Daniel 2:15

Study note

Setting — Daniel addresses Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, at the moment Arioch departs the assembly to execute the royal death decree against the wise men.

The words — The phrase עָנֵה וְאָמַר ('a.neh ve.'a.mar) records the act of replying and speaking, while מָה ('mah) functions as the direct interrogative introducing the inquiry about the decree’s severity.

The thread — The text records Daniel’s question and Arioch’s subsequent explanation, which immediately precedes Daniel’s entrance into the king’s presence to request time for interpretation. This sequence establishes the narrative movement from threatened execution to royal audience.

Why it lands — The verse presents a direct inquiry that interrupts a fatal command, requiring the reader to observe how a single question shifts the immediate course of events and creates space for the next action.

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.