Daniel 4:9

Master of the magicians. This term used by the king is probably synonymous with that used in chapter 2:48, “chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.” The word “master” in Daniel 4:9 and “chief” in chapter 2:48 are translations of the same Aramaic word, rab.

Tell me the visions. The king seems to demand that Daniel tell the dream as well as its interpretation, at the same time proceeding at once to narrate the dream (v. 10). The LXX does not have this verse in the extant manuscripts. It has the narrative of verses 1-9 in a greatly abbreviated form. Theodotion’s Greek version reads, “Listen to the vision of the dream which I have seen, and tell me its interpretation.” The Syriac translates this passage by a paraphrase, “In the visions of my dream I was seeing a vision of my head, and do thou its interpretation tell.” Some modern expositors (Marti, Torrey, etc.) accept the version of Theodotion as the best solution, while others, like Montgomery, think that the Aramaic word chzwy (originally unpointed), translated “the visions of” (KJV), was originally chzy, “lo,” as demonstrated by the Aramaic papyri from Elephantine. The text would then read, as in the RSV, “Here is the dream which I saw; tell me its interpretation.”