1.
And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.
And . Thus linking on this chapter of momentous prophecy with Daniel 1 , which is pure history.
the second year: 495 B.C. (Daniel's eighteenth year). Therefore Jehoiakim's fifth year, the year of the burning of the roll which marked the official rejection of Jehovah. Hence Nebuchadnezzar's dream. Daniel was in Babylon, and writes from that standpoint. The supposed difficulty is a proof of genuineness; for the writer would have been a fool as well as a forger to have left it unexplained.
Nebuchadnezzar. See note on Daniel 1:1 .
spirit . Hebrew. ruach. App-9 .
brake from = had been upon: i.e. had now gone from.
2.
Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.
to call, &c . = to send for. This tells us of the religious system of Babylonia, of which subsequent Jewish commentators and Greek translators would know little or nothing. There were six classes of the Chaldean priesthood.
magicians . Hebrew. chartummim. Connected with the kharutu (the sceptre) or rod of office of those who repelled demons and evil spirits by incantations, &c.
astrologers . Hebrew. 'ashshaphim = in Babylonian, asipi, prophets who assumed to announce the will of heaven and predict the future. These were a class apart from the others. The inscriptions speak of bab - 4 ssaput = the gate of the oracle; also of bit Assaput = the house of the oracle.
sorcerers . Hebrew. m ekashsh phim = wizard (Exodus 7:11 ; Exodus 22:18 , feminine; Deuteronomy 18:10 , feminine; Malachi 3:5 , feminine)
Chaldeans . Hebrew. Kasdim. See note on Daniel 1:4 .
3.
And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.
I have dreamed . Contrast this with Daniel's vision, in the Structure on p. 1178; and note the other recorded dreams (Genesis 20:3 ).
was = is.
4.
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.
in Syriack . Hebrew. 'aramith = Aramaic. The insertion of this word here is to call our attention to the fact that what follows is written not in Hebrew, but in Aramaic, as far as the end of Daniel 7 . See note on the Structure, p. 1178; and note the other Aramaic portions (Ezra 4:8 Ezra 6:18 with Ezra 7:12-26 ; also Jeremiah 10:11 . The Syriac and Chaldee are properly Western and Eastern Aramaic.
O king . This is the first Aramaic word so written. Compare Daniel 3:9 ; Daniel 5:10 ; Daniel 6:6 , Daniel 6:21 .Nehemiah 2:3 .
5.
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.
thing. The dream.
gone from me . Referring to the forgotten dream.
cut . . . made a dunghill . Compare Daniel 3:29 . Ezra 6:11 . A further mode of punishment, from the Medo-Persians, in Daniel 6:7 .
6.
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.
rewards . Chaldee. nebizbah = a present.
7.
They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it.
8.
The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me.
gain the time = gain time. It may have reference to that day being an unlucky day. Compare Esther 3:7 .
9.
But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof.
10.
The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king's matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.
earth. Chaldee. beshta' = dry ground.
11.
And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.
not. Is emphatic. They held that there were gods who dwelt in men. But these were beyond mortal men altogether
12.
For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
wise men: i.e. the members of all the classes collectively, mentioned in Daniel 2:2 above. Chaldee. chakam, denoting acquired wisdom.
13.
And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.
fellows = companions.
14.
Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon:
counsel and wisdom = prudence and discretion.
Arioch . An ancient Babylonian name, preserved and handed down from Genesis 14:1 = Iri - Aku .
guard = executioners. Compare Genesis 37:36 ; Genesis 39:1 ; Genesis 40:3 . 2 Kings 25:8 . Jeremiah 39:9 .
15.
He answered 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.
16.
Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation.
give him time = appoint him a time.
17.
Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:
Hananiah, &c . See note on Daniel 1:6 .
18.
That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
mercies = great mercy. Figure of speech Heterosis (of Number), App-6 .
of = from before.
the God of heaven. See note on 2 Chronicles 36:23 .
secret . Chaldee. raz, which the Septuagint renders musterion. Occurs in O.T. only here, in verses: Daniel 2:18 , Daniel 2:19 , Daniel 2:27 , Dan 18:28 , Dan 18:29 , Dan 18:30 , Dan 18:47 , Dan 18:47 , and Daniel 4:9 . Not the same word as in Daniel 2:22 .
19.
Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
20.
Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:
answered and said . See note on Deuteronomy 1:41 .
for ever and ever = from age to age. See App-151 .
21.
And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
He changeth, &c . Compare Daniel 2:9 ; Daniel 7:25 . 1 Chronicles 29:30 . Job 34:24-29 . Psalms 31:14 , Psalms 31:15 .Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 . Jeremiah 27:5-7 .
secret = hidden. Chaldee. sathar. Not the same word as in Daniel 2:18 , &c.
and the light, &c . Compare Daniel 5:11 , Daniel 5:14 .Psalms 36:9 ; 2 John 1:9; 2 John 1:9 ; John 8:12 ; John 12:45 , John 12:46 ; 1 Timothy 6:16 . James 1:17 . 1 John 1:5 .
22.
He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
23.
I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter.
24.
Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation.
25.
Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation.
26.
The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?
Belteshazzar . See note on Daniel 1:7 .
27.
Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;
28.
But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;
maketh = hath made. Compare Daniel 2:29 .
in the latter days . Reference to Pentateuch (Genesis 49:1 .Numbers 24:14 .Deuteronomy 4:30 ; Deuteronomy 32:29 ). App-92 .
29.
As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.
came = came up.
30.
But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
for their sakes . . . interpretation = to the intent that the interpretation.
shall = should.
31.
Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.
sawest = wast looking.
form = appearance.
32.
This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
head . Note the five parts: (1) the head; (2) the breast and arms; (3) the belly and the thighs; (4) the legs; (5) the feet. These five are preserved distinct throughout. Compare: Daniel 2:34-35 , and Daniel 2:38-44 , and Daniel 2:45 .
gold . . . clay (Daniel 2:33 ). Note that the most precious metal, and the highest specific gravity was at the top, decreasing with its descent: (1) gold = Dan 19:3 ; (2) silver = Dan 10:51 ; (3) brass = Daniel 8:5 ; (4) iron = Daniel 7:6 ; (5) clay = Daniel 1:9 , so that it was top-heavy from the first.
33.
His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
34.
Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
a stone . See note on Psalms 118:22 .
without hands . An expression always emphasizing the absence of all human instrumentality and the act of God alone. See Daniel 2:45 ; Daniel 8:25 .Job 34:20 . Lamentations 4:6 . Compare Acts 7:48 ; Acts 17:24 , Acts 17:25 ; Acts 19:26 . 2 Corinthians 5:1 .Ephesians 2:11; 1 Chronicles 2:111 Chronicles 2:11 .Hebrews 9:11 , Hebrews 9:21 .
feet: i.e. the fifth kingdom. Not the fourth, which was represented by the "legs of iron".
brake them to pieces: or, they were beaten small.
brake = beat small. Chaldee. dekak. Compare verses: Daniel 2:34 , Daniel 2:35 , Daniel 2:40 , Dan 34:41 , Dan 34:44 , Dan 34:45 .
35.
Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
iron, the clay, &c . Note the order differently given to distinguish the five (not the four), answering to the five parts of the image in Daniel 2:32 , and the five kingdoms, verses:
Daniel 2:32 , Daniel 2:33 . Daniel 2:35 . Daniel 2:45 . gold, iron, iron, silver, clay, brass, brass, brass, clay, iron, silver, silver, iron and clay, gold, gold.
together . As united at the time of the end (forming the sixth power), the kingdom of the "Beast" (Revelation 13 ).
wind . Hebrew. ruach. App-9 .
filled the whole earth . Thus marking the seventh kingdom, that of Messiah.
36.
This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
37.
Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
a kingdom. The O.T. is not designed to be a compendium of "ancient history". It is the history of Jehovah's People, Israel; and other nations are referred to only as, and in so far as, they come into connection with Israel. Babylon was the most ancient of kingdoms (Genesis 10:10 ). Compare Deuteronomy 32:8 . Nebuchadnezzar was not the first king; but he was the "head" or beginning of Gentile dominion in the earth when Israel had been "removed" (according to Jeremiah 15:4 ; Jeremiah 24:9 ; Jeremiah 29:18 ). These successive kingdoms are reckoned only as they obtained possession of Jerusalem. They existed before that; and each, in turn, was absorbed in the one that succeeded.
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 head of gold.
children = sons.
hath He given . According to His word (Jeremiah 27:6 , Jeremiah 27:7 ; Jeremiah 28:14 , &c. Compare Daniel 1:2 and Ezekiel 26:7 .
Thou . Nebuchadnezzar.
art = art represented by. Figure of speech Metaphor. App-6 .
head : i.e. the first of these five kingdoms, not the first king of Babylon. See note on Daniel 2:37 .
of . Genitive of Material. App-17 .
39.
And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
arise = stand up. Chaldee. kum = to begin to exist. See note on Exodus 1:8 .
another . The kingdom of Medo-Persia, which succeeded Babylon by occupying Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 36:22 ).
inferior . As silver is inferior to gold, in value and in specific gravity (see note on Daniel 2:32 ) so the second kingdom was inferior to the first. The successive kingdoms are marked by evolution (or rather, devolution). In the first (Babylon) the king possessed absolute power ("whom he would he slew", &c, Daniel 5:19 ); the second [Medo-Persian] was a government by law which was superior to the king (Daniel 6:1 , Daniel 6:14 , &c).
third kingdom . This again was "inferior", as being less despotic.
40.
And the fourth 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.
the fourth: i.e. Rome (Luke 2 and Luke 3 ). Observe that it does not say there were "four, and no more", as alleged; but "the fourth". An ordinal number, not cardinal. The Chaldee is rebi aya ' (text), or rebi a'ah (margin) = fourth, as in Daniel 3:25 ; Daniel 7:7 , Daniel 7:19 , Daniel 7:23 . Not ' arba ', which = four. The fifth is revealed in verses: Daniel 2:41-43 . The power which was to succeed Rome in the possession of Jerusalem was to be the Mohammedan power, which was still future when our Lord referred to it in Luke 21:24 ; but the Lord does not name it, because the condition of Acts 3:18-26 could not be anticipated, assumed, or forestalled.
strong = hard. This was the character of Rome, both royal, imperial, and republican.
subdueth = crusheth.
breaketh = dasheth, or bringeth to ruin. Chaldee. r e' a '. Not the same word as in verses: Daniel 2:1 , Daniel 2:34 , Daniel 2:35 , Dan 1:42 , Dan 1:44 , Dan 1:45 .
bruise = bring to ruin. Chaldee. r e' a '. App-44 . The same word as "breaketh" earlier in the verse.
41.
And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' 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.
And whereas, &c . The fifth power is now to be described (the "feet and toes"). It came into possession of Jerusalem in A.D. 636 (Rome having held the city for 666 years: namely, from the battle of Actium 31 B.C. - A.D. 636). Its character as described in Daniel 2:41 is exact; and, as represented by the "feet", Jerusalem has indeed been "trodden down" (Luke 21:24 ) as was never done by any of the other four powers.
strength = hardness.
miry = muddy. Chaldee. tin . Same as Hebrew. tit. Occurances in 2 Samuel 22:43 .Job 41:30 (Hebrew, verse 22). Psalms 18:42 (Hebrew, verse 43); Dan 40:2 (Hebrew, verse 3); Dan 69:14 (Hebrew, verse 15). Isaiah 41:25 ; Isaiah 57:20 . Jeremiah 38:6 . Micah 7:10 . Nahum 3:14 .Zechariah 9:3 ; Zechariah 10:5 . Not the same as that rendered "broken" (= brittle), Daniel 2:42 , as stated by some commentators.
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.
part = a portion [of them], or some of them. Chaldee. min .
partly = in part, or at the end. Chaldee. ketzath, as in Daniel 4:29 (Hebrew, verse 26), Daniel 4:34 (Hebrew, verse 31). Occurs only in these three places. Compare the Hebrew kezath (Daniel 1:2 with Daniel 1:5 , Daniel 1:15 , Daniel 1:18 ).
partly broken = part [of it shall be] broken.
broken = fragile, easily broken. Chaldee. tebar. Occurs only here.
43.
And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
they: i.e. the toes.
is not mixed = mingleth not.
44.
And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
these kings . Represented by the ten toes: i.e. in their days, at the end of the time of the fifth power. Compare Revelation 17:12-18 . That is the moment of the great stone, and of the coming of Messiah.
for ever = to the ages. See App-151 .
45.
Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, 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: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
46.
Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him.
oblation = a gift offering. App-43 .
47.
The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.
is = He [is].
Lord . Chaldee Adonai. App-4 .
48.
Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.
made Daniel a great man = exalted Daniel.
governors = prefects, or nobles. Chaldee. signin. Occurs in Dan. only here, Daniel 3:2 , Daniel 3:3 , Daniel 3:27 ; and Daniel 6:7 .
49.
Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.
Shadrach, &c . See note on Daniel 1:7 .
but Daniel sat in the gate, &c. See note on Esther 2:19 .