What Does Daniel 2:18 Mean?
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.
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
That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.THE KEY
An unsolved secret does not postpone the appeal for compassion that stands between life and loss.
THE MEANING
You can face what remains unknown while the danger is still real: Daniel and his companions seek compassion from the God of heaven before the threat to their lives is resolved. Their plea holds the hidden secret and the possibility of perishing together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that help can only be sought after the mystery is solved: compassion is sought while the secret is still secret.
THE ROOT
רַחֲמִין
raḥămîn
GROWS FROM
רחם
r-ḥ-m
Compassion; tender care.
The Aramaic raḥămîn belongs to the רחם family of compassion, also associated with Hebrew rechem, “womb.” The plea carries the sense of close, protective tenderness meeting a danger that could mean loss of life.
ALSO GROWS
rechem: Womb
רֶחֶם
This related word gives compassion a shade of inward, protective tenderness.
raḥûm: Compassionate
רַחוּם
This adjective names the quality sought in the appeal to the God of heaven.
יְהֹבְדוּן
yəhoḇəḏûn
GROWS FROM
אבד
ʾ-b-d
Perish; be lost; lose the way.
“perish” in this verse is yəhoḇəḏûn. The Aramaic verb comes from אבד, a root that holds perishing and being lost together. The plea for compassion is set directly against the possibility that Daniel and his companions will be lost with the rest of the wise men.
ALSO GROWS
ʾāḇaḏ: Perish; be lost
אָבַד
The Hebrew verb carries the same movement toward loss named by the Aramaic verb here.
ʾăḇēḏāh: A lost thing; loss
אֲבֵדָה
This related noun makes visible the root’s connection between perishing and what is lost.
THE PATTERN
When danger overwhelms human capacity, the threatened turn toward God for help before the outcome is known.
O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no strength against this great multitude that comes against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.Call upon me in the day of the narrow place, and I draw you out, and you give me weight.Peter was therefore kept in prison, but prayer was stretched out by the assembly toward God for him.THE THREAD
As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those in awe of him.The Hebrew verb translated “pitieth” comes from רחם, the same compassion family carried by the Aramaic “mercies” in Daniel. This shared root opens Daniel’s plea as a request for the close, protective tenderness pictured here.
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