What Does Daniel 2:13 Mean?
And the decree went forth that the wise men should be struck down, and they sought Daniel and his companions to be struck down.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.THE KEY
The decree turns seeking into a hunt, while the same Aramaic root soon turns toward a plea for mercy.
THE MEANING
A command becomes pursuit: Daniel and his companions are sought as targets for death. The verse holds the terror of being marked for slaughter, where even wisdom offers no shelter from the decree’s reach.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie undone is that wisdom makes a person untouchable: here, the wise are marked for slaughter.
THE ROOT
בְעוֹ
beʿo
GROWS FROM
בעא
beʿa
To seek, ask, or request.
The Aramaic root holds seeking and asking together, while the object gives the action its direction. Here Daniel is sought for death; soon the same root describes a plea for mercy that preserves life.
ALSO GROWS
mibʿē: To seek or request.
מִבְעֵא
In Daniel 2:18, this form describes seeking mercy; the same root that marks Daniel as a target can also carry an appeal for preservation.
beʿā: He sought or asked.
בְּעָא
This verbal form keeps the act of searching joined to asking, showing how the purpose of the pursuit depends on what is being sought.
THE PATTERN
Seeking takes its direction from its object: it can pursue a person for death or turn toward mercy, peace, and discovery.
That they would ask for compassion from the God of heaven concerning this hidden thing, so that Daniel and his companions would not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.Turn aside from evil and do good; seek wholeness and pursue it.Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.THE THREAD
That they would ask for compassion from the God of heaven concerning this hidden thing, so that Daniel and his companions would not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.Here Daniel and his companions seek mercy using the same Aramaic root that describes the officers seeking Daniel in this verse. The root holds both actions together, while their objects reveal the difference between pursuit toward death and appeal for life.
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