Daniel 5:24 - The Writing on the Wall...Chaldian, anyone?

[RyanL]

my wife and i were reading daniel, and we came across daniel 5 and the “writing on the wall”. we were reading the kjv (green verses), so when i looked it up in the douay (blue verses), i noticed a disparity:

And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
25 And this is the writing that is written: MANE, THECEL, PHARES.

  This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.  26 And this is the interpretation of the word. MANE: God hath numbered thy kingdom, and hath finished it.   
  
  TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.  27 THECEL: thou art weighed in the balance, and art found wanting.   
  
  PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.  28 PHARES: thy kingdom is divided, and is given to the Medes and Persians.

the kjv changes words (from upharsin to peres), and the douay uses a different words altogether. can anyone explain the following:

1. what does peres mean?
2. is upharsin a different tense of peres?
3. why is phares/mene/thecel used in one and not the other?
4. why are there different words in the same story? is it because the septuagint renders the word differently than the hebrew?

any help would be appreciated!!

RyanL

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

RyanL:

my wife and i were reading daniel, and we came across daniel 5 and the “writing on the wall”. we were reading the kjv (green verses), so when i looked it up in the douay (blue verses), i noticed a disparity:

the kjv changes words (from upharsin to peres), and the douay uses a different words altogether. can anyone explain the following:

1. what does peres mean?
2. is upharsin a different tense of peres?
3. why is phares/mene/thecel used in one and not the other?
4. why are there different words in the same story? is it because the septuagint renders the word differently than the hebrew?

any help would be appreciated!!

RyanL

Greek cannot represent all the sounds possible in Aramaic - this part of the book, is written in Aramaic, not in Hebrew.​

Hebrew and Aramaic are neither of them able to represent the languages native to Babylonia.

For example, a certain king is called:

Nabuchodonosor or Nabuchodrosor in Greek & Latin

Nebuchadnezzar or Nebuchadrezzar in Hebrew ch = k]

Nabu-kudurri-usur in his own language: which is related to Hebrew & Aramaic, but different from both.

“Chaldee”, to which your heading alludes, is a name for Aramaic: formerly, “Chaldee” was thought to be the language of Babylonia; in fact, this is not the case.

Hope that helps.