Daniel 2:48 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Daniel 2:48
Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.
a king · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
made
רַבִּ֗יra.Bi
H7236
to increase (in whatever respect) · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Daniel
לְדָנִיֵּ֣אלle.da.ni.Yel
H1841
Danijel · preposition + proper noun, a man's name
man
רְבָהrᵉbâh
H7236
to increase (in whatever respect)
gave
יְהַבye.hav-
H3052
to give (whether literal or figurative) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
many
שַׂגִּיאָן֙sa.gi.'An
H7690
large (in size · adjective, feminine plural absolute
great
רַבְרְבָ֤ןrav.re.Van
H7260
huge (in size) · adjective, feminine plural absolute
gifts
וּמַתְּנָ֨ןu.ma.te.Nan
H4978
a present · conjunction + noun, common feminine plural absolute
ruler
וְהַ֨שְׁלְטֵ֔הּve.Hash.le.Teh
H7981
to dominate · conjunction + verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
over
עַ֖ל'al
H5922
above · preposition
whole
כָּלkol-
H3606
properly · noun, common both genders singular construct
province
מְדִינַ֣תme.di.Nat
H4083
properly · noun, common feminine singular construct
Babylon
בָּבֶ֑לba.Vel
H895
Babel (i.e. Babylon) · proper noun, a place name
chief
וְרַבve.rav-
H7229
abundant · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular construct
governors
סִגְנִ֔יןsig.Nin
H5460
a prefect of aprovince · noun, common masculine plural absolute
over
עַ֖ל'al
H5922
above · preposition
all
כָּלkol-
H3606
properly · 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
Daniel 2:6 But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the d…
Daniel 4:9 O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me t…
Daniel 5:11 There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, lik…
Genesis 41:39-43 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:
Daniel 5:16 And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to m…
Daniel 5:29 Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning…
Numbers 22:16-17 And they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me:
Numbers 24:11 Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honour; but, lo, the LORD hath kept thee back from honour.
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…
One reason for Nebuchadnezzar having been vouchsafed such a dream is here seen; namely, that Daniel might be promoted, and the captive people of God be comforted: the independent state of the captives during the exile and the alleviation of its hardships, were much due to Daniel.
Adam Clarke on Daniel 2:48
Made Daniel a great man - By,
1. Giving him many rich gifts.
2. By making him governor over the whole province of Babylon. And,
3. By making him the chief or president over all the wise men.
John Gill on Daniel 2:48
Then the king made Daniel a great man,.... Advanced him to posts of great honour and dignity he was a great man before in spiritual things, in which he was made great by the Lord; and now he was made a great man in worldly things, through the providence of God; those that honour him he will honour:
and gave him many great gifts: gifts great in value, and many in number; rich garments, gold, silver, precious stones, and large estates to support his honour and grandeur; and which Daniel accepted of, not merely for his own use, but to do good with to his poor brethren the Jews in captivity:
and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon; the whole monarchy was divided into several prov…
The Church Fathers
This is itself divine guidance. It is most fitting that the subjects benefit from the piety of the ruler: so also at one point God had done the same with Joseph.… He sent a man before them; Joseph was sold as a slave.
For since he himself humbled himself and declared himself to be the least of all men, the king extolled him and appointed him ruler of all the lands of Babylon. In which manner Pharaoh also did to Joseph, having then appointed him ruler of all the land of Egypt. For none of the men in all Egypt was found who was able to proclaim visions to Pharaoh, except Joseph alone, and none of the wise men in Babylon was able to declare the visions to the king, except Daniel alone. For God leads forth holy men to himself from generation to generation, who is obligated to be glorified in all the world.
Verse 48. "Then the king elevated Daniel to a high position, and gave him many great gifts and set him up as governor over all the provinces of Babylon..." In this matter also the slanderous critic of the Church has ventured to castigate the prophet because he did not reject the gifts and because he willingly accepted honor of the Babylonians. He fails to consider the fact that it was for this very purpose that the king had beheld the dream and that the secrets of its interpretation were revealed by a mere lad, that Daniel might increase in importance and that in the place of captivity he might become ruler over all the Chaldeans, to the end that the omnipotence of God might be made known. We read that this same thing happened in the case of Joseph at the court of Pharaoh and in Egypt (Genesis 41:38-43), and also in the case of Mordecai at the court of Ahasuerus (Esther 8:1-2). The purpose was that the Jews, as captives and sojourners in each of these nations, might receive encouragement as they beheld men of their own nation constituted as governors over the Egyptians or the Chaldeans, as the case might be.
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
Daniel — God is my judge, or judge of God. (1.) David’s second son, “born unto him in Hebron, of Abigail the Carmelitess” (1 Chr. 3:1). He is called also Chileab (2 Sam. 3:3). (2.) One of the four great…
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…
Babylon · Presidents placed over — Presidents placed over
Daniel · .Promotion and executive authority of — .Promotion and executive authority of
Minister, Civil · Daniel — Daniel
Presents · Were given: To reward service — Were given: To reward service
Promotion · .Daniel, from a — .Daniel, from a
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).
Daniel 2:48
48. Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.
48. Tunc rex Danielem magnificavit, et munera praeclara, et magna dedit ei, [166] et constituit eum super totam povinciam Babylonis, et magistrum procerum super omnes sapientes Babylonis.
Here also another point is added, namely, how King Nebuchadnezzar raised God's Prophet and adorned him with the highest honors. We have spoken of that preposterous worship which he himself displayed and commanded others to offer. As far as concerns gifts and the discharge of public duties, we can neither c…
After Nebuchadnezzar had given honour to the God of the Jews, he rewarded Daniel, the servant of this God, with gifts, and by elevating him to high offices of state. רבּי, to make great, is more fully defined by the following passages. השׁלטהּ, he made him a man of power, ruler over the province of Babylon, i.e., vicegerent, governor of this province. According to Dan 3:2, the Chaldean kingdom consisted of several מדינתא, each of which had its own שׁלטון. The following סגנין ורב depends zeugmatically, however, on השׁלטהּ: and (made him) president over all the wise men. סגנין, Hebr. סגנים, vicegerent, prefect, is an Aryan word incorporated into the Hebrew, ζωγάνης in Athen., but not yet cert…
