So the decree went out, and the wise men were to be slain. They sought Daniel and his companions to be slain.
Parallel Translations
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So the decree went out, and the wise men were to be slain. They sought Daniel and his companions to be slain.
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And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.
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So the decree went forth, and the wise men were to be slain; and they sought Daniel and his companions to be slain.
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Daniel 2:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Daniel 1:19-20 The king talked with them; and among them all was found no one like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore stood they before the king. In every matter of wisdom and understanding, concerning which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters who were in all his realm.
- Esther 3:12-15 Then the king’s scribes were called in on the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month; and all that Haman commanded was written to the king’s local governors, and to the governors who were over every province, and to the princes of every people, to every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus, and it was sealed with the king’s ring. Letters were sent by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to plunder their possessions. A copy of the letter, that the decree should be given out in every province, was published to all the peoples, that they should be ready against that day. The couriers went out in haste by the king’s commandment, and the decree was given out in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Susa was perplexed.
- Psalms 94:20 Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with you, which brings about mischief by statute?
- Proverbs 28:15-17 As a roaring lion or a charging bear, so is a wicked ruler over helpless people. A tyrannical ruler lacks judgment. One who hates ill-gotten gain will have long days. A man who is tormented by life blood will be a fugitive until death; no one will support him.
- Isaiah 10:1 Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write oppressive decrees;
- Daniel 6:9-15 Therefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree. When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house (now his windows were open in his room toward Jerusalem) and he kneeled on his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did before. Then these men assembled together, and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God. Then they came near, and spoke before the king concerning the king’s decree: “Haven’t you signed a decree that every man who makes a petition to any god or man within thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered, “This thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which doesn’t alter.” Then they answered and said before the king, “That Daniel, who is of the children of the captivity of Judah, doesn’t respect you, O king, nor the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.” Then the king, when he heard these words, was very displeased, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored until the going down of the sun to rescue him. Then these men assembled together to the king, and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians, that no decree nor statute which the king establishes may be changed.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain It appears from these words that some of the…
It appears from these words that some of the wise men had been slain, for Daniel at first is not required for slaughter; but when the Magi and Chaldeans were promiscuously dragged out for punishment, Daniel and his companions were in the same danger. And this is clearly expressed thus — widen the edict had gone forth, that is, was published, according to the Latin phrase, and the wise mere were slain, then Daniel was also sought for; because the king would never suffer his decree to be despised after it had once been published; for if he had publicly commanded this to be done, and no execution had been added, would not this have been ridiculous? Hence, very probably, the slaughter of the Magi and Chaldeans was extensive. Although the king had no lawful reason for this conduct, yet they deserved their punishment; for, as we said yesterday, they deserved to be exterminated from the world, and the pest must be removed if it could possibly be accomplished. If Nebuchadnezzar had been like David, or Hezekiah, or Josiah, he might most justly have destroyed them all, and have purged the land from such defilements; but as he was only carried away by the fervor of his wrath, he was himself in fault. Meanwhile, God justly punishes the Chaldeans, and this admonition ought to profit the whole people. They were hardened in their error, and were doubtless rendered more excuseless by being blinded against such a judgment of God. Because Daniel was condemned to death, though he had not been called by the king, the injustice of the edicts of those kings who do not inquire into the causes of which they are judges, becomes more manifest.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Which declareth that God would not have his servant…
Which declareth that God would not have his servant joined in the company of these sorcerers and Astrologers, whose arts were wicked, and therefore justly ought to die, though the king did it upon a rage and no zeal.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Dan 2:13 And the decree went forth that the…
Dan 2:13 And the decree went forth that the wise [men] should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.
Ver. 13. And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain.] And the wise men were slain, saith the Vulgate; some of them likely were cut off. The end of worldly wisdom is certain destruction.
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And they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.] Wicked decrees are wrested to the butchery of the saints; as was that of the six articles here in Henry VIII’s days.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain This was unjust, that Daniel and his fellows should…
This was unjust, that Daniel and his fellows should have their share in the punishment, and yet be excluded from the other part which was the reward; the reason why they were not called was because of their youth, which the Chaldeans despised, wherein we have these three things observable.
1. The magicians confessed this, that knowledge and revelation must come from God, and therefore what Daniel did was not by any human strength, but Divine only.
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2. That the Lord held the governor’s hands, so that he did not slay Daniel presently with the first.
3. That Daniel, by his prudence and piety, saved all the magicians’ lives.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And the decree went forth that the wise men…
And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain,.... Or, "and the wise men were slain" (h), as the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Syriac versions render it; and so Saadiah: orders were given by the king to his proper officers, and his edict was published, and his will made known in the usual manner; upon which the wise men, at least some of them, were slain; very probably those who were in the king's presence, and at court; and the officers were gone out to slay the rest:
and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain; who had the character of wise men, and might be envied at court, and so the officers took this opportunity, having these orders, to slay them: there was, no doubt, a particular providence, that Daniel and his friends should not be at court at this time; both that the vanity of the Chaldean wisdom and arts might be the more manifest and made known, and the divine and superior wisdom and knowledge of Daniel might be more conspicuous, and his fame be spread in Babylon, and in other provinces.
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(h) "et sapientes interficiebantur", Pagninus, Montanus, Munster, Piscator, Michaelis.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Daniel and his fellows - Daniel and his fellows…
Daniel and his fellows - Daniel and his fellows were not called, because of their youth, which the Chaldeans despised. Here it is observable:
1. The magicians confessed, that knowledge and Revelation must come from God, and therefore what Daniel did, was not of any human strength.
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2. That the Lord held the governor's hands, so that he did not slay Daniel presently with the first.
3. That Daniel by his prudence and piety, saved all the magicians lives.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 13. They sought Daniel and his fellows] As…
Verse 13. They sought Daniel and his fellows] As the decree stated that all the wise men of Babylon should be slain, the four young Hebrews, being reputed among the wisest, were considered as sentenced to death also.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And the decree went forth that the wise men…
And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain - The original here will bear a somewhat different translation, meaning, “the decree went forth, “and” the wise men were slain;” that is, the execution of the sentence was actually commenced. So the Vulgate: Et egressa sententia, sapientes interficiebantur. So also the Greek version: καὶ οἱ σοφοί ἀπεκτέννοντο kai hoi sophoi apektennonto - “and the wise men were slain.” This seems to me to be the more probable interpretation, and better to suit the connection. Then it would mean that they had actually begun to execute the decree, and that in the prosecution of their bloody work they sought out Daniel and his companions, and that by his influence with Arioch the execution of the sentence was arrested.
And they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain - His three companions Dan 1:6, who probably had not been among those who were summoned to court to explain the matter. Had they been consulted at first, the issuing of the decree would have been prevented, but it seems to have been the design of Providence to give the fairest trial of the ability of these sages, and to allow matters to come to a crisis, in order to show that what was done was wholly beyond human power.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Slain. Literally, "were slaughtering;" interficiebantur. (Haydock) --- Many think…
Slain. Literally, "were slaughtering;" interficiebantur. (Haydock) --- Many think that some had already suffered. (Geier.; Menochius) --- The had been perhaps jealous of Daniel, and had not informed him of the matter. (St. Jerome)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 13. the decree went forth] Cf. Luk_2:2, where the…
13. the decree went forth] Cf. Luk_2:2, where the Greek is exactly the same as that of Theodotion’s rendering here (τὸ δόγμα ἐξῆλθε).
that the wise men, &c.] and the wise men were to be slain (R.V.). See Kautzsch, Gramm. § 76. 3.
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fellows] companions (R.V.), as Dan_2:17. So Dan_2:18.
13–16. Daniel and his three companions, being regarded now (cf. Dan_1:17-20) as belonging to the class of ‘wise men,’ and being consequently involved in the condemnation, are in danger of their lives; but Daniel, through Arioch’s intervention, obtains an audience of the king, and promising to tell him his dream, gets execution of the sentence deferred.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And the decree went forth that the wise men…
And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain. As the Aramaic stands, it might be translated as does Professor Fuller, "And the decree went forth, and the wise men were being slain;" the wO of co-ordination maybe regarded as here used of Subordination. Further, the use of the participle for the preterite is not by any means uncommon in Daniel, certainly mainly in the principal clause, as in ver. 5 of the present chapter. Noldeke, in his "Syriac Grammar," 278 a, gives examples of the passive participle being used as here in the subordinate clause. The Septuagint is very condensed, but possibly drawn from a similar text, only such extreme condensation is unlike the translator elsewhere. It is possible that some part of the dqP. (peqad), "to decree," was used, perhaps the participle hithpael. It is possible that the verb qetal was in the infinitive. Theodotion renders, "And the decree went forth, and the wise men were slain." This, though a possible translation, does not fit what we find represented to be the circumstances, as ver. 24 seems to assume that the wise men were not yet destroyed. On the other hand, it would be hardly possible to imagine the king allowing these wise men who had refused to answer his question, to go out of his presence in safety and unbound. It would seem more natural to imagine that they were carried off to prison, and that all the soothsaying class were intended to be gathered together in prison, in order that the vengeance of the king might be more appallingly manifest. The sentence looks at first sight to us as too savage to be true, but just as savage proofs of vengeance were given by Asshurbanipal. And they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain. The Septuagint translation of this clause is somewhat paraphrastic, "And Daniel was sought for and all those with him in order to be put to death." The want of an antecedent to fix the nominative of the verb probably led to the sentence assuming its present mould; but "all" seems to have no word to occasion it. Theodotion follows the Massoretic text closely; so also does the Peshitta. It is clear from this that Daniel and his companions had not been summoned into the royal presence when the question concerning the dream was put to the wise men. This would seem to contradict the statement of Dan_1:19, "Therefore stood they to wit these Hebrew youths the king." Their position was probably like those who had passed the examination for the Indian Civil Service they are accepted, but they have still a season of study, and then, after they go out to India, they occupy only subordinate situations at first. While permited to enter the ranks of the soothsayers and astrologers to the court, they were placed at first only in the lower grades, and would have to rise by degrees, and in ordinary circumstances a long time would elapse before they would be summoned into the immediate presence of the sovereign. On the reading of the LXX, Daniel and his friends would not, because they were Jews, and not Chaldeans. One has only to turn to the Talumdic tales to see how unlike this reasonable position is to the ordinary Jewish fictitious narrative. The Book of Daniel is not nearly prodigal enough in wonders to be a representative of the Jewish Midrash. It is further clear that the decree of the king went beyond those who had actually been in his council-chamber on that merest-able day. The idea of the king probably was that the treason which he had found in the heads of the various classes of Chaldean soothsayers would have permeated all the members. Babylonian and foreign, as well; therefore he orders them all to suffer a common fate. Wieseler"s hypothesis, that this event took place close to the end of the three years of study which had been assigned to these youths, would suit the statement of events which we find here; although it is not necessary, yet on this assumption, the succession of events as narrated in this chapter becomes perfectly natural.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.