Daniel 2:18 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Daniel 2:18
That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
to seek or ask · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
mercies
וְרַחֲמִ֗יןve.ra.cha.Min
H7359
(plural) pity · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
of
מִןmin-
H4481
properly · preposition
God
אֱלָ֣הּ'e.Lah
H426
God · noun, common both genders singular construct
heaven
שְׁמַיָּ֔אshe.mai.Ya'
H8065
the sky (as aloft · noun, common masculine plural determined + particle of affirmation
concerning
עַל'al-
H5922
above · preposition
this
דְּנָ֑הde.Nah
H1836
this · demonstrative particle
secret
רָזָ֖הra.Zah'
H7328
to attenuate · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
Daniel
דָּנִיֵּ֣אלda.ni.Yel
H1841
Danijel · proper noun, a man's name
fellows
וְחַבְר֔וֹהִיve.chav.Ro.hi
H2269
an associate · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
not
לָ֤אla'
H3809
not (the simple or abs. negation) · negative particle
perish
יְהֹֽבְדוּן֙ye.hoe.Dun
H7
properly · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
with
עִם'im-
H5974
adverb or preposition · preposition
rest
שְׁאָ֖רshe.'Ar
H7606
a remainder · noun, common both genders singular construct
wise
חַכִּימֵ֥יcha.ki.Mei
H2445
wise · adjective, masculine plural construct
Babylon
בָבֶֽלva.Vel
H895
Babel (i.e. Babylon) · proper noun, a place name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Jeremiah 33:3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
Matthew 18:19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Fat…
Psalms 50:15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
Psalms 91:15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
Matthew 18:12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the moun…
Genesis 18:28 Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there for…
1 Samuel 17:37 David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the ha…
Esther 4:15-17 Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer,
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Daniel 2:14-23
When the king sent for his wise men to tell them his dream, and the interpretation of it (Dan 2:2), Daniel, it seems, was not summoned to appear among them; the king, though he was highly pleased with him when he examined him, and thought him ten times wiser than the rest of his wise men, yet forgot him when he had most occasion for him; and no wonder, when all was done in a heat, and nothing with a cool and deliberate thought. But Providence so ordered it; that the magicians being nonplussed might be the more taken notice of, and so the more glory might redound to the God of Daniel. But, though Daniel had not the honour to be consulted with the rest of the wise men, contrary to all law and…
An illustration of the power of united prayer (Mat 18:19). The same instrumentality rescued Peter from his peril (Act 12:5-12).
Adam Clarke on Daniel 2:18
That they would desire mercies - For this Daniel had requested a little time; and doubtless both he and his three companions prayed incessantly till God gave the wished for revelation; but whether it was given that same sight, we do not know.
John Gill on Daniel 2:18
That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret,.... His view in sending for them, and informing them of this whole affair, was to engage them in prayer to God with him; even to that God that made the heaven, and dwells there, and is above all, and sees and knows what is done in earth, and rules both in heaven and in earth according to his will; to entreat his mercy, whose mercies are manifold, and not plead any merits of their own; and that he would, in compassion to them, and the lives of others that were in danger, make known this secret of the king's dream, and the interpretation of it; which could never be found out by the sagacity of men, or by any art they a…
O what a craftsman this Spirit is! There is no delay in learning whatever he wills. As soon as he touches the mind, he teaches, and merely to have touched is to have taught. For as soon as he illuminates the human soul, he transforms it; he suddenly takes away what it was, and suddenly produces what it was not.
Daniel told his companions to entreat the God of heaven to reveal this mystery unto them in order that he and his brethren might not perish, together with all the other wise men of Babylon; and then unto Daniel, in a vision of the night, was the mystery revealed. This then is the gift which abstinence gave unto the Children, and this is the harvest which they gathered in from the fields which had been sown with pulse and which had drunk in water.
We find in the books of Kings the very holy woman Hannah fulfilling the precepts of this Gospel teaching. For while praying without uttering a sound, in her heart and in the sight of God she poured out her desire in her prayers. She was immediately found worthy to be heard by the Lord. In the same way the Lord granted to Daniel, who always prayed in secret with three servants, to understand the interpretations of his dream and the secrets of revelation. Cornelius too, not yet instructed in the gospel, prayed secretly and faithfully in his room and was found worthy to hear the voice of the angel speaking.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Prayer — Is converse with God; the intercourse of the soul with God, not in contemplation or meditation, but in direct address to him. Prayer may be oral or mental, occasional or constant, ejaculatory or…
Communion Of Saints · Exemplified: Daniel — Exemplified: Daniel
Daniel · . — .
Interpreter · Of dreams — Of dreams
Mishael · .Assists Daniel in interpreting Nebuchadnezzars dream — .Assists Daniel in interpreting Nebuchadnezzars dream
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Calvin on Daniel 2:17-18
Daniel 2:17-18
17. Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:
17. Tumc Daniel in domurn venit, [128] et Hananise, et Misaeli, et Azariae sociis suis sermonem [129] patefecit.
18. That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
18. Et misericordias ad petendurm [130] a facie Dei coelorum super arcano hoc, ut ne interficerentur Danielet socii ejuscum residuo sapientum Babylonis. [131]
We observe with what object and with what confidence Daniel demanded an extension of time. His object was to implore God's grace.…
Daniel's willingness to declare his dream to the king; his prayer for a revelation of the secret, and the answer to his prayer; his explanation before the king.
Dan 2:14
Through Daniel's judicious interview of Arioch, the further execution of the royal edict was interrupted. וּטעם עטא התיב, he answered, replied, counsel and understanding, i.e., the words of counsel and understanding; cf. Pro 26:16. The name Arioch appears in Gen 14:1 as the name of the king of Ellasar, along with the kings of Elam and Shinar. It is derived not from the Sanscr. ârjaka, venerabilis, but is probably formed from ארי, a lion, as נסרך from nisr = נשׁר. רב־טבּחיּא is the chief of the bodyguard, which was regarded…
