Daniel 2:47 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Daniel 2:47
The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.
a king · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
answered
עָנֵה֩'a.Neh
H6032
properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
Daniel
לְדָנִיֵּ֜אלle.da.ni.Yel
H1841
Danijel · preposition + proper noun, a man's name
said
וְאָמַ֗רve.'a.Mar
H560
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
Of
מִןmin-
H4481
properly · preposition
truth
קְשֹׁט֙ke.Shot
H7187
fidelity · noun, common both genders singular absolute
that
דִּ֣יdi
H1768
that · conjunction
God
אֱלָהֲכ֗וֹן'e.la.ha.Khon
H426
God · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
God
אֱלָ֧הּ'e.Lah
H426
God · noun, common both genders singular construct
gods
אֱלָהִ֛ין'e.la.Hin
H426
God · noun, common masculine plural absolute
Lord
וּמָרֵ֥אu.ma.Re'
H4756
a master · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular construct
kings
מַלְכִ֖יןmal.Khin
H4430
a king · noun, common masculine plural absolute
revealer
וְגָלֵ֣הve.ga.Leh
H1541
to denude (especially in a disgraceful sense) · conjunction + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
secrets
רָזִ֑יןra.Zin
H7328
to attenuate · noun, common masculine plural absolute
couldest
יְכֵ֔לְתָּye.Khe.le.ta
H3202
to be able · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
reveal
לְמִגְלֵ֖אle.mig.Le'
H1541
to denude (especially in a disgraceful sense) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
this
דְנָֽהde.Nah
H1836
this · demonstrative particle
secret
רָזָ֥הra.Zah'
H7328
to attenuate · 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 2:22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
Daniel 2:28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream…
Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
Deuteronomy 10:17 For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh rewa…
Daniel 11:36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous thi…
Genesis 41:39 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:
Psalms 72:11 Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.
Psalms 82:1 God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Daniel 2:46–end
One might have expected that when Nebuchadnezzar was contriving to make his own kingdom everlasting he would be enraged at Daniel, who foretold the fall of it and that another kingdom of another nature should be the everlasting kingdom; but, instead of resenting it as an affront, he received it as an oracle, and here we are told what the expressions were of the impressions it made upon him. 1. He was ready to look upon Daniel as a little god. Though he saw him to be a man, yet from this wonderful discovery which he had made both of his secret thoughts, in telling him the dream, and of things to come, in telling him the interpretation of it, he concluded that he had certainly a divinity lodge…
Lord of kings--The world power shall at last have to acknowledge this (Rev 17:14; Rev 19:16); even as Nebuchadnezzar, who had been the God-appointed "king of kings" (Dan 2:37), but who had abused the trust, is constrained by God's servant to acknowledge that God is the true "Lord of kings."
Adam Clarke on Daniel 2:47
Your God is a God of gods - He is greater than all others.
And a Lord of kings - He governs both in heaven and earth.
John Gill on Daniel 2:47
The king answered unto Daniel,.... By which it appears that Daniel interposed and expostulated with the king, and prevented the oblation to him as a god, and instructed him in the knowledge of the true God he ought to worship; as the following confession of the king more clearly shows:
and said, of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods; the God of Daniel and his companions, and of the people of the Jews, to whom they belonged, is above all gods that are named and worshipped by men: this appeared at this time for the present, though it did not last long, as the following chapter shows, a most glaring truth; that the God of Israel was above all his gods, and whom his magicians and peo…
And so Nebuchadnezzar, having been astounded at what was spoken by Daniel, said, "In truth your God, he himself is God of gods and Lord of those who rule, who also reveals mysteries, because he was able to reveal this mystery!' And the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts and appointed him over all the lands of the Babylonians and appointed him as chief of the satraps over all the wise men of Babylon." [Daniel 2:47-48]
But prophecy, on the contrary, is both free from reproach among the unbelievers, and hath very great credit and usefulness. For none will say in regard to prophesying, "they are mad;" nor will any one deride them that prophesy; but, on the contrary, will be astonished at and admire them.… Thus also Nebuchadnezzar worshipped God, saying, "Of a truth, your God, He is the God that revealeth secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret." Seest thou the might of prophecy, how it changed that savage one and brought him under instruction and introduced him to faith?
The king here does not say, What must I do to be saved? but the teaching is plainer in his case than any language whatever; for he straightway becomes a preacher, he needs not to be instructed like the jailor. He proclaims God, and makes confession of His power. "Of a truth your God is the God of Gods and the Lord of Kings, because He hath sent His Angel, and hath delivered you." And what was the sequel? Not one single jailor, but numbers are instructed by the king's writings, by the sight of the facts. For that the king would not have told a falsehood is evident enough to every one, because he never would have chosen to bear such testimony to captives, nor to overthrow his own acts.… Perceive ye how great is the power of bonds? How great the force of those praises that are sung in tribulation?
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…
Secret · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
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 2:47
Daniel 2:47
47. The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.
47. Respondit rex Danieli, et dixil, Exvero Deusvester ipse est Deusdeorum, et dominus regum, et revelator arcanorum, quod potueris revelare arcanum hoc.
This confession is quite pious and holy, and is fraught with rectitude and sincerity; it may even be taken as a proof of true conversion and repentance. But, as I have lately reminded you, profane men are sometimes seized with an admiration of God and then they profess largely and copiously whatever may be expected from God's true worshippers. S…
The impression which this interpretation of the dream made upon Nebuchadnezzar, and the consequences which thence arose for Daniel.
The announcement and the interpretation of the remarkable dream made so powerful an impression on Nebuchadnezzar, that he fell down in supplication before Daniel and ordered sacrifice to be offered to him. Falling prostrate to the earth is found as a mark of honour to men, it is true (Sa1 20:41; Sa1 25:28; Sa2 14:4), but סגד is used only of divine homage (Isa 44:15, Isa 44:17, Isa 44:19; Isa 46:6, and Dan 3:5.). To the Chaldean king, Daniel appeared as a man in whom the gods manifested themselves; therefore he shows to him divine honour, such as was shown by Cor…
greatest of gods . . . Lord over kings: Nebuchadnezzar repaid the compliment (2:37-38), acknowledging by his words and actions (2:46) that God is supreme over all, even over Nebuchadnezzar himself.
Rashi on Daniel 2:47
truly [as translated,] in truth.
and the Master of the kings The Lord of lords.
this secret [as translated,] this secret.
