Daniel 2

1. In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Three years at least must have elapsed (see i. 5, 18) since the date of the occurrences recorded in i. 1, 2, where Nebuchadrezzar is called “king.” The date in this verse is probably reckoned from the commencement of his sole reign, at his father’s death, about two years after he had undertaken the expedition against Palestine. This would allow an interval of nearly four years.

2 the Chaldeans. “The diviners” (Moffatt) or dream-interpreters.

4 in Syriac. Aramaic. See note on i. 4.

[Here the Aramaic portion of the book commences, and it is continued to the end of vii.]

5. The thing is gone from me. Meaning either, “The dream has escaped my memory”; or, “The decree has gone from me,” and is irrevocable.

cut in pieces. Lit., “made pieces”; a severe but not uncommon punishment: see 1 Sam. xv. 33. Assyrian sculptures represent the infliction of it, by the cutting off the various limbs of the criminal.

8 gain the time. i.e., you desire to gain advantage by delay.

9 there is but one decree for you. Or, “one fate awaits you.”

till the time be changed. Until you can secure a favourable day for your purposes.

14 the captain of the king’s guard. See note on Gen. xxxvii. 36.

16 that he would give him time. The narrative implies that his request was successful. The king’s passion may have cooled, or Daniel’s demeanour may have pleased him; but we must not fail to observe in it God’s all-controlling hand; see i. 9.

18 that they would desire mercies, etc. It was evident that none could help them but God, and that this could only be expected in answer to prayer.

the God of heaven. God—not one of many deities, but supreme. The title is found in Gen. xxiv. 7; but was more usual after the Captivity.

20. Blessed be the name of God. Every answer to prayer should call forth praise: cp. Phil. iv. 6.

wisdom and might are His. Daniel’s mind was evidently occupied not only with the mercy shown to himself and his friends, by the dream being made known to him, but also with the great subjects of the dream itself, as illustrating God’s power and wisdom in the change of empires from age to age.

23. O Thou God of my fathers. The order of words in the original is emphatic: “To Thee, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise.”

25. I have found a man of the captives of Judah, etc. Haughtily ignoring the fact that Daniel was already known to the king.

27. Daniel answered, etc. Cp. Joseph’s language on a similar occasion, Gen. xl. 8; xli. 16.

30 for [their] sakes that shall make known, etc. Rather, as R.V., “but to the intent that the interpretation may be made known unto the king.”

31 a great image. This dream accords perfectly with its great object. A colossal image in which heterogeneous materials were combined to make one human form, aptly symbolises the great empires of the world, which, with all their differences, are in nature alike, and all earthly and human. That they appear combined in one

35 that no place was found for them. i.e., they utterly disappeared: cp. Psa. xxxvii. 10; ciii. 16; Rev. xx. 11.

36 we will tell, etc. Daniel modestly includes his companions.

38 ruler over them all. The word “all,” like other absolute terms, is frequently used in Scripture with a limited sense: see Deut. ii. 25; Matt. iii. 5. But Nebuchadrezzar, or the Babylonian empire, as supreme over the whole realm of Asiatic civilisation, was the first fitting representative of the world-power, “the head of gold.”

39 another kingdom inferior to thee. The Median kingdom. There has been, and is, considerable diversity of opinion as to the identity of all the four kingdoms. But, in the words of the late Dean Farrar (Expositor’s Bible: Daniel), written thirty years ago and confirmed by recent scholars, “it may be regarded as a certain result of exegesis that the four empires are: (1) the Babylonian; (2) the Median; (3) the Persian; (4) the Greco-Macedonian.”

another third kingdom of brass. The Persian.

40 the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron. The Greco-Macedonian kingdom.

41 the feet and toes. The feet probably represent the kingdoms of the Selucidæ in Syria and of the Ptolemies in Egypt, the two most important of the kingdoms into which the Greco-Macedonian empire was broken up. The toes represent the minor kingdoms.

miry clay. Rather, “earthenware clay.” The clay and iron were evidently intermingled (see ver. 43), though they were “divided,” so that they would not coalesce; and thus the strength of the iron was useless through the brittleness of the clay.

43 they shall mingle themselves, etc. Rather, “They shall be mixing themselves among the race of man, but they shall not be cleaving one to another”; i.e., there shall be mixture, but not union.

44 shall not be left to other people. That is, it shall not be transferred to another people, as the previous kingdoms had been.

45 and worshipped Daniel. That Nebuchadrezzar did not treat Daniel as a god is clear from the next verse; for he attributes the revealing of the secret to Daniel’s God. “To worship” is used in the sense of bow down to: to honour. The French version has “se prosterna devant Daniel” (“prostrated himself before Daniel”).

47 your God is a God of gods. Nebuchadrezzar was evidently convinced of the wisdom and supremacy of Jehovah; yet he remained an idolater, as the sequel shows.

48 the whole province of Babylon. The district around the capital.

all the wise men of Babylon. The “wise men” appear to have been arranged in certain orders or classes, each having its head. Daniel was placed over the whole as the president.

49 over the affairs of the province. Governors of the province under Daniel. Daniel did not forget, in his prosperity, the companions of his captivity.

Daniel [sat] in the gate of the king. Nebuchadrezzar retained him at court, as one of his confidential advisers.