Daniel 2:2

Verse Daniel 2:2. The magicians] חרטמים chartummim. Genesis 41:8.

The astrologers] אשפים ashshaphim. Perhaps from נשף nashaph, to breathe, because they laid claim to Divine inspiration; but probably the persons in question were the philosophers and astronomers among the Babylonians.

The sorcerers] מכשפים mechashshephim. Deuteronomy 18:10; and "Exodus 22:18"; and "Leviticus 19:31", where several of these arts are explained.

The Chaldeans] Who these were is difficult to be ascertained. They might be a college of learned men, where all arts and sciences were professed and taught. The Chaldeans were the most ancient philosophers of the world; they might have been originally inhabitants of the Babylonian Irak; and still have preserved to themselves exclusively the name of Chaldeans, to distinguish themselves from other nations and peoples who inhabited the one hundred and twenty provinces of which the Babylonish government was composed.