Daniel 2.15-Arioch Explains To Daniel The Reason For Nebuchadnezzar's Uncompromisingly Severe Order To Execute The Wise Men
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday February 22, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 2:15-Arioch Explains To Daniel The Reason For Nebuchadnezzar’s Uncompromisingly Severe Order To Execute The Wise Men
Lesson # 39
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 2:1.
This evening we will study of Daniel 2:15, which tells the reader that Arioch explained to Daniel the reason for Nebuchadnezzar’s uncompromisingly severe order to execute each and every one of the city of Babylon’s wise men.
Daniel 2:1 Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him. 2 Then the king gave orders to call in the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. 3 The king said to them, “I had a dream and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream.” 4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic: “O king, live forever! Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” 5 The king replied to the Chaldeans, “The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap. 6 But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation.” 7 They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” 8 The king replied, “I know for certain that you are bargaining for time, inasmuch as you have seen that the command from me is firm 9 that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only one decree for you. For you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt words before me until the situation is changed; therefore tell me the dream, that I may know that you can declare to me its interpretation.” 10 The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who could declare the matter for the king, inasmuch as no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any magician, conjurer or Chaldean. 11 Moreover, the thing which the king demands is difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it to the king except gods, whose dwelling place is not with mortal flesh.” 12 Because of this the king became indignant and very furious and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13 So the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they looked for Daniel and his friends to kill them. 14 Then Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to Arioch, the captain of the king’s bodyguard, who had gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon. 15 he said to Arioch, the king’s commander, “For what reason is the decree from the king so urgent?” Then Arioch informed Daniel about the matter. (NASB95)
“He said to Arioch, the king’s commander” is composed of the masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active participle form of the verb ʿǎnā(h) (עֲנָה) (an-aw´), “answered” which is not translated and followed by the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), which is not translated and followed by the masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew equivalent is the qal) active participle form of the verb ʾǎmǎr (אֲמַר) (am-ar´), “he said” and then we have the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), “to” and its object is the masculine singular proper noun ʾǎr∙yôḵ (אַרְיֹוךְ) (ar-yoke´), “Arioch” which is followed by the masculine singular form of the noun šǎl∙lîṭ (שַׁלִּיט) (shal-leet´), “ruler” and then we have the relative particle dî (דִּי) (dee), which is not translated and followed by the masculine singular form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh´-lek), “king’s.”
The proper noun ʾǎr∙yôḵ “Arioch” and is identified as the captain of Nebuchadnezzar’s bodyguard and is the executioner.
The noun šǎl∙lîṭ means “captain” and denotes a person who has sovereign authority over a group of individuals.
The word is an alternative to the noun rǎḇ, which appears in Daniel 2:14 to describe Arioch as an individual who possessed supreme authority over Nebuchadnezzar’s bodyguards who were his royal police and bodyguard who carried out executions of those who were enemies of the state.
Thus, this word describes Arioch as the “chief” of police or the “commander” of the king’s executioners.
So both terms are synonymous with each other and describe Arioch as the highest ranking bodyguard or executioner.
“For what reason is the decree from the king so urgent?” is composed of the preposition ʿǎl (עַל) (al), “for” and this is followed by the interrogative pronoun mā(h) (מָה) (maw), “what reason” and then we have the feminine singular form of the noun dāṯ (דָּת) (dawth), “the decree” which is followed by the feminine singular hafʿel (Hebrew: hiphil) active participle form of the verb ḥǎṣǎp̄ (חֲצַף) (khats-af´), “urgent” and then we have the preposition min (מִן) (min), “from” and this is followed by the preposition qǒḏām (קֳדָם) (kod-awm´) and its object is the masculine singular form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh´-lek), “the king.”
The preposition ʿǎl is a marker of cause since it introduces the reason why an act is performed and is used here in a question in which Daniel asks Arioch the reason why the king gave such a peremptory order to execute each and every one of the city of Babylon’s wise men.
The interrogative pronoun mā(h) means “what reason” since it functions as a marker of interrogative reason.
The noun dāṯ means “order” and refers to the sentence of death that the king of Babylon imposed on his wise men because they failed to meet his demand that they tell him both the content of his dream as well as its interpretation.
The verb ḥǎṣǎp̄ means “to be uncompromisingly severe” and is used to describe Nebuchadnezzar’s order to execute each and every one of the city of Babylon’s wise men because they failed to make known the content of his recurring dream as well as its interpretation.
The word emphasizes the severity of this order since it was capital punishment, the highest form of punishment for a crime.
It also emphasizes the urgency of this order in that it is peremptory or uncompromising in that the king did not give Daniel and his three friends the reason for their execution.
“Then Arioch informed Daniel about the matter” is composed of the temporal adverb ʾěḏǎ∙yin (אֱדַיִן) (ed-ah´-yin), “then” which is followed by the feminine singular form of the noun mil∙lā(h) (מִלָּה) (mil-law´), “the matter” and then we have the third person masculine singular hafʿel (Hebrew: hiphil) active perfect form of the verb yeḏǎʿ (יְדַע) (yed-ah´), “informed” which is followed by the masculine singular proper noun ʾǎr∙yôḵ (אַרְיֹוךְ) (ar-yoke´), “Arioch” which is followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), which is not translated and its object the masculine singular proper noun dā∙niy∙yē(ʾ)l (דָּנִיֵּאל) (daw-nee-yale), “Daniel.”
The verb yeḏǎʿ means “to inform, make known” and is used with Arioch as its subject and Daniel as its indirect object expressing the fact that Arioch informed Daniel with regards to the reason why Nebuchadnezzar ordered the execution of each and every one of the city of Babylon’s wise men.
This time the noun mil∙lā(h) means “the matter” and refers to the reason why Nebuchadnezzar ordered the execution of the city of Babylon’s wise men, which was that they failed to meet his demand to tell him the content of his recurring dream as well as its interpretation.
Daniel 2:15 makes clear that Daniel was totally ignorant concerning Nebuchadnezzar’s recurring dream as well as his demand that he placed upon the city of Babylon’s occult priests, necromancers, witches and astrologers who helped to compose the king’s wise men.
It reveals that he had no idea as to why the king ordered their execution.
The fact that Daniel and his three friends were subject to this execution indicates that they were considered a part of the king’s wise men even though these four did not follow the practices of the occult priest, necromancers, witches and astrologers.
This is indicated by the fact that the Mosaic Law outlawed the practices of the occult priests, necromancers, witches and astrologers and Daniel and his friends were conscientious about obeying the Law.
Some argue that Daniel and his friends were involved in their practices because they were considered a part of their group.
However, this is not the case since if Daniel and his three friends were willing to risk their lives to adhere to the dietary regulations of the Mosaic Law it follows that they would make a stand with regards to the practices of the occult priests, necromancers, witches and astrologers.
So the fact that Daniel and his three friends were considered as wise men indicates Nebuchadnezzar’s wise men were composed not only of occult priests, necromancers, witches or astrologers but also diplomats or dignitaries working in various areas of the king of Babylon’s government.
Thus, this decree would be unfair to the diplomats or dignitaries working in the government who were not a member of the occult priests, necromancers, witches or astrologers.
The reason why Arioch took the time to explain to Daniel the reason why he was being arrested and then executed is given in Daniel 2:14, which says that Daniel spoke to Arioch with wisdom and tact.
If he didn’t do so then Arioch would have undoubtedly not answered him.
Daniel describes Nebuchadnezzar’s order to execute his wise men as uncompromisingly severe, which on the surface does not appear to be very wise and tactful of him.
However, Arioch, who was a servant of Nebuchadnezzar, would totally agree that this order was uncompromisingly severe.
He would even think this order as unfair and unjust since undoubtedly he could sympathize with the wise men since like them, he too could at any time bear the wrath of the king since he served in the presence of the king like they did.
Therefore, the fact that Arioch takes the time to give Daniel an explanation not only speaks well of Daniel’s approach to Arioch but also indicates that he sympathized with the wise men since if he didn’t he would have refused to explain anything to Daniel.
Arioch would not want to have this happen to him and knows that at any time it could happen to him if the king decided to make an unreasonable demand of him.
Another reason why Arioch would be sympathetic to the plight of the wise men is that the Babylonians highly respected the occult priests, necromancers, witches and astrologers.
These four groups were highly respected by Babylonian society and throughout the ancient world at that time.