TR: râz → mystērion (Mystery / Divinely Concealed Counsel)¶
The Chain¶
Hebrew/Aramaic OT LXX (Greek OT) Greek NT
───────────────── ────────────── ────────
רָז (râz) → μυστήριον (mystērion) → μυστήριον (mystērion)
H7328, 9x (all Dan) 8x as translation of râz 27x in NT
"secret, mystery" (Theodotion Dan 2, 4) "mystery"
The râz→mystērion bridge is one of the cleanest 1:1 loan-equivalences in biblical translation: every occurrence of râz in Daniel 2 and 4:9 is rendered μυστήριον in the Theodotionic Greek Daniel (the form of Daniel quoted in the NT).
OT Usage (Aramaic)¶
| Strong's | Word | Occurrences | Primary Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| H7328 | רָז (râz) | 9 (8 verses) | secret, mystery — content hidden in God's counsel, disclosed to his servant |
| H1541 | גְּלָה (gᵉlâh) | — | to reveal, uncover (the verb regularly paired with râz) |
| H3046 | יְדַע (yᵉdaʻ) | — | to know, to make known (Haphel) |
Key OT passages: - Dan 2:28 — "there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets (râz), and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days." - Dan 2:47 — "of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets (râz), seeing thou couldest reveal this secret." - Dan 4:9 — "no secret (râz) troubleth thee; tell me the visions of my dream."
Canonical study: A7328-raz.md
LXX Bridge¶
| Aramaic | Greek Translation | Co-occ | PMI | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| râz (H7328) | μυστήριον (G3466) | 8 | 25.20 | Primary — full-coverage equivalence in Theodotion Daniel |
| râz (H7328) | ἀποκαλύπτω (G601, reveal) | 5 | 13.26 | Paired verb, not translation of the noun itself |
| râz (H7328) | γνωρίζω (G1107, make known) | 3 | 9.91 | Secondary paired verb |
Reverse mapping — what Hebrew/Aramaic words μυστήριον (G3466) translates in LXX:
| Source | Word | Co-occ | PMI |
|---|---|---|---|
| H7328 | רָז (râz) | 8 | 25.20 |
| H1541 | גְּלָה (gᵉlâh) — reveal | 5 | 19.33 |
| H426 | אֱלָהּ (ʼĕlâhh) — God (Aramaic) | 5 | 13.45 |
μυστήριον in the Greek OT is overwhelmingly a Daniel-word. Outside Daniel (Theodotion), it appears in Wisdom, Sirach, 2 Maccabees, and Tobit — nearly always in apocalyptic or wisdom contexts — but it never translates a Hebrew word in the protocanonical books outside of Daniel. The lexical footprint of NT "mystery" is therefore almost entirely Danielic.
Semantic continuity: The conceptual frame — a matter hidden in God's counsel, concerning the future of kingdoms, disclosed by divine initiative to a chosen servant — is preserved intact in the Greek. No semantic shift occurs at the LXX step; μυστήριον fully carries the Danielic râz.
NT Usage (Greek)¶
| Strong's | Word | Occurrences | Primary Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| G3466 | μυστήριον (mystērion) | 27 | mystery — God's previously concealed saving purpose, now disclosed |
| G601 | ἀποκαλύπτω (apokalyptō) | — | to reveal, uncover (paired verb) |
| G1107 | γνωρίζω (gnōrizō) | — | to make known (paired verb) |
Canonical study: G3466-mysterion.md
Key NT passages: - Mat 13:11 / Mar 4:11 / Luk 8:10 — "it is given unto you to know the mysteries (mystērion) of the kingdom of God" (parables). - Rom 16:25–26 — "according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest" (Paul's explicit Daniel-structured formula). - 1 Cor 2:7 — "we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world." - Eph 1:9; 3:3–9 — "having made known unto us the mystery of his will"; "the mystery of Christ." - Col 1:26–27 — "the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest." - Rev 1:20; 10:7; 17:5, 7 — the apocalyptic usage most directly echoing Daniel.
Direct OT→NT Quotation / Allusion¶
| NT Verse | Daniel Source | Shared Frame | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rev 10:7 | Dan 2:28–29 | mystērion + "should be finished" | explicit echo of Daniel's "revealer of secrets… what shall be in the latter days" |
| Rom 16:25–26 | Dan 2:28–30 | "mystery…kept secret…made known" | Paul's tri-verb structure (hidden → revealed → made known) mirrors Dan 2's verbs |
| Mat 13:11 | Dan 2 (diffuse) | mysteries of the kingdom | the Danielic "kingdom that shall never be destroyed" is the content now disclosed in parables |
| Eph 3:3, 5 | Dan 2:19, 28 | mystery made known by revelation | same disclosure-formula |
No NT writer cites Daniel with a formula-citation for the word "mystery," but the structure of Pauline and Johannine mystery-language — hidden-in-God's-counsel, concerning kingdoms/ages, disclosed by revelation, made known through an authorized interpreter — is Danielic.
Continuity and Shifts¶
What stays the same across testaments: - The word denotes content, not merely a condition of hiddenness. - Disclosure is a divine prerogative; human wisdom cannot reach the mystery on its own (Dan 2:27; 1 Cor 2:7–10). - The mystery is regularly paired with revelation verbs (gᵉlâh → apokalyptō; yᵉdaʻ → gnōrizō). - The mystery has an eschatological horizon: "what shall be in the latter days" (Dan 2:28) / "before the world began… now made manifest" (1 Cor 2:7; Col 1:26).
What shifts: - Scope broadens from dream to gospel. In Daniel the râz is the specific content of Nebuchadnezzar's dream about world empires. In the NT, the mystērion becomes the whole economy of salvation in Christ (Eph 3:3–6), the inclusion of Gentiles, the resurrection transformation (1 Cor 15:51), and the final consummation (Rev 10:7). - Recipient expands. In Daniel the recipient is a single prophet (Daniel) acting for the king. In the NT the recipients are the apostles and, through them, the church (Eph 3:5; Col 1:26–27). - "Mystery of iniquity" (2 Thess 2:7) is a distinctive NT development: the term is applied not only to God's saving counsel but also, by contrast, to a concealed eschatological evil — still within the Danielic framework of end-time disclosure.
Generated from: gather_trace_data.py (H7328 → G3466) Last updated: 2026-04-18