Daniel 2:9

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.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
if	הֵן hen-	H2006	lo! also there(-fore) · conjunction
not	לָ֨א la'	H3809	not (the simple or abs. negation) · negative particle
known	תְהֽוֹדְעֻנַּ֜נִי te.hod.'u.Na.ni	H3046	to know (properly · verb, hiphil imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural + pronominal suffix
dream	חֶלְמָא֩ chel.Ma'	H2493	a dream · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
one	הִ֣יא hi'	H1932	he (she or it) · personal pronoun, 3rd person feminine singular
decree	דָֽתְכ֗וֹן da.te.Khon	H1882	a royal edict or statute · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
prepared	הִזְדְּמִנְתּוּן֙ haz.min.tun	H2164	to agree (on a time and place) · verb, perfect, 2nd person masculine plural
lying	כִדְבָ֤ה khid.Vah	H3538	false · noun, common feminine singular absolute
corrupt	וּשְׁחִיתָה֙ u.she.chi.Tah	H7844	to decay · conjunction + verb, active participle, feminine singular absolute
words	וּמִלָּ֨ה u.mi.Lah	H4406	a word · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
speak	לְמֵאמַ֣ר le.me.Mar	H560	to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
before	קָֽדָמַ֔י ka.da.Mai	H6925	before · noun, common both genders plural construct + pronominal suffix
till	עַ֛ד 'ad	H5705	as far (or long · preposition
time	עִדָּנָ֖א 'i.da.Na'	H5732	a set time · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
changed	יִשְׁתַּנֵּ֑א yish.ta.Ne'	H8133	to alter · verb, pual imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
therefore	לָהֵן lâhên	H3861	therefore
tell	אֱמַ֣רוּ 'e.Ma.ru	H560	to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
dream	חֶלְמָא֙ chel.Ma'	H2493	a dream · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
know	וְֽאִנְדַּ֕ע ve.'in.Da'	H3046	to know (properly · conjunction + verb, qal, 1st person common singular
that	דִּ֣י di	H1768	that · conjunction
shew	תְּהַחֲוֻנַּֽנִי te.ha.cha.vu.Na.ni	H2324	to show · verb, hiphil imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural + pronominal suffix
interpretation	פִשְׁרֵ֖הּ fish.Reh	H6591	an interpretation · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

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

Esther 4:11 All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king int…
Isaiah 41:23 Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold…
Daniel 2:21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them th…
Daniel 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: an…
Isaiah 44:25 That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;
Ezekiel 13:6 They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that…
Daniel 3:15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick,…
Daniel 5:28 PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 2:1-13

We meet with a great difficulty in the date of this story; it is said to be in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Dan 2:1. Now Daniel was carried to Babylon in his first year, and, it should seem, he was three years under tutors and governors before he was presented to the king, Dan 1:5. How then could this happen in the second year? Perhaps, though three years were appointed for the education of other children, yet Daniel was so forward that he was taken into business when he had been but one year at school, and so in the second year he became thus considerable. Some make it to be the second year after he began to reign alone, but the fifth or sixth year since he began to reign…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 2:9

one decree--There can be no second one reversing the first (Est 4:11). corrupt--deceitful. till the time be changed--till a new state of things arrive, either by my ceasing to trouble myself about the dream, or by a change of government (which perhaps the agitation caused by the dream made Nebuchadnezzar to forebode, and so to suspect the Chaldeans of plotting). tell . . . dream, and I shall know . . . ye can show . . . interpretation--If ye cannot tell the past, a dream actually presented to me, how can ye know, and show, the future events prefigured in it?

Adam Clarke on Daniel 2:8

That ye would gain the time - The king means either that they wished to prolong the time that he might recollect it, or get indifferent about it; or that they might invent something in the place of it; or make their escape to save their lives, after having packed up their valuables. See Dan 2:9.

John Gill on Daniel 2:9

But if ye will not make known unto me the dream,.... For the present he does not insist upon the interpretation, only the dream itself, at least this is now only mentioned; concluding that if they could do the one, they could do the other, as is after observed: there is but one decree for you; for them all; and that was the decree of death; which should never be revoked or mitigated, or the sentence be changed for another; but should certainly be executed, and in which they were all involved, not one should escape: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me; framed a deceitful answer to impose upon and screen yourselves: till the time be changed; either that he could…

The Church Fathers

Verses 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.
— Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER TWO

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…
Magician · Nebuchadnezzars — Nebuchadnezzars

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 2:9

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 2:1-13

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 2:9

Adam Clarke on Daniel 2:8

John Gill on Daniel 2:9

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Daniel 2:9

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 2:1-13

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 2:9

Adam Clarke on Daniel 2:8

John Gill on Daniel 2:9

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Daniel 2:7-9

Keil & Delitzsch on Daniel 2:1-13

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Daniel 2:9

Rashi on Daniel 2:9