Daniel 2:13
in Daniel 2So the decree went out that the wise men were to be executed, and men went to look for Daniel and his friends to execute them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So the decree went forth, and the wise men were to be slain; and they sought Daniel and his companions to be slain.
KJV
And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.
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This verse in Daniel 2
Commentary
8 notes on this verseVerses 12, 13. "And when he had heard this, the king in a furious rage gave orders that all the wise men of Babylon should be slain. And when the decree went forth, the wise men were being slaughtered..." The Hebrews raise the question of why Daniel and the three lads did not enter before the king along with the other wise men, and why they were ordered to be slain with the rest when the decree was issued.
This site's exposition
wise men of Babylon
on Daniel 2:12-13
The king's fury turns a private failure into a general execution, commanding to destroy all the wise men of Babylon, and the decree's reach is wide enough to catch Daniel and his fellows though they were never summoned to the first audience. Henry reads the breadth of the sentence as proof of how far unchecked anger will overreach its actual cause, punishing men who had not yet been asked the question at all. The scene turns on this overreach, it is the decree's injustice that brings Daniel into the story.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Therefore, so that the Chaldeans, who had plotted in some way, would not deceive the king with words of deceit, Nebuchadnezzar, who was sorely pricked, said to them, "'I myself know, in truth, that you are buying time, because you see that the matter has departed from me. And so if you do not report to me the dream, I know that you have contrived to say a false and twisted word before me until the matter is forgotten.'
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Daniel and his fellows - Daniel and his fellows were not called, because of their youth, which the Chaldeans despised. Here it is observable: 1. The magicians confessed, that knowledge and Revelation must come from God, and therefore what Daniel did, was not of any human strength.
And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain,....
Nebuchadnezzar is here a tyrant in true colours, speaking death when he cannot speak sense, and treating those as traitors whose only fault is that they would serve him, but cannot. What is commonly the just punishment of pretenders. How unrighteous soever Nebuchadnezzar was in this sentence, as to the ringleaders in the imposture, God was righteous.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain - The original here will bear a somewhat different translation, meaning, “the decree went forth, “and” the wise men were slain;” that is, the execution of the sentence was actually commenced. So the Vulgate: Et egressa sententia, sapientes interficiebantur. So also the Greek version: καὶ οἱ σοφοί ἀπεκτέννοντο kai hoi sophoi apektennonto - “and the wise men were slain.” This seems to me to be the more probable interpretation, and better to suit the connection.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
They sought Daniel and his fellows - As the decree stated that all the wise men of Babylon should be slain, the four young Hebrews, being reputed among the wisest, were considered as sentenced to death also.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
And a decree was issued The law of the king and his decree were issued in the province.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְדָתָ֣א | vedata' | and decree the | H1882 → | 14 times |
| נֶפְקַ֔ת | nefkat | it went out | H5312 → | 11 times |
| וְחַכִּֽימַיָּ֖א | vechakimaiya' | and wise men the | H2445 → | 14 times |
| מִֽתְקַטְּלִ֑ין | mitkatelin | [were] about to be killed | H6992 → | 7 times |
| וּבְע֛וֹ | uveo | and they sought | H1156 → | 12 times |
| דָּנִיֵּ֥אל | daniyel | Daniel | H1841 → | 57 times |
| וְחַבְר֖וֹהִי | vechavrohi | and companions his | H2269 → | 6 times |
| לְהִתְקְטָלָֽה׃ פ | lehitketalah | to be killed | H6992 → | 7 times |
וְדָתָ֣אand decree the
vedata'H1882 →14 times
נֶפְקַ֔תit went out
nefkatH5312 →11 times
וְחַכִּֽימַיָּ֖אand wise men the
vechakimaiya'H2445 →14 times
מִֽתְקַטְּלִ֑ין[were] about to be killed
mitkatelinH6992 →7 times
וּבְע֛וֹand they sought
uveoH1156 →12 times
דָּנִיֵּ֥אלDaniel
daniyelH1841 →57 times
וְחַבְר֖וֹהִיand companions his
vechavrohiH2269 →6 times
לְהִתְקְטָלָֽה׃ פto be killed
lehitketalahH6992 →7 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 10:1Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees,
it leads to
- Luke 11:52
Woe to you experts in the law! For you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”
- Micah 3:1–4
Then I said: “Hear now, O leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel. Should you not know justice?
- Matthew 23:23
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced…
- Psalms 94:20–21
Can a corrupt throne be Your ally— one devising mischief by decree?
- John 19:6
As soon as the chief priests and officers saw Him, they shouted, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” “You take Him and crucify Him,” Pilate replied, “for I find no basis for a charge against Him.”
- Luke 11:52
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Daniel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Daniel; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel 2.3; Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER TWO; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.