Daniel 2.8-9a-Nebuchadnezzar Accuses Wise Men Of Stalling For Time And Reiterates His Promise To Execute Them If They Fail To Meet His Demands
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday February 7, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 2:8-9a-Nebuchadnezzar Accuses Wise Men Of Stalling For Time And Reiterates His Promise To Execute Them If They Fail To Meet His Demands
Lesson # 32
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 2:1.
This evening we will note Daniel 2:8, which records Nebuchadnezzar accusing his wise men of stalling for time because they realized that the command from him was irrevocable.
We will also note the first statement in Daniel 2:9, which records Nebuchadnezzar reiterating his promise to execute his wise men if they failed to tell him both the content of his recurring dream as well as its interpretation.
Daniel 2:1 Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him. 2 Then 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. 3 The king said to them, “I had a dream and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream.” 4 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.” 5 The 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. 6 But 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.” 7 They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” 8 The king replied, “I know for certain that you are bargaining for time, inasmuch as you have seen that the command from me is firm.” (NASB95)
“The king replied, “I know for certain that you are bargaining for time” is composed of the masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active participle form of the verb ʿǎnā(h) (עֲנָה) (an-aw´), “replied” and this is followed by the masculine singular form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh´-lek), “the king” and then we have the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is not translated and followed by the masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active participle form of the verb ʾǎmǎr (אֲמַר) (am-ar´), which is not translated and is followed by the preposition min (מִן) (min), “for” and its object is the masculine singular form of the adjective yǎṣ∙ṣîḇ (יַצִּיב) (yats-tseeb´), “certain” and then we have the masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active participle yeḏǎʿ (יְדַע) (yed-ah´), “know” which is followed by the first person singular personal pronoun ʾǎnā(h) (אֲנָה) (an-aw´), “I” and then we have the relative particle dî (דִּי) (dee), “that” which is followed by the masculine singular form of the noun ʿid∙dān (עִדָּן) (id-dawn´), “for time” and then we have the second person masculine plural form of the personal pronoun ʾǎn∙tûn (אַנְתּוּן) (an-toon´), “you” and this is followed by the masculine plural peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active participle form of the verb zeḇǎn (זְבַן) (zeb-an´), “bargaining.”
The verb yeḏǎʿ means “to know” in the sense recognizing that something is taking place.
Here the word is employed with the prepositional phrase min yǎṣ·ṣîḇ (מִן־יַצִּיב֙), “for certain.”
Together, they denote that Nebuchadnezzar “knew for certain” or “knew without a doubt” that his wise men were stalling for time.
The adjective yǎṣ∙ṣîḇ is used in an adverbial sense meaning “sure, certain” in the sense of being free from doubt indicating that Nebuchadnezzar knew without a doubt that his wise men were stalling.
This word is the object of the preposition min, which functions as a marker of accompaniment indicating that Nebuchadnezzar knew “with” certainty that his wise men were stalling for time.
The second person masculine plural form of the personal pronoun ʾǎn∙tûn means “all of you” since the word is in the plural referring to Nebuchadnezzar’s wise men as a corporate unit.
The verb zeḇǎn means “to stall, delay” in the sense of evading a directive or command.
It indicates that Nebuchadnezzar’s wise men were “delaying” or “stalling” in the sense that they were evading his order to reveal to him both the content of his dream and its interpretation.
The word denotes that the wise men were attempting to gain time to formulate some kind of response.
However, they are at a total loss as to how to respond to the king.
The noun ʿid∙dān means “time” and here it refers to an indefinite period of time.
Thus, it denotes that Nebuchadnezzar’s wise men were stalling for an indefinite period of time in order to determine how to respond to the king’s demands.
“Inasmuch as you have seen that the command from me is firm” is composed of the preposition k- (כְּ־) (kee), “inasmuch” and this is followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed) and then we have the preposition qǒḇēl (קֳבֵל) (kob-ale´) and this is followed by the relative particle dî (דִּי) (dee), and then we have the second person masculine plural peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active perfect form of the verb ḥǎzā(h) (חֲזָה) (khaz-aw´), “you have seen” which is followed by the relative particle dî (דִּי) (dee), “that” which is followed by the masculine singular form of the adjective ʾǎz∙dā(ʾ) (אַזְדָּא) (az-awd´), “firm” and then we have the preposition min (מִן) (min), “from” and its object is the first person singular pronomial suffix –î (־י) (ee), “me” and then we have the feminine singular form of the noun mil∙lā(h) (מִלָּה) (mil-law´), “the command.”
The preposition k- is employed with the prepositions lĕ and qǒḇēl and the relative particle dî to form a conjunctive clause which is introducing a statement that presents the reason why Nebuchadnezzar thinks his wise men are stalling for time.
The verb ḥǎzā(h) means “to realize” in the sense of perceiving as a function of understanding indicating that Nebuchadnezzar knew for certain that his wise men were stalling for time because they “realized” that they knew his decision to execute them was firm.
The noun mil∙lā(h) means “the command” since it refers to the command recorded in Daniel 2:5 in which Nebuchadnezzar will execute his wise men if they fail to communicate both the content of his dream to him as well as its interpretation.
The adjective ʾǎz∙dā(ʾ)means “irrevocable” indicating that Nebuchadnezzar’s command that the wise men were to be executed if they did not make known to him both the content of his dream as well as its interpretation was “irrevocable.”
It means that this sentence of death will not be rescinded if they do not tell both the content of the king’s dream as well as its interpretation.
Daniel 2:9 that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only one decree for you. For you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt words before me until the situation is changed; therefore tell me the dream, that I may know that you can declare to me its interpretation.” (NASB95)
“That if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only one decree for you” is composed of the conjunction dî (דִּי) (dee), and then we have the conjunction hēn (הֵן) (hane), “if” which is followed by the masculine singular form of the noun ḥē∙lěm (חֵלֶם) (khay´-lem), “the dream” and then we have the negative particle lā(ʾ) (לָא) (law), “not” which is negating the meaning of the second person masculine plural hafʿel (Hebrew: hiphil) active imperfect form of the verb yeḏǎʿ (יְדַע) (yed-ah´), “do make known to” which is followed by the first person singular pronomial suffix –î (־י), “me” and then we have the feminine singular form of the cardinal number ḥǎḏ (חַד) (khad), “one” and this is followed by the third person feminine singular form of the personal pronoun hî(ʾ) (הִיא) (hee), “there is” and then we have the feminine singular construct form of the noun dāṯ (דָּת) (dawth), “decree” which is followed by the second person masculine plural pronomial suffix -ḵōm (־כֹם) (khome), “for you.”
This time the conjunction dî is used in an epexegetical sense meaning “namely that” since the word is introducing a statement that explains the content of Nebuchadnezzar’s command.
The conjunction hēn means “if” and denotes the certainty that the wise men will be executed by Nebuchadnezzar if they don’t tell him both the content of his dream as well as its interpretation.
The verb yeḏǎʿ means “to communicate” and its meaning is negated by the negative particle lā(ʾ), which means “not” since it is marker of negation.
Together, these two words denote the wise men “not communicating” to the king of Babylon both the content of his dream and its interpretation.
The noun ḥē∙lěm is in the singular and refers to the content of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.
The noun dāṯ means “sentence” implying a judgment or penalty and denotes a judgment formally pronounced by Nebuchadnezzar which results in the death of the wise men.
The noun dāṯ is modified by the cardinal number ḥǎḏ, which means “only one” emphasizing that Nebuchadnezzar’s wise men will not escape the sentence of death if they fail to tell him both the content of his dream as well as its interpretation.
Daniel 2:8 records that Nebuchadnezzar knew without a doubt that his wise men were stalling for time because they realized that his command was irrevocable.
Then in Daniel 2:9, the king of Babylon reiterates what that command was, namely they would be executed if they did not meet his demands.
This command appears in verse 5.
Nebuchadnezzar knew that they realized this because they responded to his demand by repeating their previous request that he tell them the content of his recurring dream in order for them to interpret it for him, thus, he repeats to them his promise to execute them all if they failed to meet his demands.
Nebuchadnezzar feels that if they are so in touch with the gods, then the gods should be able to communicate the contents of his dream and not just give him the interpretation of it.
If he communicated the contents of his dream, then they could come up with any interpretation that fits their imagination, thus, he doesn’t trust them which is clearly indicated by his statement to them in verse 9 where calls them liars who will tell him something that is false.
If they tell him the contents of the dream, he could be sure that he has received the correct interpretation of the dream in that the gods had in fact given them the interpretation of his dream and passed it along to him.
The king senses that this dream is significant and related somehow to his kingdom and its future and so he does not want speculation or the product of someone’s imagination but the truth since the future of his kingdom, he senses, is at stake.