^2:5The king replied¹³ to the wise men, “My decision is firm.¹⁴ If you do not inform me of both the dream and its interpretation, you will be dismembered¹⁵ and your homes reduced to rubble! ^2:6But if you can disclose the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts, a reward, and considerable honor. So disclose to me the dream and its interpretation!” ^2:7They again replied, “Let the king inform us¹⁶ of the dream; then we will disclose its¹⁷ interpretation.”

Read in Logos

Footnotes

13 Aram “answered and said,” a common idiom to indicate a reply, but redundant in contemporary English.
14 It seems clear from what follows that Nebuchadnezzar clearly recalls the content of the dream, although obviously he does not know what to make of it. By not divulging the dream itself to the would-be interpreters, he intends to find out whether they are simply leading him on. If they can tell him the dream’s content, which he is able to verify, he then can have confidence in their interpretation, which is what eludes him. The translation “the matter is gone from me” (cf. , ), suggesting that the king had simply forgotten the dream, is incorrect. The Aramaic word used here (אַזְדָּא, ’azda’) is probably of Persian origin; it occurs in the OT only here and in v. 8. There are two main possibilities for the meaning of the word: “the matter is promulgated by me” (see 1048 ) and therefore “publicly known” (cf. ; F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 62–63, §189), or “the matter is irrevocable” (cf. , , , , ; אזד; cf. also 1079 ). The present translation reflects this latter option. See further E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 3.
15 Aram “made limbs.” Cf. 3:29.
16 Aram “his servants.”
17 Or “the.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins. But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. Therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.” They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

The king replied to the astrologers, “This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and interpret it for me.”

Once more they replied, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret it.”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

The king replied to the Chaldeans, “My word is final: If you don’t tell me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb, and your houses will be made a garbage dump. But if you make the dream and its interpretation known to me, you’ll receive gifts, a reward, and great honor from me. So make the dream and its interpretation known to me.”

They answered a second time, “May the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will make known the interpretation.”

NLTNew Living Translation

But the king said to the astrologers, “I am serious about this. If you don’t tell me what my dream was and what it means, you will be torn limb from limb, and your houses will be turned into heaps of rubble! But if you tell me what I dreamed and what the dream means, I will give you many wonderful gifts and honors. Just tell me the dream and what it means!”

They said again, “Please, Your Majesty. Tell us the dream, and we will tell you what it means.”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

The king answered and said to the astrologers, “The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its explanation, then you will be broken into pieces and your houses will be laid in ruins. But if you tell me the dream and its explanation, you will receive gifts and rewards and great honor from me. Therefore, tell me the dream and its explanation.” They answered once more and said, “Let the king tell the dream to his servants and we will make the explanation known.”

KJV 1900King James Version

The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill. But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof. They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it.

Public Domain