Daniel Chapter 2 Vs. 4

Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation. Dan. 2:4

Then spake the... The Chaldeans, a group of learned Babylonians who taught all the arts and sciences of that day, became the spokesmen for all the others.

Syriack... Hebrew: ’Aramiyth, Aramaic, the language of Aram or Syria. The insertion of this word here is to call attention to the fact that what follows is NOT in Hebrew, but in Aramaic, which is true as far as the end of Dan. 7:1-28. The Syriac and Chaldee are properly the Western and Eastern Aramaic. Other Aramaic portions of Scripture are Ezr. 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26; Jer. 10:11. This language, to which Daniel suddenly switches (in verse 4b), and retains through (7:28), was written with an alphabet like Hebrew, yet had distinctive differences. Aramaic was the popular language of the Babylonian, Assyrian, and Persian areas, and was useful in governmental and trade relations.

O king... This is a common form of addressing a king in the East.