Daniel 2:27
in Daniel 2Daniel answered the king, “No wise man, enchanter, medium, or magician can explain to the king the mystery of which he inquires.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Daniel answered before the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded can neither wise men, enchanters, magicians, nor soothsayers, show unto the king;
KJV
Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;
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This verse in Daniel 2
Commentary
8 notes on this verseVerse 27. "As for the secret for which the king is asking, neither the wise men nor the magi nor the soothsayers nor the diviners are able to declare it to the king." In place of diviners (haruspices), as we have rendered it, the Hebrew text has Gazareni , which only Symmachus has rendered as sacrificers , a. class of people whom the Greeks usually call liver-diviners (epatoskopoi), and who inspect the inwards in order to make predictions from them concerning the future.
This site's exposition
Art thou able to make known
on Daniel 2:26-30
The king's question repeats the original impossible demand, and Daniel's answer opens by conceding it outright, the wise men, astrologers, magicians and soothsayers cannot shew it, a flat agreement with everything the Chaldeans already said. What follows is the pivot the whole scene has been built for, there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and Daniel refuses even his own credit for what is coming, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, insisting the revelation serves the king's understanding and the wise men's rescue rather than Daniel's own reputation.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
A commentator
Augustine of HippoON THE LITERAL INTERPRETATION OF GENESIS 12:9.20 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
The one who interprets what another has seen is more a prophet than the one who had seen.… Less a prophet is he who … sees in spirit only the signs of the things signified, and a greater prophet is he who is granted only an understanding of images. But the greatest prophet is he who is endowed with both gifts, namely, that of seeing in spirit the symbolic likeness of corporeal objects and that of understanding them with the vital power of the mind. Such a one was Daniel. His preeminence was tested and established when he not only told the dream he had had but also explained the meaning of it. For the corporeal images themselves were produced in his spirit, and an understanding of them was revealed in his mind. I am using the word spirit, therefore, in the sense in which Paul uses it, where he distinguishes it from the mind: "I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also." Here he implies that signs of things are formed in the spirit and that an understanding of the signs shines forth in the mind.
He was astounded and said to Daniel, "'Are you able to proclaim the dream which I saw and its interpretation?' And Daniel said, 'The mystery which the king asks about is not for magicians, enchanters, or soothsayers to proclaim to the king, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and makes known to king Nebuchadnezzar what must be in the last days.'" [Daniel 2:26-28] See how through these words he saves the Chaldeans from the danger which was to kill them and he teaches the king not to seek heavenly mysteries from earthly men, mysteries which are about to be fulfilled by God in his own times. And on account of this he, sending the mind of the king up to God, said, "There is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries," [Daniel 2:28] who receives the man who requests mercies and petitions.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Daniel answered in the presence of the king,....
They are baffled in their pretensions; we are baffled in our hopes from them. Hitherto they come, and no further; let us therefore say to them, as Job to his friends, Now you are nothing; miserable comforters are you all.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Cannot the wise men - Cannot your own able men, aided by your gods, tell you the secret? This question was necessary in order that the king might see the foolishness of depending on the one, or worshipping the other. The soothsayers - One of our old words: “The tellers of truth:” but גזרין gazerin is the name of another class of those curious artists, unless we suppose it to mean the same as the Chaldeans, Dan 2:2. They are supposed to be persons who divined by numbers, amulets, etc. There are many conjectures about them, which, whatever learning they show, cast little light upon this place.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded, cannot the wise men ... show unto the king - Daniel regarded it as a settled and indisputable point that the solution could not be hoped for from the Chaldean sages. The highest talent which the realm could furnish had been applied to, and had failed. It was clear, therefore, that there was no hope that the difficulty would be removed by human skill.
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עָנֵ֧ה | ʾaneh | [was] replying | H6032 → | 30 times |
| דָנִיֵּ֛אל | daniyel | Daniel | H1841 → | 57 times |
| קֳדָ֥ם | kodam | before | H6925 → | 42 times |
| מַלְכָּ֖א | malka' | king the | H4430 → | 180 times |
| וְאָמַ֑ר | veamar | and [was] saying | H560 → | 71 times |
| רָזָה֙ | razah' | secret the | H7328 → | 9 times |
| דִּֽי־ | di- | which | H1768 → | 345 times |
| מַלְכָּ֣א | malka' | king the | H4430 → | 180 times |
| שָׁאֵ֔ל | shael | [is] asking | H7593 → | 6 times |
| לָ֧א | la' | not | H3809 → | 82 times |
| חַכִּימִ֣ין | chakimin | wise men | H2445 → | 14 times |
| אָֽשְׁפִ֗ין | ʾashefin | conjurers | H826 → | 6 times |
| חַרְטֻמִּין֙ | chartumin | magicians | H2749 → | 5 times |
| גָּזְרִ֔ין | gazerin | astrologers | H1505 → | 6 times |
| יָכְלִ֖ין | yakhelin | [are] being able | H3202 → | 11 times |
| לְהַֽחֲוָיָ֥ה | lehachavayah | to declare | H2324 → | 14 times |
| לְמַלְכָּֽא׃ | lemalka' | to king the | H4430 → | 180 times |
עָנֵ֧ה[was] replying
ʾanehH6032 →30 times
דָנִיֵּ֛אלDaniel
daniyelH1841 →57 times
קֳדָ֥םbefore
kodamH6925 →42 times
מַלְכָּ֖אking the
malka'H4430 →180 times
וְאָמַ֑רand [was] saying
veamarH560 →71 times
רָזָה֙secret the
razah'H7328 →9 times
דִּֽי־which
di-H1768 →345 times
מַלְכָּ֣אking the
malka'H4430 →180 times
שָׁאֵ֔ל[is] asking
shaelH7593 →6 times
לָ֧אnot
la'H3809 →82 times
חַכִּימִ֣יןwise men
chakiminH2445 →14 times
אָֽשְׁפִ֗יןconjurers
ʾashefinH826 →6 times
חַרְטֻמִּין֙magicians
chartuminH2749 →5 times
גָּזְרִ֔יןastrologers
gazerinH1505 →6 times
יָכְלִ֖ין[are] being able
yakhelinH3202 →11 times
לְהַֽחֲוָיָ֥הto declare
lehachavayahH2324 →14 times
לְמַלְכָּֽא׃to king the
lemalka'H4430 →180 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 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 44:25who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who confounds the wise and turns their knowledge into nonsense,
it leads to
- Psalms 33:10
The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations; He thwarts the devices of the peoples.
- Job 5:12–14
He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.
- 2 Samuel 15:31
Now someone told David: “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David pleaded, “O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”
- Jeremiah 50:36
A sword is against her false prophets, and they will become fools. A sword is against her warriors, and they will be filled with terror.
- Isaiah 47:12–14
So take your stand with your spells and with your many sorceries, with which you have wearied yourself from your youth. Perhaps you will succeed; perhaps you will inspire terror!
- Psalms 33:10
Through
Daniel 2:2So the king gave orders to summon the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers to explain his dreams. When they came and stood before the king,
it leads to
- Daniel 1:20
In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.
- Daniel 4:6
So I issued a decree that all the wise men of Babylon be brought before me to interpret the dream for me.
- Exodus 7:11
But Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers and magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same things by their magic arts.
- Daniel 1:20
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); Augustine of Hippo, ON THE LITERAL INTERPRETATION OF GENESIS 12:9.20; Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel 2.6; Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER TWO; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.