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Daniel 2:24

in Daniel 2

Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon! Bring me before the king, and I will give him the interpretation.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and said thus unto him: Destroy not the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show unto the king the interpretation.

KJV

Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation.

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This verse in Daniel 2

Commentary

9 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER TWO · Written before 420.

Verse 24. "Destroy not the wise men of Babylon. Take me in before the king and I will set forth the explanation to the king. ..." He follows the example of the clemency of God, who intercedes in behalf of his persecutors, and is unwilling that those men should perish on whose account he himself had been threatened with death.

This site's exposition

Destroy not the wise men

on Daniel 2:24-25

Daniel goes to Arioch with the decree's reversal in his mouth before he has even stood before the king, Destroy not the wise men of Babylon, staking the lives of men who never sought his interpretation on the confidence that God has already given him the answer. Arioch's own account to the king, changed from what actually happened, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, is read by the bench as a courtier's habit of claiming credit, a small human touch the narrative does not bother to correct.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

John Chrysostom

HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 5:7 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

Let us not then be looking open-mouthed towards others. For it is true, the prayers of the saints have the greatest power; on condition however of our repentance and amendment. Since even Moses, who had rescued his own brother and six hundred thousand men from the wrath that was then coming upon them from God, had no power to deliver his sister.… And Samuel again was not able to save Saul from the wrath from above, yet he oftentimes preserved the Israelites. And Jeremiah prevailed not for the Jews, but some one else he did haply cover from evil by his prophecy. And Daniel saved the barbarians from slaughter, but he did not deliver the Jews from their captivity.… So that on the one hand, if we be careless, we shall not be able to obtain salvation, no not even by the help of others; if, on the other hand, we be watchful, we shall be able to do this by ourselves, and by ourselves rather than by others. Yes; for God is more willing to give His grace to us, than to others for us; that we by endeavoring ourselves to do away His wrath, may both enjoy confidence towards Him, and become better men.

A commentator

Hippolytus of Rome

Commentary on Daniel 2.6 · Written before 235.

proposed

After this happened, Daniel rose and went to Arioch and said to him, "Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon, but bring me before the king and I will proclaim to the king the dream and its interpretation." [Daniel 2:24] He, after hearing these things "brought in Daniel with haste and said, 'I found a man from the sons of the captivity of Judah, who will proclaim the interpretation to the king.'" [Daniel 2:25]

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Note, Since God shows common kindness to the evil and good, we should do so too, and be ready to save the lives of even bad men, Matt. v. 45 . A good man is a common good.
Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Arioch brought him in haste to the king, hoping to ingratiate himself by introducing Daniel; he pretends he had sought him to interpret the king's dream, whereas really it was to execute upon him the king's sentence that he sought him. But courtiers' business is every way to humour the prince and make their own services acceptable.
2 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Destroy not the wise men - The decree was suspended till it should be seen whether Daniel could tell the dream, and give its interpretation.
Therefore Daniel went in, unto Arioch - In view of the fact that the matter was now disclosed to him, he proposed to lay it before the king. This of course, he did not do directly, but through Arioch, who was entrusted with the execution of the decree to slay the wise men of Babylon. That officer would naturally have access to the king, and it was proper that a proposal to arrest the execution of the sentence should be made through his instrumentality. The Chaldee דנה כל־קבל kôl-qebēl denâh is, properly, “on this whole account “ - or, “on this whole account because” - in accordance with the usually full and pleonastic mode of writing particles, Similar to the German “alldieweil,” or the compound English “forasmuch as.” The meaning is, that in view of the whole matter, he sought to lay the case before the king. Destroy not the wise men of Babylon - That is, “Stay the execution of the sentence on them. Though they have failed to furnish the interpretation demanded, yet, as it can now be given, there is no occasion for the exercise of this severity.” The ground of the sentence was that they could not interpret the dream. As the execution of the sentence involved Daniel and his friends, and as the reason why it was passed at all would now cease by his being able to furnish the required explanation, Daniel felt that it was a matter of mere justice that the execution of the sentence should cease altogether. Bring me in before the king - It would seem from this that Daniel did not regard himself as having free access to the king, and he would not unceremoniously intrude himself into his presence. This verse confirms the interpretation given of Dan 2:16, and makes it in the highest degree probable that this was the first occasion on which he was personally before the king in reference to this matter.

The words behind it

27 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • כָּל־as to

    kol-

  • קֳבֵ֣לbecause

    kovelH6903 →29 times

  • דְּנָ֗הthis

    denahH1836 →58 times

  • דָּֽנִיֵּאל֙Daniel

    daniyelH1841 →57 times

  • עַ֣לhe went in

    ʾalH5954 →14 times

  • עַל־to

    ʾal-H5922 →104 times

  • אַרְי֔וֹךְArioch

    ʾaryokhH746 →7 times

  • דִּ֚יwhom

    diH1768 →345 times

  • מַנִּ֣יhe had appointed

    maniH4483 →5 times

  • מַלְכָּ֔אking the

    malka'H4430 →180 times

  • לְהוֹבָדָ֖הto destroy

    lehoadahH7 →7 times

  • לְחַכִּימֵ֣י<obj.> [the] wise men of

    lechakimeiH2445 →14 times

  • בָבֶ֑לBabylon

    vavelH895 →25 times

  • אֲזַ֣ל׀he went

    ʾazalH236 →7 times

  • וְכֵ֣ןand as follows

    vekhenH3652 →8 times

  • אֲמַר־he said

    ʾamar-H560 →71 times

  • לֵ֗הּto him

    leh

  • לְחַכִּימֵ֤י<obj.> [the] wise men of

    lechakimeiH2445 →14 times

  • בָבֶל֙Babylon

    vavelH895 →25 times

  • אַל־may not

    ʾal-H409 →4 times

  • תְּהוֹבֵ֔דyou destroy

    tehovedH7 →7 times

  • הַעֵ֙לְנִי֙bring in me

    haeleniH5954 →14 times

  • קֳדָ֣םbefore

    kodamH6925 →42 times

  • מַלְכָּ֔אking the

    malka'H4430 →180 times

  • וּפִשְׁרָ֖אand interpretation the

    ufishra'H6591 →31 times

  • לְמַלְכָּ֥אto king the

    lemalka'H4430 →180 times

  • אֲחַוֵּֽא׃ סI will declare

    ʾachave'H2324 →14 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

5 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Daniel 2:12–14This response made the king so furious with anger that he gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.3 worksActs 27:24and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And look, God has granted you the lives of all who sail with you.’3 worksDaniel 2:14When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, had gone out to execute the wise men of Babylon, Daniel replied with discretion and tact.3 worksActs 12:24But the word of God continued to spread and multiply.2 worksDaniel 2:45And just as you saw a stone being cut out of the mountain without human hands, and it shattered the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold, so the great God has told the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy.”2 works

The walk

5 stops

Each 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

    Acts 27:24

    and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And look, God has granted you the lives of all who sail with you.’

    it leads to

    • Acts 23:11

      The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about Me in Jerusalem, so also you must testify in Rome.”

    • 2 Timothy 4:16–17

      At my first defense, no one stood with me, but everyone deserted me. May it not be charged against them.

    • Matthew 10:28

      Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

    • Genesis 19:29

      So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham, and He brought Lot out of the catastrophe that destroyed the cities where he had lived.

    • Acts 9:15

      “Go!” said the Lord. “This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings, and before the people of Israel.

Where this verse is studied

About Daniel

Daniel in the Lions' Den, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Daniel in the Lions' Den, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Daniel: the study guide →Read Daniel 2 →
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Daniel; Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel 2.6; Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER TWO; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 5:7; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Daniel 2 →