רָז

From the study of Daniel 2:47

Range of meaning

A loanword from Persian (Old Persian *rāza-, 'secret'). In biblical Aramaic it occurs only in Daniel (2:18, 19, 27, 28, 29, 30, 47 twice; 4:9/4:6). It means a hidden matter, especially God's plan for the future. The plan is hidden in a coded form, such as a dream or vision, and only God can make it known. It is not a riddle with no answer. It is something that is concealed until God chooses to show it.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and YLT say 'secret(s)'. BSB, NIV, ESV and NASB say 'mystery/mysteries'. 'Secret' is closer in ordinary English, though it can suggest gossip or private information. 'Mystery' today suggests something that cannot be explained or a detective story. Neither word quite carries 'God's hidden decision about history, now disclosed'.

How it drifted

English 'mystery' comes through Latin from the Greek 'mystērion', which also named the secret rites of the Greek mystery cults. Later the word moved toward 'the incomprehensible' (theology) and 'the unsolved' (crime fiction). The Aramaic word in Daniel points to something now revealed.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Dead Sea Scrolls use it heavily. The Habakkuk Commentary (1QpHab 7:4–5) says God made known to the Teacher of Righteousness 'all the mysteries (rāzê) of the words of his servants the prophets'. The wisdom text 4QInstruction keeps returning to the 'rāz nihyeh', 'the mystery that is to be'. The Greek translations of Daniel render it 'mystērion'. This is the main bridge to the New Testament use of 'mystery' for God's plan once hidden and now revealed (Mark 4:11; Romans 16:25–26; Ephesians 3:3–5).

From the study of Daniel 2:18

Range of meaning

A secret or hidden matter, especially a hidden plan or meaning that only God knows and only God can disclose. It is a loanword from Persian. In Biblical Aramaic it occurs only in Daniel: 2:18, 19, 27, 28, 29, 30, twice in 47, and 4:9 (Aramaic 4:6).

Against the English

KJV/WEB/YLT have 'secret'. BSB, ESV, NIV and NASB have 'mystery'. Both are acceptable. But a modern reader hears 'mystery' as either a puzzle to be solved by cleverness, as in detective fiction, or a truth that cannot be understood. Neither is the point here.

How it drifted

The Greek translators rendered raz as mystērion, the Vulgate as sacramentum, and the Syriac churches later used raza for the sacraments. Those later meanings (sacramental mystery, doctrine beyond reason, whodunit) have built up over time. In Daniel, a raz is fully knowable once God reveals it, and in v. 19 it is revealed that very night.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Dead Sea Scrolls take up the word as a key term. The Habakkuk Commentary (1QpHab 7) says God made known 'all the mysteries of the words of his servants the prophets' to the Teacher of Righteousness. 4QInstruction and the Book of Mysteries speak of the raz nihyeh, 'the mystery of what is to be'. The Septuagint's mystērion here stands behind much of Paul's use of 'mystery' (e.g. Romans 16:25–26; Ephesians 3:3–5): something hidden that has now been made known.

From the study of Daniel 2:19

Range of meaning

A secret or hidden matter, especially a hidden plan or decree known to God (or a king) and not reachable by ordinary means. In Daniel it covers both the content of the king's dream and its meaning: what God has decided will happen 'in the latter days' (2:28). It appears only in Daniel's Aramaic (2:18, 19, 27, 28, 29, 30, 47 twice; 4:6).

Against the English

'Secret' (KJV, WEB, YLT) and 'mystery' (BSB, ESV, NIV) are both reasonable. But modern 'mystery' suggests a puzzle no one can solve, or something unknowable for ever. A rāz here is hidden from people yet fully known to God, and it exists in order to be revealed when he chooses.

How it drifted

English 'mystery' comes through Latin mysterium and Greek mystērion. In Christian use it later took on the sense of a doctrine beyond reason (for example, 'the mystery of the Trinity'), and in popular English it came to mean a whodunit or an unexplained puzzle. Neither sense is the Aramaic one.

Used elsewhere in the period

The word is borrowed from Persian (Old Persian *rāza-, 'secret'), which fits a court setting in the Persian period. Both Greek translations of Daniel render it mystērion. In the Dead Sea Scrolls it becomes a key term: rāz nihyeh, 'the mystery of what is to be/come' (4QInstruction), and 'all the mysteries (rāzê) of the words of his servants the prophets', which God made known to the Teacher of Righteousness (1QpHab 7.4–5). The New Testament's 'mystery now revealed' (e.g., Rom 16:25–26; Eph 3:3–5) follows this Daniel line of thought.