What Does Daniel 5:16 Mean in the King James?
And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Beneath “dissolve doubts” is a physical picture of loosening knots, so interpretation appears as release from what is bound.
THE MEANING
You can face words that remain opaque while authority tries to put a price on their meaning. In the Aramaic, what the KJV renders “doubts” are knots, and “dissolve” is to loosen them: understanding releases what has been bound in obscurity. Scarlet, gold, and rank make the offer concrete, yet they do not create the meaning being sought.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Opacity is not permanent: what appears tied into knots can be opened and made known.
THE ROOT
לְמִשְׁרֵא
ləmišrē
GROWS FROM
שרא
To loosen or release.
“dissolve” in this verse is ləmišrē. The Aramaic verb gives interpretation the feel of letting something bound go. In this phrase, the interpreter loosens the knots of meaning.
ALSO GROWS
šərā: To loosen, release.
שְׁרָא
This verbal form carries the basic action beneath the KJV’s “dissolve”: letting something bound go.
šərayin: Loose, released.
שְׁרַיִן
The same root describes the men as “loose” in Daniel 3:25, linking the loosening of meaning with release from bonds.
קִטְרִין
qiṭrîn
GROWS FROM
קטר
To tie or knot.
The Aramaic word beneath “doubts” pictures knots. Read beside the verb for loosening, the phrase describes understanding as the release of what has been tied up.
ALSO GROWS
qiṭrā: A knot.
קִטְרָא
The singular form makes the image concrete: an uncertainty can be pictured as something tied.
qiṭrîn: Knots.
קִטְרִין
This plural form is the word in the verse; these are what the interpreter loosens.
THE PATTERN
What is hidden becomes legible when its meaning is opened to view.
He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.THE THREAD
He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.The Aramaic root behind “loose” here is the same one behind “dissolve” in Daniel 5:16. In one verse it describes people released from bonds; in the other, it describes knots of meaning being loosened.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
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