Daniel 2:5
in Daniel 2The king replied to the astrologers, “My word is final: If you do not tell me the dream and its interpretation, you will be cut into pieces and your houses will be reduced to rubble.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye make not known unto me the dream and the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.
KJV
The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.
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This verse in Daniel 2
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me - The Vulgate renders this, “Sermo recessit a me” - “The word is departed from me.” So the Greek, Ὁ λόγος ἀπ ̓ ἐμοῦ ἀπέστη Ho logos ap' emou apestē. Luther, “Es ist mir entfallen” - “It has fallen away from me,” or has departed from me.
This site's exposition
in Syriack
on Daniel 2:4-6
The Chaldeans answer in Syriack, the Aramaic that carries the book from here through chapter seven, the empire's own diplomatic tongue used for an empire's own oracle of its end. Their opening flattery, O king, live for ever, is court form rather than confidence, and their request, tell thy servants the dream, exposes that they expect only to interpret, not to discover. The king's answer removes that escape, dismemberment and a leveled house for failure, wealth and honor for success, stakes set high enough that no vague answer can survive them.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Therefore, in this way the vision was concealed from the king in Babylon, so that he who was chosen by God, was shown as being Daniel the prophet. For whenever a vision is hidden from others, yet is unveiled by another, this inevitably displays the one speaking as a prophet.
"In the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a dream and his spirit was amazed, and his sleep departed from him. And the king said to call the enchanters and the magicians and the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to proclaim to the king his dream. And they came and stood before the king. And the king said to them, 'I dreamed and my spirit was amazed to know the dream.' And the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Syriac, 'O king, live forever! Tell the dream to all your servants, and we will proclaim the interpretation.' But the king answered the Chaldeans, 'The memory has departed from me. And so, if you do not make known the dream to me and its interpretation you shall be destroyed and your houses shall be plundered. But if you do make known the dream and its interpretation to me, you will receive gifts and presents and much honor from me, only proclaim to me the dream and its interpretation.'" [Daniel 2:1-6] And so, the dream which was seen by the king was not earthly, that it might be interpreted by the wise men of the world, but it was heavenly, according to the plan and foreknowledge of God, which is fulfilled in their own times. And on account of this it was concealed from men who comprehend earthly things, so that to those who seek heavenly things, the heavenly mysteries may be revealed.
Verse 5. "If you do not show me the vision and its interpretation, ye shall perish and your homes shall be confiscated..." He threatened punishment and offered rewards, in order that if they should be able to tell him the dream, he might therefore believe also that which was uncertain, namely the meaning of the dream. But if they should be unable to tell the king what he in his mental confusion could not recall, they would also lose claim to trustworthiness in the interpretation they might give.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The king answered and said to the Chaldeans,.... In the same language they spoke to him: the thing is gone from me; either the dream was gone from him; it was out of his mind, he had forgot it, and could not call it to remembrance; he had been dreaming of monarchies and kingdoms, which are themselves but dreams and tales, and empty things that pass away, and which he might have learned from hence: or, as it may be rendered, "the word is confirmed by me" (z).
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The thing--that is, The dream, "is gone from me." GESENIUS translates, "The decree is gone forth from me," irrevocable (compare Isa 45:23); namely, that you shall be executed, if you do not tell both the dream and the interpretation.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Ye shall be cut in pieces - This was arbitrary and tyrannical in the extreme; but, in the order of God’s providence, it was overruled to serve the most important purpose.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עָנֵ֤ה | ʾaneh | [was] replying | H6032 → | 30 times |
| מַלְכָּא֙ | malka' | king the | H4430 → | 180 times |
| וְאָמַ֣ר | veamar | and [was] saying | H560 → | 71 times |
| לְכַשְׂדָּאֵ֔י | lekhasdaei | to Chaldeans the | H3779 → | 8 times |
| מִלְּתָ֖א | mileta' | word the | H4406 → | 24 times |
| מִנִּ֣י | mini | from me | H4481 → | 109 times |
| אַזְדָּ֑א | ʾazda' | [is] assured | H230 → | |
| הֵ֣ן | hen | if | H2006 → | 19 times |
| לָ֤א | la' | not | H3809 → | 82 times |
| תְהֽוֹדְעוּנַּ֙נִי֙ | tehodunani | you will make known to me | H3046 → | 47 times |
| חֶלְמָ֣א | chelma' | dream the | H2493 → | 22 times |
| וּפִשְׁרֵ֔הּ | ufishreh | and interpretation its | H6591 → | 31 times |
| הַדָּמִין֙ | hadamin | members | H1917 → | |
| תִּתְעַבְד֔וּן | titavdun | you will be made | H5648 → | 28 times |
| וּבָתֵּיכ֖וֹן | uvateikhon | and houses your | H1005 → | 44 times |
| נְוָלִ֥י | nevali | a refuse-heap | H5122 → | |
| יִתְּשָׂמֽוּן׃ | yitesamun | they will be made | H7761 → | 26 times |
עָנֵ֤ה[was] replying
ʾanehH6032 →30 times
מַלְכָּא֙king the
malka'H4430 →180 times
וְאָמַ֣רand [was] saying
veamarH560 →71 times
לְכַשְׂדָּאֵ֔יto Chaldeans the
lekhasdaeiH3779 →8 times
מִלְּתָ֖אword the
mileta'H4406 →24 times
מִנִּ֣יfrom me
miniH4481 →109 times
אַזְדָּ֑א[is] assured
ʾazda'H230 →
הֵ֣ןif
henH2006 →19 times
לָ֤אnot
la'H3809 →82 times
תְהֽוֹדְעוּנַּ֙נִי֙you will make known to me
tehodunaniH3046 →47 times
חֶלְמָ֣אdream the
chelma'H2493 →22 times
וּפִשְׁרֵ֔הּand interpretation its
ufishrehH6591 →31 times
הַדָּמִין֙members
hadaminH1917 →
תִּתְעַבְד֔וּןyou will be made
titavdunH5648 →28 times
וּבָתֵּיכ֖וֹןand houses your
uvateikhonH1005 →44 times
נְוָלִ֥יa refuse-heap
nevaliH5122 →
יִתְּשָׂמֽוּן׃they will be made
yitesamunH7761 →26 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
Ezra 6:11I also decree that if any man interferes with this directive, a beam is to be torn from his house and raised up, and he is to be impaled on it. And his own…
it leads to
- Daniel 3:29
Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be cut into pieces and their houses reduced to rubble.…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Daniel 3:29
Through
Psalms 50:22Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:
it leads to
- Job 8:13
Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so the hope of the godless will perish.
- Psalms 9:17
The wicked will return to Sheol— all the nations who forget God.
- Hosea 4:6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget…
- Psalms 7:2
or they will shred my soul like a lion and tear me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
- Hosea 13:8
Like a bear robbed of her cubs I will attack them, and I will tear open their chests. There I will devour them like a lion, like a wild beast would tear them apart.
- Job 8:13
Through
2 Kings 10:27They also demolished the sacred pillar of Baal. Then they tore down the temple of Baal and made it into a latrine, which it is to this day.
it leads to
- Ezra 6:11
I also decree that if any man interferes with this directive, a beam is to be torn from his house and raised up, and he is to be impaled on it. And his own…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezra 6:11
Through
Psalms 58:7May they vanish like water that runs off; when they draw the bow, may their arrows be blunted.
it leads to
- Joshua 7:5
And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of them, chasing them from the gate as far as the quarries and striking them down on the slopes. So the hearts of the people…
- Joshua 7:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Daniel
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 2.2; Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel 2.1-2; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER TWO; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).