The Book of Daniel
Daniel 2
Chapter II · Vol. III, pp. 1385–1387
1 Nebuchadnezzar, forgetting his dream, requireth it of the Chaldeans, by promises and threatenings. 10 They acknowledging their inability are judged to die. 14 Daniel, obtaining some respite, findeth the dream. 19 He blesseth God. 24 He staying the decree, is brought to the king. 31 The dream. 36 The interpretation. 46 Daniel's advancement.
1 And, in the 1second year2 of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar adreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.
1 Or, second of his reign alone, ch.1.5.
2 The second year. Most probably the second of Nebuchadnezzar as sole monarch, his fourth as coregent with his father; or it may signify the second after Daniel's examination and advancement.—C.
a ver.3; ch.4.5. Ge.40.6; 41.1,8. Es.6.1. ch.6.18. Job 33.15-17.
2 Then the king commanded to call bthe magicians,3 and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to show the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.
b ch.5.7. Ge.41.8. Ex.7.11; 22.18. De.18.10. Is.8.19; 47.9,12,13.
3 Magicians—the magi—a name derived from their philosophical character, religious opinions, or worship.—Astrologers, so called from pretending to foretell personal and national fortunes by the stars, especially by the planets.—Sorcerers, who pretended to hold intercourse with the dead, and to discover secrets from them.—Chaldeans, a name of all the foregoing classes, derived from their country, and who endeavoured to keep up the national character for supernatural wisdom.—C.
3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.4
4 What I dreamed.
4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in cSyriac, dO king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, eand we will show the interpretation.
c Ge.31.47. 2 Ki.18.26. Ezr.4.7.
d 1 Ki.1.25,31. ch.3.9; 5.6,10; 6.6,21. 1 Sa.10.24. Ne.2.3.
5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me:5 if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be gcut in 6pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill:
5 The thing is gone from me, does not mean, the dream is forgotten, but the decree is gone out of my lips, and will not be changed. The sentence seems unreasonable and cruel; but it is not improbable, as is common with all false pretenders, that the Chaldeans had been boasting of their supernatural knowledge, and that the king forms a determination to put them to the test, under the conjoint influence of a terrible threatening of extirpation in case of failure, and a brilliant promise of advancement in case of success.—C.
g ch.3.29; 6.7,24. Ezr.6.11. 1 Sa.15.33. Pr.18.14. 1 Ch.20.3. Mat.24.51.
6 Ch. made pieces.
6 But if ye show the dream, and the interpretation thereof, hye shall receive of me gifts, and irewards, and great honour: therefore show me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.
h ver.48. Nu.22.7,16. ch.5.7,16,17,29.
i Or, fee.
7 Theyj answered again, and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation of it.
j Pr.15.28. Ro.1.22. Ec.10.4,11. ver.9.
8 The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain7 the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me.8
9 But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but kone decree for you; lfor ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me till the ntime be 9changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I oshall know that ye can show me the interpretation thereof.
k 2 Sa.19.29. Es.4.11.
l Ep.4.14. 1 Ki.22.6. Is.44.25; 47.9,12,13.
n ver.8. Jn.7.51.
9 Till the time be changed. Till the lapse of time lead me to forget or relent.—C.
o Is.41.23.
10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king's matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.
11 And it is a rare thing that the king requireth: and pthere is none other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose qdwelling is not with flesh.
12 For this cause rthe king was angry and very furious, and commanded to sdestroy all the wise men of Babylon.
13 And tthe decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they usought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.
t Pr.28.15-17. Is.10.1. Ps.94.20.
14 Thenv Daniel 1answered2 with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's guard,3 which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon:
v Ge.22.14. Ex.14.9,14. Ac.27.37. De.32.36.
1 Chald. returned.
2 Answered. Inquired of.—C.
3 Chald. chief of the executioners or slaughter-men; or chief marshal, Ge.37.36. Je.52.12,14.
15 He answered4 and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.
4 Answered. Spoke and said.—Boothroyd.
16 Then Daniel went in, and desired xof the king that he would give him time, and that he would show the king the interpretation.
x ver.8,12, with ch.1.9,19,20. Ro.4.18.
17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions;
18 Thaty they would desire mercies of the God of heaven5 concerning this secret, that Daniel and his fellows zshould not perish6 with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
19 Thena was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
20 Daniel answered7 and said, bBlessed be the name of God for ever and ever; for cwisdom and might are his:
21 And dhe changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: hee giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding.
22 Heg revealeth the deep and secret things: heh knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
23 Ii thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers,8 who hast given me wisdom and might, and jhast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter.
i Mat.11.25. Ps.50.14; 103.1-6.
8 This public prayer of Daniel is the most simple, the most affecting, and the most efficacious method in which he could bear testimony to the Godhead of Jehovah: and, without exciting unnecessary prejudice, give testimony against the idols of Babylon.—C.
j Am.3.7. Ge.18.17; 6.13. Ps.25.14. Jn.15.15. 1 Jn.5.15. ver.36. Mat.7.7.
24 Therefore Daniel kwent in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him, lDestroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will show unto the king the interpretation.
25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found9 a man of the captives of Judah,1 that will make known unto the king the interpretation.
26 The king answered, and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, nArt thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?
A.M. cir. 3401. B.C. cir. 603.
n 1 Sa.17.33. Ge.41.15.
27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded, ocannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, show unto the king;
o Is.47.13,14; 8.19; 44.25. Job 5.12,13; 32.9, with ver.2. Am.3.7.
28 But pthere is a God in heaven2 that revealeth secrets, and maketh3 known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be qin the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;
p Ps.113.3. Ge.41.16; 40.8. Is.41.22,23. Am.4.13. Is.46.10. Ac.15.18. Ge.18.17. ver.18. Am.3.7.
2 Here again Daniel fails not to preach the true God; and that, by the very test Nebuchadnezzar had provided—'a revealer of secrets—a character in which the whole progress of fulfilled prophecy is constantly presenting him.—C.
3 Chald. hath made.
29 As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind4 upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter; and rhe that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.
4 Chald. came up.
r Am.4.13.
30 But as for me, sthis secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but tfor their sakes5 that shall make known the interpretation6 to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
s Ge.41.16. Ac.3.12. 1 Co.15.8. Ps.115.1.
t ver.17,18,49. Ro.8.28. Mat.24.22. Is.43.3,4.
5 For their sakes. For sake of the captive people of God who now furnished, by one of their number, and in name of their God, the information the king required.—C.
6 Or, for the intent that the interpretation may be made known, ver.47.
31 Thou, O king, sawest,7 and, behold, ua great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee, and the form thereof was terrible.
32 This image's head8 was vof fine gold, xhis breast and his arms of silver,9 hisy belly and his 1thighs2 of brass,
8 Babylon. This monarchy began under Nimrod, and was at first called the Assyrian, about A.M. 1771, and ended A.M. 3466 B.C. 538, having lasted nearly 1700 years.—C.
v ver.37,38; ch.4.30; 7.4. Is.14.4. Je.51.7. Zec.6.2.
x ver.39; ch.11.2; 7.5.
9 Breast and arms of silver. The Medes and Persians, like two arms, centred in Cyrus as the breast.—C.
y ver.39, with ch.4.15; 7.19. Is.45.2; 48.4. ch.8.5-8; 11.3-29.
1 Or, sides.
2 Belly and thighs. The Grecian monarchy which began under Alexander—who lived and died in luxury and intemperance—'whose god was the belly,' Phi.3.19. Thighs—Alexander's successors, the Syrian and Egyptian divisions of his empire, with which alone the Jewish church were, in any great degree, connected.—C.
33 Hisz legs of iron,3 his feet part of iron and part of clay.
z ver.40-42; ch.7.7,8.
3 Legs of iron. The Roman empire, not so rich and magnificent as Babylon, nor so splendid as the Grecian, which shone upon earth as a meteor in the heavens, but far more powerful than both. Feet—with ten toes—the emblems of the ten kingdoms into which the gigantic western empire of Rome was finally separated.—C.
34 Thou sawest till athat a stone4 was cut out 5without hands,6 which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became blike the chaff of the summer thrashing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image cbecame a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
37 Thou, O king, art ea king of kings: gfor the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
e Eze.26.7. Ezr.7.12. Je.27.6,7. Is.47.5. Ho.8.10.
g Ezr.1.2. Is.23.13; 14.4-6,12-17; 47.7. Je.25.9,15-38; 50.23; 51.20-23; 28.14; 27.6-8. Hab.1.5-17. ch.4.10-12,21,22,30.
38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field, and the fowls of the heaven, hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this hhead of gold.7
* The words of Daniel, though arranged in courtly style, are true. Nebuchadnezzar was at that time the first monarch of the earth. He was, as it were, the centre of power. From him, therefore, should all subsequent powers emanate. He was the golden head of that ideal image in which were embodied the successive empires of the world as parts of a whole. Three of these empires were to disappear, each being overthrown by its successor. The fourth was to be divided, and then another power was to arise, different from all others—not made with hands; superior to all others—crushing them to pieces; heavenly in its origin—the kingdom of God; a kingdom without end—'it shall stand for ever.' That this is the kingdom of Christ cannot be questioned.—P.
7 See note * in first column.
h See ver.32.
39 Andi after thee shall arise janother kingdom inferior to thee, and kanother third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
A.M. cir. 3401. B.C. cir. 603.
i Hab.2.3,4. Je.25.26,12-14; 27.7. ch.v.
j ver.32; ch.5.28,30,31. Is.46.10,11; 41.2,3,25; 44.28; 45.1-5. ch.7.5; 8.3,4,20; 11.2. Zec.6.2,6. Ezr.i. to Ne.xiii.
k ver.32. Zec.6.3,6,8. ch.10.20; 11.2-35; 7.6,7,23; 8.5-25.
40 And the lfourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
l Zec.6.3,6,7. ch.7.7,8,19-26; 9.26,27; 11.36-45. Lu.2.1. Ac.11.28. Jn.11.48.
41 And whereas thou sawest nthe feet and toes part of potter's clay and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.8
8 Or, brittle.
43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men;9 but they shall not cleave one to another,1 even as iron is not mixed with clay.
9 'They' (the toes, the ten kingdoms) 'shall mingle themselves with the seed of men,' shall act upon the principle of amalgamating the manners, customs, and religions of all people into one confederacy, founded upon Roman citizenship.—C.
1 Chald. this with this.
44 And in the days2 of these kings3 shall the God of heaven oset up a kingdom4 whichp shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom5 shall not be left to other people, but it shall qbreak in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
2 Chald. their days.
3 These kings—these ten kingdoms.—C.
o Ge.49.10. Ps.2.6-12; 22.27-31; 45.3-17; 72.2-19; 89.19-35; xcvi.-c. cx.; 118.22. Is.2.2-4; 11.9,10; 24.14-16.
4 Set up a kingdom. No power but that of Christ began to arise in the days of the Roman empire; nor has any other since arisen within the limits of the western empire.—C.
p ch.4.3,34; 6.20; 7.14,27. Mi.4.7. Is.9.7. Ps.145.13. Mat.16.18. Lu.1.32,33. Re.11.16. Jn.12.34.
5 Chald. kingdom thereof.
q Ps.2.9; 110.1-3,5,6. Re.19.20. 1 Co.15.24. Is.60.12.
45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that rthe stone was cut out of the mountain swithout hands,6 and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter:7 and the dream is tcertain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar ufell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel,8 and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him.
u Ac.10.25,26; 14.11,13; 28.6. Ezr.6.10.
8 Worshipped Daniel. Not idolatrous worship, as the Lycaonians offered Paul, Ac.14.10-13, but oriental respect. This distinction is evident from the subsequent acknowledgment of Daniel's God.—C.
47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Ofv a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a xrevealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.
v De.32.31. Ro.1.19,20.
x Is.41.22,23; 48.3,5-8; 46.10. Ps.139.2.
48 Then the king made Daniel ya great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chiefz of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.
y ver.6. Ge.41.40-44. Es.8.2. 1 Sa.2.7,8. ch.6.1,2; 5.7.
z ch.4.9; 5.11; 1.20.
49 Then Daniel requested of the king, and ahe set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel bsat in the gate of the king.
A.M. cir. 3401. B.C. cir. 603.
a ver.17,18,23. Pr.28.12. Ex.18.21,25. ch.3.12.
b Es.2.19,21; 3.2, or De.21.19. Am.5.15.
Notes
Ver. 31-45. This great image, beheld in a quickly forgotten dream, represented the successive empires in the world as but an empty show, a terrible but quickly forgotten vision. The golden head was the Chaldean monarchy, extremely rich, and in appearance lasting, including the Assyrian; it continued about 240 years. The breast and arms of silver signified the Medo-Persian, established by Cyrus, which lasted about 204 years. The belly and thighs of brass represented the strong, though less rich, empire of the Greeks, which was chiefly continued in the two kingdoms of Egypt on the south and Syria on the north, lasting in all about 320 years. The legs of iron, and the feet ending in ten toes of iron and clay, never rightly joined, denote the Roman empire, very strong, and very destructive and conquering, which, after having two joint-consuls, and two conjunct emperors of east and west, was at last formed into ten different kingdoms, consisting partly of the old Roman subjects, and partly of the barbarous nations which invaded and ravaged the empire: it is not yet quite destroyed. The little stone, cut out of the mountain without hands, and breaking in pieces the remains of these empires, and becoming a great mountain, filling the whole earth, is the gospel church, supernaturally formed in the countries and on the ruins of these ancient empires, and which did, in the apostolic age, and will, especially in the millennium, extend over the whole habitable world. See Introduction, ch. iv. sect. xii.-xv. xix.
Ver. 35. A mountain filling the whole earth, has appeared to some an unintelligible figure. The difficulty, however, lies not in the image, but in the manner of picturing it. For example, Mount Sinai, Mount Hor, Mount Seir, are not single mountains, but vast mountain ranges, which it were easy to picture extended over the whole earth. C.
Reflections.—To what perplexing cares and anxieties are great men subjected by God! To what pangs, what sleepless hours, because of fear in the night! It is dreadful to be under the power of wicked and unreasonable men. Yet by the most unexpected means God can punish impostors and exalt the faithful. How inexpressibly valuable are friends mighty in prayer!—Fervent prayer is powerful to unlock the mysteries of Providence. And there is great need of earnestness in it when the faithful are in danger of suffering as evil-doers. God must be thankfully acknowledged as the bestower of wisdom and every good gift. But humble souls will rather attribute the obtaining of his favours to the prayers of their friends than their own: and distinguished abilities never appear so grand as when accompanied with uncommon humility. Whatever influence we have with great men should be improved in attempts to bring them to the true God; as no princes, no, not the greatest, have any power but from him. Earthly kingdoms do but overturn one another to make way for the fixed and everlasting kingdom of Christ. And as kings ought to advance to power the qualified children of God, so they whom Providence exalts ought never to forget their old friends.