Daniel 2

Daniel 2:1-13

The date of this prophecy is said to be in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign; but as it appears Daniel was carried captive in the first, and continued three years under the custom of the Chaldean fages, this creature a difficulty, which interpreters have variously solved. The most probable way of accounting for it seems to be, that this year was the fourth from his being associated with his father in the empire, and the second from his death, when he reigned alone; or, the second year to the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, commencing from the time Daniel was appointed to some employment about the king. We have here.

1. The troubled dreams of this mighty monarch. Whilst his mournful subjects kept undisturbed, his agitated mind was barralled with strange imaginations; and the deep impurities made by them dwell upon his spirit, occasioned vast perplexity in his thoughts, and drove deep from his eyelids. Now, We are apt to envy those who roll in affluence, and live in all the pomp of earthly grandeur; but we know not the pangs they often feel, and their fretless hours, because of fear in the night.

2. His magicians and astrologers are summoned to shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof; for though the painful impression of it remained, the particulars were gone from his memory. They instantly attend his orders, with warmth wishes for his prosperity express their high respect for the king, and requesting the recital of the dream, confidently promise the interpretation thereof. They spoke in the Syriac or Chaldee tongue, which was then the same, however different from, and to the eighth chapter this language is used, that the Chaldeans might read, and be convinced of the folly of their idolatry, and turned to the true God. The request of the magicians seemed highly reasonable; but the king, unable to grant it, notified upon their telling him the dream itself, on penalty of their utter destruction if they failed, and with a promise of the greatest rewards and honours if they could greatly him herein. In vain they remonstrated the impossibility and unreasonableness of the demand; impossible, because, as they confess, none for the god, who have not their dwelling until first, were capable of such knowledge. They admit the divine omniscience, though, blindly erring, they ascribe that which alone belongs to the one infi-

nize and eternal Jehovah, to their many seditious deities: Unreasonable, because never king before required such a thing from any magician or footshaver. But their remonstrances exasperate, instead of convincing this despotic monarch; for arbitrary power is deaf to reason. He upbraids them, as if they had combined to impose upon him, and meant only to gain time, till either he should look the desire of knowing the dream, or be unable to recollect, if what they should advance was true; or till his threatening to punish them should be changed: he therefore infills on the immediate satisfaction of his desire, persuaded that, could they tell the dream, they could not fail of giving the true interpretation also. The magicians repeat their remonstrances, and the king grows more furious; for where passion rages, and obstinacy in the wrong refutes to bear the voice of truth; reason, however mildly urged, instead of soothing, but exasperates; and where power is with the oppressors, what they cannot support with equity, they will push on with fury. The magicians and wise men are therefore doomed to die without exception; and Daniel and his fellows, though entirely ignorant of the whole recollection, are fought for among the rest to be slain. We may observe here, (1.) What a misery it is to live under an arbitrary government, where neither law nor reason avail any thing against the despotic will of a merciless tyrant. (2.) Though these magicians were now about to suffer unjustly, yet God was righteous, in permitting those to be punished for what they really never pretended to do, in return for their daring to impose on others, by pretending to that which they knew themselves unable to perform.

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. 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 defired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation. 17. Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishrael, and Azariah, his companions: 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. 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. 21. And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removed kings, and seteth up kings: he given wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding. 22. He revealed 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.

Daniel 2:14-23

When tyrants reign, they will not want instruments to execute their unjust decrees. Already was Arioch gone forth for this bloody work, and Daniel, among the rest appointed to the daughter: but God had otherwise ordained; and now when destruction seemed most fearfully to hang over him and his companions, all things were working together for their more distinguished honour and advancement. So little can we judge of good or evil by outward appearances.

Daniel, though before this so famed for his skill, and acknowledged by the king to be ten times wider than all his fages, had not been consulted or thought of; for passion excludes all deliberate reflection; but his prudence and prayer now warded off the fatal blow that threatened so much mischief.

1. He mildly interrogates the captain on the reason of this hasty decree; and when he learnt the cause, he went in, or up unto the king, and humbly begs a short respite, undertaking to give the king all the satisfaction he desired; and now sensible of his hallmarks, or rather wrongful upon by the invisible hand of him who hath the hearts of kings at his disposal, the request is granted, and the execution Sayed.

2. No sooner is Daniel retired, than he hath recourse in prayer to the God of heaven, who alone could reveal the secret; and he engages his three faithful companions to join in their supplications for the same mercy, in which they were alike interested with himself, since, should the king’s decree be put in force, they must perish with the magicians. Note, (1.) In every emergence prayer should be our first recourse. (2.) It is good to have praying friends, and our duty to desire, as well as an high privilege to enjoy, an interest in their supplications.

(3.) All our hopes of an answer from God arise from faith in his promised mercies, and they who thus draw near to him, shall never be disappointed.

3. God heard and answered their requests. He revealed the secret to Daniel in a night-wilson either the following night he dreamed the same dream Nebuchadnezzar had forgotten, or God revealed it to him, with the interpretation thereof, immediately after the prayer he had offered. So effectual is the fervent prayer of the righteous, God will shew them secret things, which others cannot attain to.

4. No sooner is the mercy granted, than his grateful heart overflows with deep acknowledgments. They who pray in faith, are sure to praise with joyful lips. He adores and blasts God’s great and glorious name for ever and ever; so worthy to be praised, and to be had in everlasting remembrance. (1.) He ascribes to him all wisdom and might; wisdom infinite to design, and power infinite to execute all his purposes. (2.) He acknowledges him as the sovereign defies of all persons and things. He changeth the times and sinners; all the revolutions of them and kingdoms are his work, as much as the various lessons of the year. No chance or uncertainty is left in any of the things beneath the sun, but all are fixed and come to pass, according to his eternal comforts. He removeth kings, and fetteth up kings; for he is King of kings, and they and their kingdoms stand as fast as his pleasure. (3.) He is the giver of all wisdom; the greatest politicians and the wieldy statesmen are wholly indebted to him for the abolitics; which they guffeth; for he preach wisdom to the wife, and knowledge to them that knots understanding; and where the most enlarged minds must come there, and all human science be at a stand, he recollect the deep and secret things; the mysteries of grace, and secrets of providence, particularly the dream of the king, which none but he could ever declare; for he knoweth what is in darkness, the inmost recites of men’s hearts, the schemes laid with deepest secrecy, and the dreams of darkness, even those that when men awake are fled from their memory; and the light dwelleth with him; no darkness conceals from his all-being eye, and all divine illumination flows from him, as rays from the sun. (4.) He particularly adores him for the revelation he had now given him of this dream: I thank and praye thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom, to understand this secret, and might, to courage, to go in to the king during his fury; and half made known unto me now what we desired of thee, the revelation and interpretation of the king’s dream, which they had fought with their united prayers; for thou hast made known unto us the king’s matter, or word. Nite, (1.) Whatever God bellows upon us, to his glory must it be ascribed. (2.) True humility will make us willing to communicate with our brethren the honour God puts upon us, and to ascribe our mercies to the efficacy of their prayers, as much as of our own.

5. ¶ Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wife-men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him, Destroy not the wife-men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation. 15. 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. 16. The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Beisthazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof? 17. Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded, cannot the wife-men, the alltoingers, the magicians, the footdiagers, shew unto the king; 18. But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and makeeth 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; 19. (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 unto thee what shall come to pass. 20. But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me, for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their fakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.

6. ¶ 24—30. No sooner had Daniel returned due thanks to that God who had so graciously answered his prayers, than in haste he applies to Arioch to be introduced to the king, and by giving him the satisfaction he desired with regard to his dream, to prevent the execution of the raft sentence he had pronounced upheld his fages. Arioch is eager to bring him to the presence of the monarch, well-knowing how acceptable the service would be, and, courtier-like, insinuates, as if he had fought for

an interpreter, when he really only fought for Daniel as his excelsior. So ready are the crafty at improving incidents to their own advantage, where, instead of justly claiming merit, they really deserved rebuke.

1. The king hastily harrengates Daniel on the matter: Art thou able to make known unto me the dream, and the interpretation of the matter? which may express either his doubt of his ability, where all the wife men of the court had before confessed their ignorance; or his admiration at the amazing understanding of so young a man; or his regiments to hear the particulars of that dream which had so deeply affected him.

2. Daniel’s answer is most noble, spirited, and pious.

(1.) He seeks to cover the magicians with confusion, and to convince the king of the vanity of trusting on such wretched guides: they deserved not indeed to be destroyed, but ought to be despised. This secret baffled all their rules of art, and shewed how ill-grounded were their pretences to occult science, and the folly of depending upon them. Nite, The experience of disappointment should wean us from creature-confidence.

(2.) He would direct the king to the only proper object of his worship and truth, even the God of heaven, who revealed secrets; secrets which all the pretended desires of the Chaldeans could never reach their worshippers, and which human zealots never could discover.

(3.) He declares the matter in question to be highly momentous; that the king’s dream was from God, and the subject of it relative to the greatest events of festivity, the exaltation and demolition of the successive monarchies of the world, till in the latter day that kingdom should be erected that shall never be destroyed. It should seem as if the king, v. 29, was muting upon the fate of the monarchy himself had erected, when God in wilson shewed him the things that should afterwards come to pass.

(4.) He humbly disclaims all merit, and desires that this discovery may not be ascribed to any superior sagacity in him; but that the praise may be ascribed purely to God, who revealed this secret to him, for their fakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, even for the sake of all the Jewish people, as well as himself and his companions, that they might obtain favour in the sight of the king, whose servants and captives they were; and for the king’s sake also, that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart, which he was so anxious to do, and in which the Lord condescended to gratify him. Nite, (1.) Distinguished abidors never appear to admirable, as when accompanied by distinguished humility. (2.) A gracious soul desires to disclaim all merit, and to ascribe to God’s free grace all the excellence which is in him, and all the good done by him. (3.) The humble are ever ready to think, that what God doth for them and by them, is more for others fakes than for their own.

31. ¶ Thou, O king, saweth, and behold, a great image: this great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee, and the form thereof was terrible. 32. ¶ This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass. 33. His legs of iron, his feet part of iron, and part of clay. 34. Thou saweth 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. 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-threshing-floors, 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. 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. 38. ¶ And wherefore the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field, and the fowls of the heaven hath be given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all: thou art this head of gold. 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. 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. 41. And whereas thou saweth the feet and toes, part of posters, clay, and part of iron: the kingdom shall be divided, but there shall be it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou saweth the iron mixed with mury 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. 43. And whereas thou fawell iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the feed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. 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. 45. Forasmuch as thou fawell that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke 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 pals hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

Daniel 2:31-45

Having prefaced his discourse with such piety and humility, he proceeds to the point, to the king’s entire satisfaction. We have,

1. The dream. An image, in a human form, stood before the king; the sculpture admirable, the lustre uncommon: the form tremendous, either its countenance breathed fury, or its Christian face struck the beholders with fear and awe. The head was gold, the breath and arms silver, the belly and thighs brass, the legs iron, the feet part of iron, part of clay. Thus stood the mighty image, till, by an unseen hand, a stone, hewn from the mountain, smote the feet, and fudden the image fell, dashed in pieces with the stroke, and beaten to dust as the clasp of the summer threshing-stars; whilst the stone, that smote the statue, swelled into a mountain, to vall and huge that it filled the whole earth.

2. The interpretation. In speaking of which he joins his companions with himself, v. 26. to do them honour, and because it was given in answer to their prayers.

[1.] The image represented the successive monarchies of the world. 1. The head of gold was the Chaldean monarchy, over which Nebuchadnezzar then precluded; his dominion was vast, and he ruled with most despotic sway, the iron and properties of his subjects being at his disposal: but all his power, greatness, and glory, were derived from above; though he was a king of kings, he was but the minister of the God of honour, who had given into his hand the kingdoms of the world, and to whom he was accountable; and of this the highest of the sons of men should be ever reminded. This monarchy was to be transmitted to his son Evilmerodach, and his son’s son Belthazar, till the expiration of the seventy years prophesied by Jeremiah, xxv. 9-11. xxvii. 5-7. 2. The breast and arms of silver signified the kingdom of the Medes and Persians, inferior to the former, as silver is less precious than gold; for, though at first their dominions were as extensive, they quickly declined from the summit of grandeur. This monarchy was founded by Cyrus, whose father was a Persian, his mother a Mede, the two arms that met in him, and lasted, according to the computation of some, 130 years; though others extend it to 204 years. 3. The third kingdom, represented by the belly and thighs of brass, was the Grecian monarchy under Alexander, who subdued the last Medo-Persian king Darius Codomannus, and bore rule over all the earth, weeping, it is said, that he had not more worlds to conquer. After his decease his dominions were divided, and chiefly published by two of his successors, whose descendants, the Seleucidæ and Lagidæ, who reigned in Egypt and Syria, are the thighs of brass. 4. The fourth monarchy is the Roman, signified by the legs of iron, and the feet of iron and clay. Strong as iron, their armies broke in pieces the Grecian empire, and followed most of the nations in the then known world; and the Jewish people especially felt their terrible fury: but, in process of time, this monarchy declined from its former splendor, and became broken and divided into ten different kingdoms by the irruption of the Goths and Vandals; like the feet and toes, part of iron and clay, some of these flates, that rode out of the ruins of the empire, retaining much of the strength of the iron, whilst others were weak as miry clay; and though they shall mingle themselves with the feed of men, the barbarous nations which broke in upon them, or endeavour to cement the divided kingdoms by intermarriages and alliances, yet the attempt will be as fruitless as to mix iron and clay together, the jarring interests and ambition of the several flates preventing their cordial union, and inducing them to weaken and destroy each other.

[2.] The stone, hewn out of the mountain without hands, prefigured the kingdom of the divine Messiah, not supported by human power, or promoted by human policy, but by the invisible agency of the eternal Spirit established beyond the malice of every enemy, and enduring for ever and ever. The God of heaven himself more immediately sets up the kingdom, of which his own Son is the glorious head. It tends in the days of these kings who reigned during the last monarchy, Christ being born under the reign of Augustus: and as it then began to spread, and hath continued to this day, so shall it be still wider and farther extended, till all the opposing powers of earth are broken, and every enemy shall bow before it. A kingdom this, which shall not, as the former monarchies, be transferred from one

people to another; but shall endure not only through the days of time, but be onward with the ages of eternity.

Thus having declared the dream, with the interpretation, to the fullest satisfaction of the king, he closes with an assurance of the divine original of the dream, as coming from that great God who only can foresee and foresee future events, and compared with whom the gods of the nations are less than nothing and vanity. His word is truth, and therefore the events here precluded will assuredly be fulfilled in their season. The dream is certain, and the interpretation here.

46. ¶ Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation, and sweet colours unto him. 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 couldst reveal this secret. 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. 49. Then Daniel requested of the king, and the set Shadrach, Messiah, and Abed-nego over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.

Daniel 2:46-49

We have here,

1. This mighty king prostrate before the prophet. He was overwhelmed with wonder and awe at what he heard, and as it a divinity had spoken; (for no other, he supposes, could reveal such hidden things of futurity:) he falls down to worship his captive, and commands divine honours to be paid him; which, though no doubt Daniel utterly rejected, sufficiently testified the high apprehensions the king entertained of his surpassing excellence.

2. He ascribes the highest honour to the God of Daniel, acknowledging his incomparable glory and greatness, as the God of Gods, infinitely superior to all others; the Lord of kings, setting them up and removing them at his pleasures; and a revealer of secrets which none besides could ever have known.

3. He advanced Daniel to the highest post of honour, loaded him with gifts, made him governor of Babylon the metropolis of the empire, placed him at the head of all the wise men, and kept him in his court, probably as his prime minister. Nor were his companions forgotten; but, at his request, they were raised to the dignity of chief rulers in the province of Babylon. Note, [1.] They, whom the providence of God advances, should not forget their old friends. [2.] It is a supreme blessing and happiness for any nation, when men of eminent abilities, joined with distinguished piety, are put in trust with the administration of affairs.

Daniel 2:48

Belen Chod (2)

buchadnezzar put upon Daniel, in recompense for this, and the preferences of his companions with him, ver. 46—47.

1. AND in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his deep brake from him. 2. Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the forcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams: for they came, and stood before the king. 3. And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream. 4. Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriac, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation. 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 dunghil. 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. 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. 9. But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is not 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. 11. And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other than can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. 12. For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise-men of Babylon. 13. And the decree went forth, that the wise-men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.