What Does Daniel 5:4 Mean in the King James?
They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
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
Their praise gives living attention to lifeless matter, making the worshippers’ act the only living thing in the scene.
THE MEANING
This verse shows reverence attaching to what can be counted and fashioned: gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, and stone. The hands may shape these things, yet praise makes them seem to hold power over the lives that turn toward them. It exposes a present exchange: what looks valuable can be treated as the source of worth and security.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The false belief is that what is valuable, durable, or impressive must also be worthy of ultimate praise.
THE ROOT
וְשַׁבַּחוּ
wəšabbaḥû
GROWS FROM
שׁבח
to praise, commend, or acclaim
“praised” in this verse is wəšabbaḥû. The same Aramaic root is used for praise directed to the living Most High elsewhere in Daniel. The verb itself does not change; what changes is where the acclaim lands.
ALSO GROWS
məšabbaḥ: praising
מְשַׁבַּח
This form uses the same root for praise directed toward God, showing that the object of praise matters.
šabbeḥēt: I praised
שַׁבְּחֵת
The same root here directs praise to the Most High, opening a contrast with the crafted objects praised in this verse.
THE PATTERN
What receives praise reveals where value and trust have been placed.
Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:THE THREAD
And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:The Aramaic verb translated “praised” in this verse shares the שׁבח (š-b-ḥ) root with “praised” in Daniel 4:34. There the acclaim is directed to the living Most High, showing how the same human act can turn toward crafted objects or toward the One whose dominion lives.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us