Bible Strands
Daniel 2:12
This response made the king so angry and furious that he gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records King Nebuchadnezzar’s reaction immediately after the Babylonian wise men report that no human can reveal his dream (Daniel 2:11). The moment captures the instant the court’s honest assessment triggers the king’s violent decree.
The words — The Hebrew phrase בְּנַס וּ/קְצַף (be.Nas u./ke.Tzaf) literally renders “he was angry and he was furious.” Combined with שַׂגִּ֑יא (sa.Gi'), it intensifies the king’s emotional state to an extreme degree before he issues his command.
The thread — This pattern of royal fury reappears in Daniel 3:13 and Daniel 3:19 when Nebuchadnezzar again reacts with rage to direct defiance. Psalms 76:10 observes that human wrath ultimately serves a divine purpose, though the narrative context shows immediate destructive consequences.
Why it lands — The text plainly states that threatened authority responds with coercion rather than inquiry. It asks the reader to observe how fear drives decisions that escalate conflict instead of resolving it.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
Cross-references
- Daniel 3:13 Then Nebuchadnezzar, furious with rage, summoned Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king,
- Psalms 76:10 Even the wrath of man shall praise You; with the survivors of wrath You will clothe Yourself.
- Daniel 3:19 At 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,
- Matthew 2:16 When 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.
- Job 5:2 For resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.
- Proverbs 16:14 The wrath of a king is a messenger of death, but a wise man will pacify it.
- Proverbs 19:12 A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.
- Proverbs 20:2 The terror of a king is like the roar of a lion; whoever provokes him forfeits his own life.
- Proverbs 27:3 A stone is heavy and sand is a burden, but aggravation from a fool outweighs them both.
- Proverbs 29:22 An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression.