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This response made the king so furious with anger that he gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
Daniel 2:12 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
  • KJV For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
  • NKJV For this reason the king was angry and very furious, and gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
  • NASB Because of this, the king became angry and extremely furious, and he gave orders to kill all the wise men of Babylon.
  • NLT The king was furious when he heard this, and he ordered that all the wise men of Babylon be executed.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Enraged, the king orders all the wise men of Babylon destroyed. His fury endangers many lives.

Overview

The failure of his experts provokes a sweeping death sentence, displaying the peril of life under absolute power. The decree creates the crisis into which Daniel will step. Human wisdom's collapse becomes the occasion for God's deliverance.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • Dan 3:13Then Nebuchadnezzar, furious with rage, summoned Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king,
  • Dan 3:19At this, Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders to heat the furnace seven times hotter than usual,
  • Matt 2:16When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.
  • Ps 76:10Even the wrath of man shall praise You; with the survivors of wrath You will clothe Yourself.
  • Dan 2:5The king replied to the astrologers, “My word is final: If you do not tell me the dream and its interpretation, you will be cut into pieces and your houses will be reduced to rubble.
  • Job 5:2For resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.
  • Prov 20:2The terror of a king is like the roar of a lion; whoever provokes him forfeits his own life.
  • Prov 27:3–4A stone is heavy and sand is a burden, but aggravation from a fool outweighs them both.
  • Prov 19:12A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.
  • Prov 16:14The wrath of a king is a messenger of death, but a wise man will pacify it.
  • Prov 29:22An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression.
  • Matt 5:22But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject to the fire of hell.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Daniel videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Daniel 2:12YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on DanielMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Daniel sees the stone cut without hands that shatters the kingdoms, and 'one like a son of man' given everlasting dominion — titles and visions Jesus claims as his own.

How Daniel 2:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.