DANIEL (Hebrew and Aramaic, Many Fragments) [43.083, 41.204, 41.205, 41.207, 41.781, 41.782, 43.437] {210, 211, 212, 443, 444, 1167, 1410}

{From the microfilm; not completely compared to the BAS photos.}

Daniel 1:16-19 [{443} Right Fragments, Right Column]

{Hebrew}

1:16 So the overseer continued to withhold their choice food and food {different word} and the wine they were to drink, and kept giving them vegetables.

17 And as for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams.

18 Then at the end of the days which the king had specified for presenting them, the commander of the officials presented them before Nebuchadnezzar.

19 And the king talked with them, and out of them all not one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king's personal service.

20 And as for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all ?????????????????????? the magicians and conjurers who were in all ?????? his realm.

{The last line of the DSS appears to have more than is in the MT, but what is there is unclear. It is probably a list of different types of wise men.}

Daniel 2:?? [{443} Top Right Fragment, Left Column]

{Only 1 to 3 characters are present on the right margin which makes its identification tenuous. Even if identified, its value would be negligible.}

Daniel 2:19-33 [43.083 Right Column of Right Fragment]

{Aramaic}

2:19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven;

20 Daniel answered and said, "Let the name of the great God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him.

21 "And it is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men, And knowledge to men of understanding.

22 "It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; and He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him.

23 "To Thee, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, For Thou hast given me wisdom and power illumination; Even now Thou hast made known to me what we requested of Thee, For Thou hast made known to us the king's matter."

24 Therefore, Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and spoke to him as follows: "Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon! Take me into the king's presence, and I will declare the interpretation to the king."

25 Then Arioch hurriedly brought Daniel into the king's presence and spoke to him as follows: "I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can make the interpretation known to the king!"

26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, "Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation?"

27 Daniel answered before the king and said, "As for the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither wise men, conjurers, magicians, nor diviners are able to declare it to the king.

28 "However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known {slightly different verb form} to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. O king, this was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed.

29 "As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts turned to what would take place in the future; and He who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will take place.

30 "But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me for any extraordinary wisdom residing in me more than in any other living man, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind.

31 "You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome.

32 "The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze,

33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly

Daniel 2:33-35a [43.083 Left Column of Right Fragment]

{Aramaic}

of clay.

2:34 "You continued looking until there was a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them.

35 "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time, and became and became {different spelling} like chaff from the summer threshing floors;

Daniel 2:35b-39a [43.083 {1167} Far Left Fragment]

{Aramaic}

and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

36 "This was the dream; now we shall tell its interpretation before the king.

37 "You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength, and the glory;

38 and wherever the sons of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold.

39 "And after you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth.

Daniel 2:40-44 [43.083 Bottom Center and Bottom Left Fragments]

{Aramaic}

40 "Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces.

41 "And in that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay.

42 "And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle.

43 "And$ in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as {slightly different in Q; no translation difference} iron does not combine with pottery.

44 "And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.

Daniel 2:47-3:2a [{443} Bottom Left]

{Aramaic}

2:47 The king answered Daniel and said, "Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery."

48 Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.

49 And Daniel made request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego over the administration of the province of Babylon, while Daniel was at the king's court.

3:1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height of which was sixty cubits and its width six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

2 Then NebuMechadnezzar the king sent word to assemble the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers {spelled differently in DSS}, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

{Note v 2: There appear to be spelling errors on the part of the DSS scribe. One error is partially corrected above the line for `Nebuchadnezzar' (although the beginning of the word is not corrected), and the DSS spelling of `treasurer' (2 letters are reversed) would produce an unknown word if correct.}

Daniel 5:5-7a [{444} Top Right Fragment]

{Aramaic}

5:5 Suddenly the fingers of a man's hand emerged and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, and the king saw the back of the hand that did the writing.

6 Then the king's face grew pale, and his thoughts alarmed him; and his hip joints went slack, and his knees began knocking together.

7 The king called aloud to bring in the conjurers, the magicians, the Chaldeans and the diviners. The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon, "Any man who can read this inscription and explain its interpretation to me will be clothed with purple, and have a necklace of gold around his neck, and have authority as third ruler in the kingdom."

{Missing Between the Fragments (provided for context)}

5:8 Then all the king's wise men came in, but they could not read the inscription or make known its interpretation to the king.

9 Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, his face grew even paler, and his nobles were perplexed.

10 The queen entered the banquet hall because of the words of the king and his nobles; the queen spoke and said, "O king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts alarm you or your face be pale.

11 "There is a man in your kingdom in whom is a spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of your father, illumination, insight, and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him. And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father the king, appointed him chief of the magicians, conjurers, Chaldeans, and diviners.

Daniel 5:12 [{444} Right Next to Top Fragment]

{Aramaic}

5:12 "This was because an extraordinary spirit, knowledge and insight, interpretation of dreams, explanation of enigmas, and solving of difficult problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Let Daniel now be summoned, and he will read the writing and he will declare the interpretation."

Daniel 5:13-14a [{444} Right Next to Bottom Fragment]

{Aramaic}

5:13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king spoke and said to Daniel, "Are you that Daniel who is one of the exiles from Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah?

14 "Now I have heard about you that a spirit of the gods is in you, and that illumination, insight, and extraordinary wisdom have been found in you.

{Missing Between the Fragments (provided for context)}

5:15 "Just now the wise men and the conjurers were brought in before me that they might read this inscription and make its interpretation known to me, but they could not declare the interpretation of the message.

Daniel 5:16b-19 [444 Bottom Right]

{Aramaic}

5:16 "But I personally have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems. Now if you are able to read the inscription and make its interpretation known to me, you will be clothed with purple and wear a necklace of gold around your neck, and you will have authority as the third ruler in the kingdom."

17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, "Keep your gifts for yourself, or give your rewards to someone else; however, I will read the inscription to the king and make the interpretation known to him.

18 "O king, the Most High God granted sovereignty, grandeur, glory, and majesty to Nebuchadnezzar your father.

19 "And because of the grandeur which He bestowed on him, all the peoples, nations, and men of every language feared and trembled before him; whomever he wished he killed, and whomever he wished he spared alive; and whomever he wished he elevated, and whomever he wished he humbled.

Daniel 7:25b-8:5a [{444} Center Fragment] {Aramaic and Hebrew}

{Aramaic}

7:25 `And he will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.

26 `But the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever.

27 `Then the sovereignty, and% the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.'

28 "At this point the revelation ended. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts were greatly alarming me and my face grew pale, but I kept the matter to myself."

{Hebrew}

8:1 In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king a this vision appeared to me, Daniel, subsequent to the one which appeared to me previously.

2 And I looked in the vision, and it came about while I was looking, that I was in the citadel of Susa, which is in the province of Elam; and I looked in the vision, and I myself was beside the Ulai Canal.

3 Then I lifted my gaze and looked, and behold, a one ram which had two horns was standing in front of the canal. Now the two horns were long, but one was longer than the other, with the longer one coming up last.

4 I saw the ram butting westward, and eastward, and% northward, and southward, and no other beasts could stand before him, nor was there anyone to rescue from his power; but he did as he pleased and magnified himself.

5 While I was observing, behold, a male goat was coming from the west over to the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground; and the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes.

Daniel 10:16b-20 [{444} Top Left Fragment]

{Hebrew}

10:16 And behold, one who resembled a human being was touching my lips; then I opened my mouth and spoke, and said to him who was standing before me, "O my lord, as a result of the vision anguish has come upon me, and I have retained no strength.

17 "For how can such a servant of my lord talk with such as my lord? As for me, there remains just now no strength in me, nor has any breath been left in me."

18 Then this one with human appearance touched me again and strengthened me.

19 And he said, "O man of high esteem, do not be afraid. Peace be with you; take courage and be courageous!" Now as soon as he spoke to me, I received strength and said, "May my lord speak, for you have strengthened me."

20 Then he said, "Do you understand why I came to you? But I shall now return to fight against the prince of Persia; so I am going forth, and behold, the prince of Greece is about to come.

Daniel 11:13-16a [{444} Bottom Left Fragment]

{Hebrew}

11:13 "For the king of the North will again raise a greater multitude than the former, and after an interval of some years he will press on with a great army and much equipment.

14 "Now in those times many will rise up against the king of the South; the violent ones among your people will also lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but they will fall down.

15 "Then the king of the North will come, and% cast up a siege mound, and capture a well-fortified city; and the forces of the South will not stand their ground, not even their choicest troops, for there will be no strength to make a stand.

16 "But he who comes against him will do as he pleases, and no one will be able to withstand him; he will also stay for a time in the Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand.


Key to the English Text Reconstructions

SIMILARITIES: Regular = MT yes, DSS yes; Italics = MT yes, DSS probable; Small Type = MT yes, DSS hole

DIFFERENCES: Italics/Bold (Blue) = MT yes, DSS no; Underline/Bold (Red) = DSS yes, MT no; Underline (Purple) = DSS probable, MT no

OTHER: .... = blank space, apparently with no writing; $ = present in NASB, but missing in MT; % = correction of NASB to make it reflect MT; Phrase in {brackets} = explanation.

ABBREVIATIONS: MT = Masoretic Text (1,000 years old); DSS = Dead Sea Scrolls (2,000 years old); NASB = New American Standard Bible, a literal English Bible translation