What Does Daniel 5:15 Mean?
And now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not show the interpretation of the word.
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 now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing:THE KEY
A message can be readable while its meaning remains closed: this verse separates voicing the words from understanding what they disclose.
THE MEANING
The writing can stand before you, and its meaning can still remain inaccessible. Reading the marks and making their sense known are different acts; expertise alone does not close that gap.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the assumption that reading a message, or consulting experts, automatically reveals what it means.
THE ROOT
פִּשְׁרֵהּ
pishreh
GROWS FROM
פשר
p-š-r
To interpret or explain, to make the sense of something known.
The Aramaic root names the act of opening a message’s meaning, not simply reading its marks. The verse uses this root for both the interpretation requested and the meaning the wise men cannot disclose.
ALSO GROWS
lemipshar: To interpret; the verbal form appears in Daniel 5:16.
לְמִפְשַׁר
The same root names the act of interpreting, showing that interpretation is work beyond reading aloud.
pishrin: Interpretations; the plural form appears in Daniel 5:16.
פִּשְׁרִין
The root can name multiple interpretations, while this verse centers on one specific meaning that remains undisclosed.
יִקְרוֹן
yiqrun
GROWS FROM
קרא
q-r-ʾ
To call, proclaim, or read aloud.
The word translated “read” belongs to the q-r-ʾ family of calling and proclaiming. The marks can be voiced as words, yet the verse still distinguishes that act from making their meaning known.
ALSO GROWS
qara: To call, proclaim, or read aloud.
קָרָא
This cognate shows the vocal sense carried by the act of reading.
miqra: A reading or a convocation; a gathering called together.
מִקְרָא
This related form links reading with a call that brings people together, while the verse shows that hearing the words still does not guarantee understanding.
THE PATTERN
Seeing or voicing a message and knowing what it means are separate acts; interpretation is where its sense opens.
And it came to pass in the morning that his breath was struck. He sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men, and Pharaoh told them his dream. But there was none who could loose them for Pharaoh.Then Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah, the prophet, and said, Do you know what you are reading? And he said, How can I, unless someone show me the way? And he urged Philip to come up and sit with him.THE THREAD
This is the interpretation of the word. MENE; God has counted your kingdom and brought it to its end.The Aramaic root פשר (p-š-r), “interpret” or “explain,” links the unanswered request in verse 15 with the interpretation given here. The writing that could be read without understanding now has a stated meaning: the kingdom is numbered and finished.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us