Daniel 2:9
in Daniel 2If you do not tell me the dream, there is only one decree for you. You have conspired to speak before me false and fraudulent words, hoping the situation will change. Therefore tell me the dream, and I will know that you can give me its interpretation.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But if ye make not known unto me the dream, there is but one law for you; for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can show me the interpretation thereof.
KJV
But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof.
⋯
This verse in Daniel 2
Commentary
7 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
and we will give the interpretation
on Daniel 2:7-9
The wise men repeat their request, and the king answers, “I know for sure that you are stalling for time”. He charges them with “false and fraudulent words, hoping the situation will change”. The execution decree goes out in verse 12, and these verses record the standoff.
This site's exposition
there is only one decree
The king's test is simple. A man who can recover the dream can be trusted with its meaning. Albert Barnes reads "only one decree" as a single sentence of death for every class of the wise men, with no favor shown to any.
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 Awakening2 voices
But if ye will not make known unto me the dream,....
And therefore, without delay, they must tell him the dream. In vain do they plead, 1. That there is no man on earth that can retrieve the king's dream,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you - That is, you shall share the same fate. You shall all be cut to pieces, and your houses reduced to ruin, Dan 2:5. There shall be no favor shown to any class of you, or to any individual among you. It seems to have been supposed that the responsibility rested on them individually as well as collectively, and that it would be right to hold each and every one of them bound to explain the matter.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
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
26 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| דִּ֣י | di | that | H1768 → | 345 times |
| הֵן־ | hen- | if | H2006 → | 19 times |
| חֶלְמָא֩ | chelma' | dream the | H2493 → | 22 times |
| לָ֨א | la' | not | H3809 → | 82 times |
| תְהֽוֹדְעֻנַּ֜נִי | tehodunani | you will make known to me | H3046 → | 47 times |
| חֲדָה־ | chadah- | [is] one | H2298 → | 14 times |
| הִ֣יא | hi' | it | H1932 → | 22 times |
| דָֽתְכ֗וֹן | datekhon | decree your | H1882 → | 14 times |
| וּמִלָּ֨ה | umilah | and a word | H4406 → | 24 times |
| כִדְבָ֤ה | khidvah | a lie | H3538 → | |
| וּשְׁחִיתָה֙ | ushechitah | and corrupt | H7844 → | 3 times |
| הִזְדְּמִנְתּוּן֙ | hazmintun | you have agreed together | H2164 → | |
| לְמֵאמַ֣ר | lememar | to say | H560 → | 71 times |
| קָֽדָמַ֔י | kadamai | before me | H6925 → | 42 times |
| עַ֛ד | ʾad | until | H5705 → | 35 times |
| דִּ֥י | di | that | H1768 → | 345 times |
| עִדָּנָ֖א | ʾidana' | time the | H5732 → | 13 times |
| יִשְׁתַּנֵּ֑א | yishtane' | it will be changed | H8133 → | 21 times |
| לָהֵ֗ן | lahen | therefore | H2006 → | 19 times |
| חֶלְמָא֙ | chelma' | dream the | H2493 → | 22 times |
| אֱמַ֣רוּ | ʾemaru | tell! | H560 → | 71 times |
| לִ֔י | li | to me | ||
| וְֽאִנְדַּ֕ע | veinda' | so I may know | H3046 → | 47 times |
| דִּ֥י | di | that | H1768 → | 345 times |
| פִשְׁרֵ֖הּ | fishreh | interpretation its | H6591 → | 31 times |
| תְּהַחֲוֻנַּֽנִי׃ | tehachavunani | you will declare to me | H2324 → | 14 times |
דִּ֣יthat
diH1768 →345 times
הֵן־if
hen-H2006 →19 times
חֶלְמָא֩dream the
chelma'H2493 →22 times
לָ֨אnot
la'H3809 →82 times
תְהֽוֹדְעֻנַּ֜נִיyou will make known to me
tehodunaniH3046 →47 times
חֲדָה־[is] one
chadah-H2298 →14 times
הִ֣יאit
hi'H1932 →22 times
דָֽתְכ֗וֹןdecree your
datekhonH1882 →14 times
וּמִלָּ֨הand a word
umilahH4406 →24 times
כִדְבָ֤הa lie
khidvahH3538 →
וּשְׁחִיתָה֙and corrupt
ushechitahH7844 →3 times
הִזְדְּמִנְתּוּן֙you have agreed together
hazmintunH2164 →
לְמֵאמַ֣רto say
lememarH560 →71 times
קָֽדָמַ֔יbefore me
kadamaiH6925 →42 times
עַ֛דuntil
ʾadH5705 →35 times
דִּ֥יthat
diH1768 →345 times
עִדָּנָ֖אtime the
ʾidana'H5732 →13 times
יִשְׁתַּנֵּ֑אit will be changed
yishtane'H8133 →21 times
לָהֵ֗ןtherefore
lahenH2006 →19 times
חֶלְמָא֙dream the
chelma'H2493 →22 times
אֱמַ֣רוּtell!
ʾemaruH560 →71 times
לִ֔יto me
li
וְֽאִנְדַּ֕עso I may know
veinda'H3046 →47 times
דִּ֥יthat
diH1768 →345 times
פִשְׁרֵ֖הּinterpretation its
fishrehH6591 →31 times
תְּהַחֲוֻנַּֽנִי׃you will declare to me
tehachavunaniH2324 →14 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
Daniel 2:21He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.
it leads to
- Psalms 75:5–7
Do not lift up your horn against heaven or speak with an outstretched neck.’”
- Psalms 31:14–15
But I trust in You, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.”
- Psalms 113:7–8
He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the dump
- Daniel 4:17
This decision is the decree of the watchers, the verdict declared by the holy ones, so that the living will know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it…
- Daniel 7:25
He will speak out against the Most High and oppress the saints of the Most High, intending to change the appointed times and laws; and the saints will be given into his hand for…
- Psalms 75:5–7
Through
Daniel 7:25He will speak out against the Most High and oppress the saints of the Most High, intending to change the appointed times and laws; and the saints will be given into his hand for…
it leads to
- Daniel 12:7
And the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by Him who lives forever,…
- Revelation 12:14
But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle to fly from the presence of the serpent to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, and times,…
- 2 Thessalonians 2:4
He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
- Daniel 12:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies13
On this chapter
About Daniel
This page draws on 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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.