Daniel 2:10
in Daniel 2The astrologers answered the king, “No one on earth can do what the king requests! No king, however great and powerful, has ever asked anything like this of any magician, enchanter, or astrologer.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king’s matter, forasmuch as no king, lord, or ruler, hath asked such a thing of any magician, or enchanter, or Chaldean.
KJV
The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king’s matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.
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This verse in Daniel 2
Commentary
9 notes on this verseVerses 9, 10. "Therefore tell me the dream, that I may be certain that ye are giving me its true interpretation. The Chaldeans therefore made this reply in the king's presence: 'There is no man on earth who would be able to fulfil what thou hast spoken, O king!'" The magi confess, along with the soothsayers - and all secular learning concurs - that foreknowledge of the future lies not in man's province but in God's. By this test it is proved that the prophets who proclaimed things to come spoke by the Spirit of God.
This site's exposition
No one on earth can do
on Daniel 2:10-11
The astrologers now state the limit plainly: “No one on earth can do what the king requests,” and no king has ever asked it. Only “the gods, whose dwelling is not with mortals” could tell it, they say. The chapter answers their claim in verse 19.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
And so since they said that what the king sought was impossible to be recounted by a man, God showed them that the things which are impossible with men, are possible with God.
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
The Chaldeans answered before the King, and said,....
There are settled rules by which to discover what the meaning of the dream was; whether they will hold or no is the question. But never were any rules offered to be given by which to discover what the dream was; they cannot work unless they have something to work upon.
This intimates that they were kings, lords, and potentates, not ordinary people, that the magicians had most dealings with, and at whose devotion they were, while the oracles of God and the gospel of Christ are dispensed to the poor.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
There is not a man upon the earth - The thing is utterly impossible to man. This was their decision: and when Daniel gave the dream, with its interpretation, they knew that the spirit of the holy gods was in him. So, even according to their own theology, he was immeasurably greater than the wisest in Babylon or in the world.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said - Perhaps the “Chaldeans” answered because they were the highest in favor, and were those in whom most confidence was usually reposed in such matters. See the notes at Dan 2:2. On such an occasion, those would be likely to be put forward to announce their inability to do this who would be supposed to be able to interpret the dream, if any could, and on whom most reliance was usually placed. There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king’s matter - Chaldee, על־יבשׁתא ‛al-yabeshethâ' - “upon the dry ground.” Compare Gen 1:10. The meaning is, that the thing was utterly beyond the power of man. It was what none who practiced the arts of divining laid claim to. They doubtless supposed that as great proficients in that art as the world could produce might be found among the wise men assembled at the court of Babylon, and if they failed, they inferred that all others would fail. This was, therefore, a decided confession of their inability in the matter; but they meant to break the force of that mortifying confession, and perhaps to appease the wrath of the king, by affirming that the thing was wholly beyond the human powers, and that no one could be expected to do what was demanded. Therefore” there is “no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things - No one has ever made a similar demand. The matter is so clear, the incompetency of man to make such a disclosure is so manifest, that no potentate of any rank ever made such a request. They designed, undoubtedly, to convince the king that the request was so unreasonable that he would not insist on it. They were urgent, for their life depended on it, and they apprehended that they had justice on their side.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
who..the king’s word who will be able to tell the king’s word.
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
30 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עֲנ֨וֹ | ano | they replied | H6032 → | 30 times |
| כַשְׂדָּאֵ֤י | khasdai | Chaldeans the | H3779 → | 8 times |
| קֳדָם־ | kodom- | before | H6925 → | 42 times |
| מַלְכָּא֙ | malka' | king the | H4430 → | 180 times |
| וְאָ֣מְרִ֔ין | veamerin | and [they were] saying | H560 → | 71 times |
| לָֽא־ | la'- | not | H3809 → | 82 times |
| אִיתַ֤י | ʾitai | there | H383 → | 17 times |
| אֲנָשׁ֙ | ʾanash | [is] a person | H606 → | 25 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5922 → | 104 times |
| יַבֶּשְׁתָּ֔א | yabeshta' | earth the | H3007 → | |
| דִּ֚י | di | who | H1768 → | 345 times |
| מִלַּ֣ת | milat | [the] matter of | H4406 → | 24 times |
| מַלְכָּ֔א | malka' | king the | H4430 → | 180 times |
| יוּכַ֖ל | yukhal | he will be able | H3202 → | 11 times |
| לְהַחֲוָיָ֑ה | lehachavayah | to declare | H2324 → | 14 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | as to | ||
| קֳבֵ֗ל | kovel | because | H6903 → | 29 times |
| דִּ֚י | di | that | H1768 → | 345 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | any | H3606 → | 82 times |
| מֶ֙לֶךְ֙ | melekh | king | H4430 → | 180 times |
| רַ֣ב | rav | great | H7229 → | 15 times |
| וְשַׁלִּ֔יט | veshalit | and powerful | H7990 → | 10 times |
| מִלָּ֤ה | milah | a matter | H4406 → | 24 times |
| כִדְנָה֙ | khidnah | like this | H1836 → | 58 times |
| לָ֣א | la' | not | H3809 → | 82 times |
| שְׁאֵ֔ל | sheel | he has asked | H7593 → | 6 times |
| לְכָל־ | lekhol | to any | H3606 → | 82 times |
| חַרְטֹּ֖ם | charttom | magician | H2749 → | 5 times |
| וְאָשַׁ֥ף | veashaf | and conjurer | H826 → | 6 times |
| וְכַשְׂדָּֽי׃ | vekhasdai | and Chaldean | H3779 → | 8 times |
עֲנ֨וֹthey replied
anoH6032 →30 times
כַשְׂדָּאֵ֤יChaldeans the
khasdaiH3779 →8 times
קֳדָם־before
kodom-H6925 →42 times
מַלְכָּא֙king the
malka'H4430 →180 times
וְאָ֣מְרִ֔יןand [they were] saying
veamerinH560 →71 times
לָֽא־not
la'-H3809 →82 times
אִיתַ֤יthere
ʾitaiH383 →17 times
אֲנָשׁ֙[is] a person
ʾanashH606 →25 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5922 →104 times
יַבֶּשְׁתָּ֔אearth the
yabeshta'H3007 →
דִּ֚יwho
diH1768 →345 times
מִלַּ֣ת[the] matter of
milatH4406 →24 times
מַלְכָּ֔אking the
malka'H4430 →180 times
יוּכַ֖לhe will be able
yukhalH3202 →11 times
לְהַחֲוָיָ֑הto declare
lehachavayahH2324 →14 times
כָּל־as to
kol-
קֳבֵ֗לbecause
kovelH6903 →29 times
דִּ֚יthat
diH1768 →345 times
כָּל־any
kol-H3606 →82 times
מֶ֙לֶךְ֙king
melekhH4430 →180 times
רַ֣בgreat
ravH7229 →15 times
וְשַׁלִּ֔יטand powerful
veshalitH7990 →10 times
מִלָּ֤הa matter
milahH4406 →24 times
כִדְנָה֙like this
khidnahH1836 →58 times
לָ֣אnot
la'H3809 →82 times
שְׁאֵ֔לhe has asked
sheelH7593 →6 times
לְכָל־to any
lekholH3606 →82 times
חַרְטֹּ֖םmagician
charttomH2749 →5 times
וְאָשַׁ֥ףand conjurer
veashafH826 →6 times
וְכַשְׂדָּֽי׃and Chaldean
vekhasdaiH3779 →8 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
Daniel 2:27Daniel answered the king, “No wise man, enchanter, medium, or magician can explain to the king the mystery of which he inquires.
it leads to
- Daniel 2:2
So the king gave orders to summon the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers to explain his dreams. When they came and stood before the king,
- Isaiah 44:25
who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who confounds the wise and turns their knowledge into nonsense,
- 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!
- Daniel 2:10–11
The astrologers answered the king, “No one on earth can do what the king requests! No king, however great and powerful, has ever asked anything like this of any magician, enchanter, or astrologer.
- Daniel 5:7–8
The king called out for the enchanters, astrologers, and diviners to be brought in, and he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this inscription and tells me its interpretation will be…
- Daniel 2:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies13
On this verse
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 2.4; Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel 2.3; Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER TWO; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.