New American Standard Bible 1995
Daniel 2:4
4Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in 12Aramaic: “3O king, live forever! 4Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.”
Daniel 2:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.
- New International Version (NIV)Then the astrologers answered the king, “May the king live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, "O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation."
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.”
Context of Daniel 2:4
2Then the king gave orders to call in the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. 3The king said to them, “I had a dream and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream.” Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic: “O king, live forever! Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” 5The king replied to the Chaldeans, “The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap. 6But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation.”
Read all of Daniel 2Daniel 2:4 word by word
וַֽיְדַבְּר֧וּ הַכַּשְׂדִּ֛ים לַמֶּ֖לֶךְ אֲרָמִ֑ית מַלְכָּא֙ לְעָלְמִ֣ין חֱיִ֔י אֱמַ֥ר חֶלְמָ֛א לְעַבְדָ֖ךְ וּפִשְׁרָ֥א נְחַוֵּֽא׃Read the interlinear
- Then the Chaldeansכַּשְׂדִּיםkaώdîy kaώdîymâh · ChaldeaH3778
- spokeדָבַרdâbar · to speak: speakH1696
- to the kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
- Aramaicאֲרָמִית'ărâmîyth · AramaicH762
- O kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4430
- liveחֲיָאchăyâ' chăyâh · to liveH2418
- foreverעָלַם‛âlam · perpetuityH5957
- Tellאֲמַר'ămar · to sayH560
- the dreamחֵ֫לֶםchêlem · dreamH2493
- to your servantsעֲבַד‛ăbad · servant/slaveH5649
- the interpretationפְּשַׁרpeshar · interpretationH6591
Cross-references for Daniel 2:4
- Genesis 31:47Now Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed.
- Ezra 4:7And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his colleagues wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the text of the letter was written in Aramaic and translated from Aramaic.
- Isaiah 36:11Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to Rabshakeh, “Speak now to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak with us in Judean in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”
- Daniel 3:9They responded and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king: “O king, live forever!
- Daniel 4:19“Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while as his thoughts alarmed him. The king responded and said, ‘Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.’ Belteshazzar replied, ‘My lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you and its interpretation to your adversaries!
- Daniel 5:10The queen entered the banquet hall because of the words of the king and his nobles; the queen spoke and said, “O king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts alarm you or your face be pale.
- Daniel 6:6Then these commissioners and satraps came by agreement to the king and spoke to him as follows: “King Darius, live forever!
- 1 Samuel 10:24Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? Surely there is no one like him among all the people.” So all the people shouted and said, “Long live the king!”
- 1 Kings 1:25For he has gone down today and has sacrificed oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s sons and the commanders of the army and Abiathar the priest, and behold, they are eating and drinking before him; and they say, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’
- Nehemiah 2:3I said to the king, “Let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?”
- Matthew 21:9The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!”
- Mark 11:9Those who went in front and those who followed were shouting: “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord;
- Daniel 4:7Then the magicians, the conjurers, the Chaldeans and the diviners came in and I related the dream to them, but they could not make its interpretation known to me.
- Daniel 5:8Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the inscription or make known its interpretation to the king.
- Genesis 41:8Now in the morning his spirit was troubled, so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all its wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.
- Isaiah 44:25Causing the omens of boasters to fail, Making fools out of diviners, Causing wise men to draw back And turning their knowledge into foolishness,
Commentaries on Daniel 2:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriac - ארמית aramith, the language of Aram or Syria. What has been generally called the Chaldee. O king, live for ever - חיי לעלמין מלכא Malca leolmin cheyi . With these words the Chaldee part of Daniel commences; and continues to the end of the seventh chapter. These kinds of compliments are still in use in the East Indies. A superior gives a blessing to an inferior by saying to him, when the latter is in the act…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Then spake the Chaldeans to the king - The meaning is, either that the Chaldeans spoke in the name of the entire company of the soothsayers and magicians (see the notes, Daniel 1:20; Daniel 2:2), because they were the most prominent among them, or the name is used to denote the collective body of soothsayers, meaning that this request was made by the entire company. In Syriac - In the original - ארמית 'ărâmı̂yt - in “Aramean.” Greek, ̀ Suristi - “in…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4Aramaic had been established by the Assyrians as the common language used for international communication. The Babylonians continued this practice. Tell your servants the dream: The Babylonian wise men needed to know the contents of the dream so that they could look them up in their reference books. They did not depend on divine revelation.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. Here begins the Chaldee portion of Daniel, which continues to the end of the seventh chapter. In it the course, character, and crisis of the Gentile power are treated; whereas, in the other parts, which are in Hebrew, the things treated apply more particularly to the Jews and Jerusalem. Syriac--the Aramean Chaldee, the vernacular tongue of the king and his court; the prophet, by mentioning it here, hints at the reason of his own adoption of it from…Read the comment
Topics related to Daniel 2:4
In the dictionaries
Notes
Commentaries on Daniel 2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
New American Standard Bible 1995 — © 1960–1995 The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Commentaries