *bînāh*: noun feminine singular - understanding
• *ʾăsher*: relative pronoun - who
• *biqqēsh*: piel perfect, 3rd masculine singular - he sought
• *melekh*: noun masculine singular with definite article - the king
• *wayyimtsāʾēm*: qal imperfect with waw consecutive, 3rd masculine singular + 3rd masculine plural suffix - and he found them
• *yādhôth*: noun feminine plural - hands/times
• *ḥarṭummîm*: noun masculine plural with definite article - the magicians
• *ʾashshāphîm*: noun masculine plural with definite article - the enchanters/astrologers
• *malkhûthô*: noun feminine singular with 3rd masculine singular suffix - his kingdom

Word Meanings

• *dəbhar ḥokhmath bînāh*: matter of wisdom and understanding/question requiring wisdom
• *biqqēsh*: sought/inquired/asked
• *wayyimtsāʾēm*: and he found them/and he discovered them
• *ʿeśer yādhôth*: ten times/tenfold
• *ḥarṭummîm*: magicians/diviners/dream interpreters
• *ʾashshāphîm*: enchanters/astrologers/conjurers
• *malkhûthô*: his kingdom/his realm/his domain

Referenced Verses

• 1 Kgs 4:29-34 : 29 God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment; the breadth of his understanding was as infinite as the sand on the seashore. 30 Solomon was wiser than all the men of the east and all the sages of Egypt. 31 He was wiser than any man, including Ethan the Ezrahite or Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. He was famous in all the neighboring nations. 32 He composed 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs. 33 He produced manuals on botany, describing every kind of plant, from the cedars of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows on walls. He also produced manuals on biology, describing animals, birds, insects, and fish. 34 People from all nations came to hear Solomon’s display of wisdom; they came from all the kings of the earth who heard about his wisdom.
• Gen 31:7 : 7 but your father has humiliated me and changed my wages ten times. But God has not permitted him to do me any harm.
• Gen 41:8 : 8 In the morning he was troubled, so he called for all the diviner-priests of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.
• Exod 7:22 : 22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts, and so Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, and he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron– just as the LORD had predicted.
• Exod 8:7 : 7 The magicians did the same with their secret arts and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt too.
• Exod 8:19 : 19 The magicians said to Pharaoh,“It is the finger of God!” But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, and he did not listen to them, just as the LORD had predicted.
• Num 14:22 : 22 For all the people have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tempted me now these ten times, and have not obeyed me,
• 1 Kgs 10:23-24 : 23 King Solomon was wealthier and wiser than any of the kings of the earth. 24 Everyone in the world wanted to visit Solomon to see him display his God-given wisdom.
• Neh 4:12 : 12 So it happened that the Jews who were living near them came and warned us repeatedly about all the schemes they were plotting against us.
• Job 19:3 : 3 These ten times you have been reproaching me; you are not ashamed to attack me!
• Dan 2:13 : 13 So a decree went out, and the wise men were about to be executed. They also sought Daniel and his friends so that they could be executed.
• Isa 19:3 : 3 The Egyptians will panic, and I will confuse their strategy. They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead, from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians.
• Isa 47:12-14 : 12 Persist in trusting your amulets and your many incantations, which you have faithfully recited since your youth! Maybe you will be successful– maybe you will scare away disaster. 13 You are tired out from listening to so much advice. Let them take their stand– the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make monthly predictions– let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you! 14 Look, they are like straw, which the fire burns up; they cannot rescue themselves from the heat of the flames. There are no coals to warm them, no firelight to enjoy.
• Dan 2:2-9 : 2 The king issued an order to summon the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and wise men in order to explain his dreams to him. So they came and awaited the king’s instructions. 3 The king told them,“I have had a dream, and I am anxious to understand the dream.” 4 The wise men replied to the king:[What follows is in Aramaic]“O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will disclose its interpretation.” 5 The king replied to the wise men,“My decision is firm. If you do not inform me of both the dream and its interpretation, you will be dismembered and your homes reduced to rubble! 6 But if you can disclose the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts, a reward, and considerable honor. So disclose to me the dream and its interpretation!” 7 They again replied,“Let the king inform us of the dream; then we will disclose its interpretation.” 8 The king replied,“I know for sure that you are attempting to gain time, because you see that my decision is firm. 9 If you don’t inform me of the dream, there is only one thing that is going to happen to you. For you have agreed among yourselves to report to me something false and deceitful until such time as things might change. So tell me the dream, and I will have confidence that you can disclose its interpretation.” 10 The wise men replied to the king,“There is no man on earth who is able to disclose the king’s secret, for no king, regardless of his position and power, has ever requested such a thing from any magician, astrologer, or wise man. 11 What the king is asking is too difficult, and no one exists who can disclose it to the king, except for the gods– but they don’t live among mortals!”
• Dan 2:21 : 21 He changes times and seasons, deposing some kings and establishing others. He gives wisdom to the wise; he imparts knowledge to those with understanding;
• Dan 2:27-28 : 27 Daniel replied to the king,“The mystery that the king is asking about is such that no wise men, astrologers, magicians, or diviners can possibly disclose it to the king. 28 However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the times to come. The dream and the visions you had while lying on your bed are as follows.
• Dan 4:7-9 : 7 When the magicians, astrologers, wise men, and diviners entered, I recounted the dream for them. But they were unable to make known its interpretation to me. 8 Later Daniel entered(whose name is Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom there is a spirit of the holy gods). I recounted the dream for him as well, 9 saying,“Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, in whom I know there to be a spirit of the holy gods and whom no mystery baffles, consider my dream that I saw and set forth its interpretation! 10 Here are the visions of my mind while I was on my bed. While I was watching, there was a tree in the middle of the land. It was enormously tall. 11 The tree grew large and strong. Its top reached far into the sky; it could be seen from the borders of all the land. 12 Its foliage was attractive and its fruit plentiful; on it there was food enough for all. Under it the wild animals used to seek shade, and in its branches the birds of the sky used to nest. All creatures used to feed themselves from it. 13 While I was watching in my mind’s visions on my bed, a holy sentinel came down from heaven. 14 He called out loudly as follows:‘Chop down the tree and lop off its branches! Strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit! Let the animals flee from under it and the birds from its branches! 15 But leave its taproot in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze around it surrounded by the grass of the field. Let it become damp with the dew of the sky, and let it live with the animals in the grass of the land. 16 Let his mind be altered from that of a human being, and let an animal’s mind be given to him, and let seven periods of time go by for him. 17 This announcement is by the decree of the sentinels; this decision is by the pronouncement of the holy ones, so that those who are alive may understand that the Most High has authority over human kingdoms, and he bestows them on whomever he wishes. He establishes over them even the lowliest of human beings.’ 18 “This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare its interpretation, for none of the wise men in my kingdom are able to make known to me the interpretation. But you can do so, for a spirit of the holy gods is in you.”
• Dan 5:7-8 : 7 The king called out loudly to summon the astrologers, wise men, and diviners. The king proclaimed to the wise men of Babylon that anyone who could read this inscription and disclose its interpretation would be clothed in purple and have a golden collar placed on his neck and be third ruler in the kingdom. 8 So all the king’s wise men came in, but they were unable to read the writing or to make known its interpretation to the king.
• Dan 5:17 : 17 Daniel Interprets the Handwriting on the Wall But Daniel replied to the king,“Keep your gifts, and give your rewards to someone else! However, I will read the writing for the king and make known its interpretation.
• 2 Tim 3:8-9 : 8 And just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these people– who have warped minds and are disqualified in the faith– also oppose the truth. 9 But they will not go much further, for their foolishness will be obvious to everyone, just like it was with Jannes and Jambres.
• Ps 119:99 : 99 I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your rules.
• Exod 7:11-12 : 11 Then Pharaoh also summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the magicians of Egypt by their secret arts did the same thing. 12 Each man threw down his staff, and the staffs became snakes. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.
• 1 Kgs 10:1-3 : 1 Solomon Entertains a Queen When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon, she came to challenge him with difficult questions. 2 She arrived in Jerusalem with a great display of pomp, bringing with her camels carrying spices, a very large quantity of gold, and precious gems. She visited Solomon and discussed with him everything that was on her mind. 3 Solomon answered all her questions; there was no question too complex for the king.