2: 2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the enchanters, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.
2: 3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.
2: 4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king 7in the Syrian language, 8O king, 9live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.
7Hb. in Aramaic,
8Ch. 2:4-7:28 is in Aramaic.
9Or possibly, live out a full life: Similarly elsewhere.
2: 5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, 10The thing is gone from me: if ye make not known unto me the dream and the interpretation thereof, 11ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.
10Or, The word is gone forth from me:
11Nebuchadnezzar was a military man, and his father the king had recently died; he may have felt unsure of the loyalty of his intelligensia, lest they were holding back information of a plot against him.
2: 6 But if ye show the dream and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honor: therefore show me the dream and the interpretation thereof.
2: 7 They answered the second time and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.
2: 8 The king answered and said, I know of a certainty that ye would 12gain time, because ye see 13the thing is gone from me.
12Aram. buy the time,
13Or, the word is gone forth from me: that if etc.
2: 9 But if ye make not known unto me the dream, there is but one law 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 show me the interpretation thereof.
2: 10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king’s matter, forasmuch as no king, 14lord, or ruler, hath asked such a thing of any magician, or enchanter, or Chaldean.
14Or, be he never so great and powerful, hath etc.
2: 11 And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is no other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.
2: 12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
2: 13 So the decree went forth, and the wise men were to be slain; and they sought Daniel and his companions to be slain.
2: 14 Then Daniel returned answer with counsel and prudence to 15Arioch the captain of the king’s guard, who was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon;
15Or perhaps, Eri-aku And so everywhere.
2: 15 he answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, Wherefore is the decree so urgent from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.
2: 16 And Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would 16appoint him a time, 17and he would show the king the interpretation.
16Or, give him time,
17Or, that he might show the king the interpretation.
2: 17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:
2: 18 that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his companions should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
2: 19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
2: 20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever; for wisdom and might are his.
2: 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 have understanding;
2: 22 he revealeth the deep and secret things; he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
2: 23 I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast now made known unto me what we desired of thee; for thou hast made known unto us the king’s matter.
2: 24 Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had appointed 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 show unto the king the interpretation.
2: 25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the children of the captivity of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation.
2: 26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Bel-teshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?
2: 27 Daniel answered before the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded can neither wise men, enchanters, magicians, nor soothsayers, show unto the king;
2: 28 but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and he hath made 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:
2: 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 hath made known to thee what shall come to pass.
2: 30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but to the intent that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that thou mayest know the thoughts of thy heart.
2: 31 18Thou, O king, sawest, and, behold, a great image. This image, which was mighty, and whose 19brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the aspect thereof was fearful.
18Historical account: 31 As the mighty men of this age would view things, the kingdom of this world is magnificent. 32 It reached its greatest glory in the Babylonian Empire, which is best known for its heathen pantheon (exported to Egypt, Greece, Rome, and thence to the Gothic peoples), astrology, the Hanging (or, Terraced) Gardens of Babylon, and swift armies. Next in order and glory comes the Empire of the Medes and Persians, which is best known for improvements in imperial administration, constant law, enormous architecture, and massive-army strategy. Third in succession and glory was the Grecian Empire, with its contributions to colonization and commerce, medicine, philosophy, and mathematics. 33 The fourth was the Roman Empire, greatest in strength but least in glory. Imperial Rome contributed in the fields of government and military strategy, road building, and little else, inheriting most other arts and skills from the three previous empires. Papal Rome was markedly different from all that preceded, in that some lands were governed by royalty, while side-by-side others were governed by ecclesiastics; the two forms did not mix well. The Papal Empire proceeded principally from ten peoples of Europe (see also ch. 7:7). 34 Meanwhile, God was forming a kingdom of priests, and His kingdom destroys the kingdom of this world. 35 All its elements are crushed at once, and even the last vestiges of its culture will be erased during Messiah’s Kingdom. For that kingdom will extend itself over earth for the ultimate blessing of all the families of the earth.
19So Massoretic, Aram. 4QDana Sept., GkTh read appearance was excellent,
2: 32 As for this image, its head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of copper,
2: 33 its legs of iron, its feet part of iron, and part of clay.
2: 34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon its feet that were of the iron and clay, and brake them in pieces.
2: 35 Then was the iron, the clay, the copper, the silver, and the gold, broken in pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, so that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great 20mountain, and filled the whole earth.
20Or, rock,
2: 36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
2: 37 Thou, O king, art king of kings, unto whom the God of heaven hath given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory;
2: 38 and wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens hath he given into thy hand, and hath made thee to rule over them all: 21thou art the head of gold.
21Babylon was known for gold objects and technology.
2: 39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee; and another third 22kingdom of copper, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
22Copper was mined in Meshech (Armenia), refined in Tubal (Caucasian Georgia), and fabricated in Javan (Ionia, modern Greece). Cf. Ez 27:13.
2: 40 And the fourth kingdom shall be 23strong as iron, forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron that crusheth all these, shall it break in pieces and crush.24
23Rome was known for its iron technology and its use in war.
24So Massoretic. 4QDana adds all the earth. Aram. adds every kingdom. Vg. (GkTh) add all these.
2: 41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with 25miry clay.
25Or, earthenware. or, ceramic. And in verse 43.
2: 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 26brittle.
26Or, broken.
2: 43 And whereas thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves 27with the seed of men; but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron doth not mingle with clay.
27Or, by the seed of men; or, as in marriage;
2: 44 And in the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty thereof be left to another people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
2: 45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that 28a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the copper, 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.
28Stone is usually a stronger ceramic than baked clay.
2: 46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should pour out an oblation and sweet odors unto him.
2: 47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou hast been able to reveal this secret.
2: 48 Then the king made Daniel great, and gave him many great gifts, and made him to rule over the whole province of Babylon, and to be chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon.
2: 49 And Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel was 29in the gate of the king.
29Or, at the king’s court.
