Daniel 2:4

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 commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. 3And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream. 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. 5The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill. 6But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.

Daniel 2:4 word by word

וַֽיְדַבְּר֧וּ הַכַּשְׂדִּ֛ים לַמֶּ֖לֶךְ אֲרָמִ֑ית מַלְכָּא֙ לְעָלְמִ֣ין חֱיִ֔י אֱמַ֥ר חֶלְמָ֛א לְעַבְדָ֖ךְ וּפִשְׁרָ֥א נְחַוֵּֽא׃Read the interlinear

• Then spakeדָבַרdâbar · to speak: speakH1696
• the Chaldeansכַּשְׂדִּיםkaώdîy kaώdîymâh · ChaldeaH3778
• to the kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• in Syriackאֲרָמִית'ărâmîyth · AramaicH762
• O kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4430
• liveחֲיָאchăyâ' chăyâh · to liveH2418
• for everעָלַם‛âlam · perpetuityH5957
• tellאֲמַר'ămar · to sayH560
• thy servantsעֲבַד‛ăbad · servant/slaveH5649
• the dreamחֵ֫לֶםchêlem · dreamH2493
• and we will shewחֲוָהchăvâ' · to showH2324
• the interpretationפְּשַׁרpeshar · interpretationH6591

Cross-references for Daniel 2:4

• Genesis 31:47And Laban called it Jegar–sahadutha: but Jacob called it Galeed.
• Ezra 4:7And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue.
• Isaiah 36:11Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews’ language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.
• Daniel 3:9They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever.
• Daniel 4:19Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies.
• Daniel 5:10Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house: and the queen spake and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed:
• Daniel 6:6Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever.
• 1 Samuel 10:24And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom Yhwh hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king.
• 1 Kings 1:25For he is gone down this day, and hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the king’s sons, and the captains of the army, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah.
• Nehemiah 2:3And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
• Matthew 21:9And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
• Mark 11:9And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:
• Daniel 4:7Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof.
• Daniel 5:8Then came in all the king’s wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof.
• Genesis 41:8And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.
• Isaiah 44:25That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;

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

• King
• Language
• Magician
• Rulers

In the dictionaries

• Ask
• Chaldee language
• Daniel, Book of
• Iron
• Syriac
• Terrible
• Abed-Nego
• Aramaic; Aramaic Language
• Bible, the
• Daniel

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