Daniel 2:24 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Daniel 2:24
Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation.
to enter · verb, hiphil imperative, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix
before
קֳדָ֣םko.Dam
H6925
before · noun, common both genders singular construct
king
מַלְכָּ֔אmal.Ka'
H4430
a king · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
shew
אֲחַוֵּֽא'a.cha.Ve'
H2324
to show · verb, piel imperfect, 1st person common singular
king
לְמַלְכָּ֥אle.mal.Ka'
H4430
a king · preposition + noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
interpretation
וּפִשְׁרָ֖אu.fish.Ra'
H6591
an interpretation · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
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
Daniel 2:12-14 For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
Acts 27:24 Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Cæsar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Daniel 2:24-30
We have here the introduction to Daniel's declaring the dream, and the interpretation of it.
I. He immediately bespoke the reversing of the sentence against the wise men of Babylon, Dan 2:24. He went with all speed to Arioch, to tell him that his commission was now superseded: Destroy not the wise men of Babylon. Though there were those of them perhaps that deserved to die, as magicians, by the law of God, yet here that which they stood condemned for was not a crime worth of death or of bonds, and therefore let them not die, and be unjustly destroyed, but let them live, and be justly shamed, as having been nonplussed and unable to do that which a prophet of the Lord could do. Note, Since God…
Therefore--because of having received the divine communication.
bring me in before the king--implying that he had not previously been in person before the king (see on Dan 2:16).
Adam Clarke on Daniel 2:24
Destroy not the wise men - The decree was suspended till it should be seen whether Daniel could tell the dream, and give its interpretation.
John Gill on Daniel 2:24
Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch,.... Into his apartments at court, or wherever he was in quest of the wise men, of which Daniel had knowledge; this he did as soon as the secret was revealed to him, though not before he had given thanks to God:
whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon; this is a description of Arioch, from the office assigned him by King Nebuchadnezzar, who had appointed him to see this his will and pleasure accomplished:
he went and said thus unto him, destroy not the wise men of Babylon: that is, do not go on to destroy them, for some he had destroyed; this Daniel said, not from any special love he bore them, though some of them might have been h…
Verse 24. "Destroy not the wise men of Babylon. Take me in before the king and I will set forth the explanation to the king. ..." He follows the example of the clemency of God, who intercedes in behalf of his persecutors, and is unwilling that those men should perish on whose account he himself had been threatened with death.
After this happened, Daniel rose and went to Arioch and said to him, "Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon, but bring me before the king and I will proclaim to the king the dream and its interpretation." [Daniel 2:24] He, after hearing these things "brought in Daniel with haste and said, 'I found a man from the sons of the captivity of Judah, who will proclaim the interpretation to the king.'" [Daniel 2:25]
Let us not then be looking open-mouthed towards others. For it is true, the prayers of the saints have the greatest power; on condition however of our repentance and amendment. Since even Moses, who had rescued his own brother and six hundred thousand men from the wrath that was then coming upon them from God, had no power to deliver his sister.… And Samuel again was not able to save Saul from the wrath from above, yet he oftentimes preserved the Israelites. And Jeremiah prevailed not for the Jews, but some one else he did haply cover from evil by his prophecy. And Daniel saved the barbarians from slaughter, but he did not deliver the Jews from their captivity.… So that on the one hand, if we be careless, we shall not be able to obtain salvation, no not even by the help of others; if, on the other hand, we be watchful, we shall be able to do this by ourselves, and by ourselves rather than by others. Yes; for God is more willing to give His grace to us, than to others for us; that we by endeavoring ourselves to do away His wrath, may both enjoy confidence towards Him, and become better men.
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…
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 2:24
Daniel 2:24
24. Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation.
24. Itaque ingressus est Daniel ad Arioch, quem prefecerat rex ad perdendum [140] sapientes Babylonis, venit ergo, et sic loquutus est ei, Sapientes Babylonis ne perdas, introduc me ad regem et interpretationem regi indicabo.
Before Daniel sent his message to the king, as we saw yesterday, he discharged the duty of piety as he ought, for he testified his gratitude to God for revealing the secret. But he now says, that he came t…
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…
Daniel’s influence with Arioch indicates Daniel’s wisdom and stature in the royal service.
Rashi on Daniel 2:24
In view of this in view of this, that the secret was revealed to him.
Daniel came in to Arioch He entered Arioch’s premises.
had appointed [as translated,] had appointed.
Do not destroy [as translated,] Do not destroy.
bring me in [as translated,] bring me in.
