Daniel 2
2
Nebuchadnezzar's Dream
1In the second year that Nebuchadnezzar was king, he had a dream. It worried him so much that he couldn't sleep, 2#Gen 41.8so he sent for his fortune tellers, magicians, sorcerers, and wizards to come and explain the dream to him. When they came and stood before the king, 3he said to them, “I'm worried about a dream I have had. I want to know what it means.”
4They answered the king in Aramaic,#2.4 From here to the end of chapter 7, the language used is Aramaic, not Hebrew. “May Your Majesty live for ever! Tell us your dream, and we will explain it to you.”
5The king said to them, “I have made up my mind that you must tell me the dream and then tell me what it means. If you can't, I'll have you torn limb from limb and make your houses a pile of ruins. 6But if you can tell me both the dream and its meaning, I will reward you with gifts and great honour. Now then, tell me what the dream was and what it means.”
7They answered the king again, “If Your Majesty will only tell us what the dream was, we will explain it.”
8At that, the king exclaimed, “Just as I thought! You are trying to gain time, because you see that I have made up my mind 9to give all of you the same punishment if you don't tell me the dream. You have agreed among yourselves to go on telling me lies because you hope that in time things will change. Tell me what the dream was, and then I will know that you can also tell me what it means.”
10The advisers replied, “There is no one on the face of the earth who can tell Your Majesty what you want to know. No king, not even the greatest and most powerful, has ever made such a demand of his fortune tellers, magicians, and wizards. 11What Your Majesty is asking for is so difficult that no one can do it for you except the gods, and they do not live among human beings.”
12At that, the king flew into a rage and ordered the execution of all the royal advisers in Babylon. 13So the order was issued for all of them to be killed, including Daniel and his friends.
God Shows Daniel what the Dream Means
14Then Daniel went to Arioch, commander of the king's bodyguard, who had been ordered to carry out the execution. Choosing his words carefully, 15he asked Arioch why the king had issued such a harsh order. So Arioch told Daniel what had happened.
16Daniel went at once and obtained royal permission for more time, so that he could tell the king what the dream meant. 17Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened. 18He told them to pray to the God of heaven for mercy and to ask him to explain the mystery to them so that they would not be killed along with the other advisers in Babylon. 19Then that same night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision, and he praised the God of heaven:
20“God is wise and powerful!
Praise him for ever and ever.
21He controls the times and the seasons;
he makes and unmakes kings;
it is he who gives wisdom and understanding.
22He reveals things that are deep and secret;
he knows what is hidden in darkness,
and he himself is surrounded by light.
23I praise you and honour you, God of my ancestors.
You have given me wisdom and strength;
you have answered my prayer
and shown us what to tell the king.”
Daniel Tells the King the Dream and Explains it
24So Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had commanded to execute the royal advisers. He said to him, “Don't put them to death. Take me to the king, and I will tell him what his dream means.”
25At once Arioch took Daniel into King Nebuchadnezzar's presence and told the king, “I have found one of the Jewish exiles, who can tell Your Majesty the meaning of your dream.”
26The king said to Daniel (who was also called Belteshazzar), “Can you tell me what I dreamt and what it means?”
27Daniel replied, “Your Majesty, there is no wizard, magician, fortune teller, or astrologer who can tell you that. 28But there is a God in heaven, who reveals mysteries. He has informed Your Majesty what will happen in the future. Now I will tell you the dream, the vision you had while you were asleep.
29“While Your Majesty was sleeping, you dreamt about the future; and God, who reveals mysteries, showed you what is going to happen. 30Now, this mystery was revealed to me, not because I am wiser than anyone else, but so that Your Majesty may learn the meaning of your dream and understand the thoughts that have come to you.
31“Your Majesty, in your vision you saw standing before you a giant statue, bright and shining, and terrifying to look at. 32Its head was made of the finest gold; its chest and arms were made of silver; its waist and hips of bronze; 33its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34While you were looking at it, a great stone broke loose from a cliff without anyone touching it, struck the iron and clay feet of the statue, and shattered them. 35At once the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold crumbled and became like the dust on a threshing place in summer. The wind carried it all away, leaving not a trace. But the stone grew to be a mountain that covered the whole earth.
36“This was the dream. Now I will tell Your Majesty what it means. 37Your Majesty, you are the greatest of all kings. The God of heaven has made you emperor and given you power, might, and honour. 38He has made you ruler of all the inhabited earth and ruler over all the animals and birds. You are the head of gold. 39After you there will be another empire, not as great as yours, and after that a third, an empire of bronze, which will rule the whole earth. 40And then there will be a fourth empire, as strong as iron, which shatters and breaks everything. And just as iron shatters everything, it will shatter and crush all the earlier empires. 41You also saw that the feet and the toes were partly clay and partly iron. This means that it will be a divided empire. It will have something of the strength of iron, because there was iron mixed with the clay. 42The toes — partly iron and partly clay — mean that part of the empire will be strong and part of it weak. 43You also saw that the iron was mixed with the clay. This means that the rulers of that empire will try to unite their families by intermarriage, but they will not be able to, any more than iron can mix with clay. 44At the time of those rulers the God of heaven will establish a kingdom that will never end. It will never be conquered, but will completely destroy all those empires, and then last for ever. 45You saw how a stone broke loose from a cliff without anyone touching it and how it struck the statue made of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God is telling Your Majesty what will happen in the future. I have told you exactly what you dreamt, and have given you its true meaning.”
The King Rewards Daniel
46Then King Nebuchadnezzar bowed to the ground and gave orders for sacrifices and offerings to be made to Daniel. 47The king said, “Your God is the greatest of all gods, the Lord over kings, and the one who reveals mysteries. I know this because you have been able to explain this mystery.” 48Then he gave Daniel a high position, presented him with many splendid gifts, put him in charge of the province of Babylon, and made him the head of all the royal advisers. 49At Daniel's request the king put Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in charge of the affairs of the province of Babylon; Daniel, however, remained at the royal court.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Daniel 2
2
Nebuchadnezzar’s Troublesome Dream
1In the second year of his reign, # 2:1 This was likely 604 BC. Nebuchadnezzar had an ominous dream. # 2:1 Or “dreamed dreams” (see v. 3). Supernatural dreams are a valid means of God’s communication with people. God will speak through dreams to believers and unbelievers. See Gen. 15:12; 20:3; 28:10–22; 37:5; Job 33:14–18; Matt. 1:20. It left him so disturbed that he could not sleep. 2So the king called for his magicians, enchanters, wizards, and wise men # 2:2 Or “Chaldeans,” likely a general term for all who practice divination. The Babylonians were known as those who specialized in the magic arts. See “wise men” (v. 4). to tell him what he had dreamed. And they all came and stood before the unsettled king. 3He told them, “I’ve had a dream, and my heart is troubled. I want to know what my dream means.”
4The wise men answered him in Aramaic: # 2:4 The words “in Aramaic” are likely an editorial note added to the text. It is at this point that the text of Daniel changes from Hebrew to Aramaic and continues to the end of ch. 7. Aramaic was the lingua franca of the ancient Near East from the eighth century BC. It was the international language at the time of Daniel. “May you live forever, O king! Tell your servants the dream you had, and we will gladly reveal its meaning for you.”
5“My decision is final,” the king answered. “If you cannot tell me what I dreamed and what it means, I will have you torn limb from limb and turn your homes into garbage dumps. 6But if you can tell me what I dreamed and its interpretation, I will reward you with wonderful gifts and high honor in my kingdom. So now, tell me my dream and what it means.”
7They again replied, “Let the king tell his dream to us his servants, and we will gladly reveal its meaning.”
8But the king retorted, “I know what you’re doing; you’re just stalling for time! My decision is firm. 9If you do not interpret my dream for me, you will all receive the same punishment. You have conspired to continue deceiving me with your lies, hoping something will change. So, tell me now what I dreamed so that I can be assured that you are able to interpret it for me.”
10The wise men answered the king, “There is no one on earth who could do what Your Majesty commands. Furthermore, no king great or small has ever requested such a thing of any magician, enchanter, or astrologer. 11Your Majesty, what you ask is difficult, and it is impossible for anyone to reveal it except the gods, and they do not live with mortals.”
12At this the king flew into a violent rage and ordered all the wise men of Babylon to be executed. 13When the king’s decree was issued to have all the wise men killed, a search was also made for Daniel and his companions to have them put to death. # 2:13 It is curious that Daniel and his companions were not initially brought before Nebuchadnezzar to interpret his dream. Three reasons have been suggested: (1) They did not wish to appear to seek the rewards of the king. (2) The Babylonian wise men excluded them because of envy. (3) They had never let others know that they understood mysteries.
Daniel Intervenes
14As Arioch, captain of the royal bodyguard, # 2:14 Or “chief slaughterer.” set out to execute the wise men of Babylon, Daniel cautiously and tactfully # 2:14 Or “tastefully.” approached 15this royal official and asked him, “Why has the king issued such a harsh decree?” When Arioch explained all that had transpired, 16Daniel immediately went off to plead with the king for more time so that he could seek the interpretation of the king’s dream. # 2:16 Daniel’s admirable leadership skills are seen in this episode. He demonstrated the ability to keep calm under severe distress and pressure, even to the point of risking his life to spare others (see Est. 4:11). Daniel was unselfish, and he could think clearly. He exercised great faith in a moment of crisis. Truly, Daniel was one of the wisest men to ever live (see Dan. 1:17; 2:22–30).
17Daniel then went home and explained everything to his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 18He urged them to beg the God of heaven for mercy to help them unravel the mysterious secret # 2:18 This is the Hebrew word raz, a Persian loanword that is only found in the book of Daniel in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Its primary meaning is “profound secret.” Its Greek counterpart mysterion is found twenty-seven times in the New Testament. See Matt. 13:11; Rom. 16:25; Col. 1:26–27. of the king’s dream so that Daniel and his friends would not be executed with the other Babylonian wise men. 19That night, God clearly revealed to Daniel in a night vision # 2:19 See Job 33:15. the mystery of the dream. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven, 20saying,
“May the blessed name of God
be praised forever and ever, # 2:20 See Ps. 113:2.
for wisdom and might are his alone. # 2:20 See Job 12:13.
21He alone controls the changes of times and seasons. # 2:21 Or “the times and the set times.” Or to paraphrase: “He alone has authority over time and history” or “He controls epochs and eras.” See Acts 1:7.
He enthrones and dethrones kings,
he imparts wisdom to the wise, # 2:21 See 1 Kings 4:29.
and he pours out revelation-knowledge to those with understanding. # 2:21 The Aramaic expression liyad‘e binah can be translated “the knowers of understanding [discernment].”
22He alone reveals deep secrets and mysteries # 2:22 See Job 12:22.
and knows what lies in darkness, # 2:22 The darkness is a metaphor for the unknown.
for he radiates glory-light all around him. # 2:22 Or “light dwells along with him.” See Ex. 24:17; Ps. 104:2; Isa. 60:19–20; Ezek. 1:27; Hab. 3:4; John 8:12; 1 Tim. 6:16; James 1:17; 1 John 1:5–7. Ancient Jewish expositors taught that this verse spoke of the coming Messiah with his title of “Light.”
23You are the God worshiped by all my ancestors;
I give you thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom and power!
You have revealed to us the king’s dream
and unraveled to me its meaning.” # 2:23 Or “you have now made [enabled] me to understand what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the word of the king.”
Daniel Interprets the King’s Dream
24Then Daniel went back to see Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not kill the wise men. Take me into the king’s presence, and I will reveal the dream’s meaning to the king.” 25Without wasting a moment, Arioch escorted Daniel to see the king. Arioch said to Nebuchadnezzar, “Your Majesty, I have found one of the Jewish exiles who can reveal the meaning of your troublesome dream.”
26The king said to Daniel (whose Babylonian name was Belteshazzar), “Is this true? Can you tell me what I dreamed and what it means?”
27Daniel replied, “None of the wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers are able to unveil the mystery you have asked about, 28but there is an all-knowing God in heaven who reveals the deepest mysteries. Your Majesty, he is the one who has revealed to you what is to take place in the last days. Here is your dream, the vision that filled your mind as you lay in your bed:
29“Your Majesty, as you were going to sleep, your thoughts turned to what would happen in the future. The Revealer of Mysteries has disclosed future events to you. 30This mystery has been revealed to me not because I am wiser than anyone else but for one divine purpose: # 2:30 We get a glimpse of the humility of this seer, Daniel. He knew that only God reveals these mysteries for his own purposes. Compare Joseph’s words to Pharaoh (see Gen. 41:16, 25). so that you, the king, should learn what it means and that you would understand your innermost thoughts.
31“Your Majesty, you saw standing before you a huge statue of a man. It was both dazzling and terrifying to behold! 32The head of this statue was of purest gold, its chest and arms were of gleaming silver, its belly and hips of polished bronze, 33its legs of iron, and its feet were partly iron and partly clay. # 2:33 That is, baked clay or pottery. 34While you were staring at this statue, a boulder broke off from a mountain # 2:34 As translated from a few Hebrew and Greek manuscripts (see v. 45; see also Zech. 3:9; 4:7). but not by the instrument of human hands. # 2:34 That is, it was a supernatural event, an invisible hand that caused this boulder to break away. This “boulder” is a picture of the altar of God. It, too, must not be cut by human hands (see Ex. 20:25). The altar (where we meet God) becomes a mountain (see Dan. 2:35). This is the rock upon which Jesus builds his church (see Matt. 16:18). The boulder struck the statue at its base and shattered its feet of iron and clay into pieces. 35Then, all at once, the entire statue collapsed into a heap of rubble. The iron and clay, bronze, silver, and gold were all pulverized as fine as chaff on the summer threshing-floor. The wind blew the shattered pieces away, leaving not a trace behind. # 2:35 Or “there was no room left for them.” See Rev. 20:11. But the boulder that hit the statue grew into a massive mountain that covered # 2:35 The Aramaic word mela’ can also be translated “completed,” “accomplished,” “filled [to abundance],” “satisfied,” or “prospered.” This boulder that grew into a “massive mountain” is Jesus our King, who has grown into a kingdom of priests. This is the mountain of the temple of the Lord that is higher and greater than any other mountain (kingdom). It is destined to demolish the kingdoms of this world until it covers the earth with the glory of the Lord. the whole earth. 36This was your dream. And now, we # 2:36 The first-person plural “we” at this point is surprising. Four different explanations have been proposed: (1) This was a royal “we” or plural of majesty, but it is unlikely that Daniel would speak a plural of majesty about himself before Nebuchadnezzar. (2) The “we” referred to Daniel and his three friends, but there is no indication that they were present with Daniel during his conversation with the king. (3) The “we” referred to Daniel and God. (4) The “we” was a form of modesty, a way of showing Daniel’s humility by avoiding the use of “I,” which may appear pretentious or boastful. will explain to the king what it means.
37“Your Majesty, you are the greatest of kings. The God of heaven has bestowed upon you royal authority, power, might, and honor. 38He has handed over to you people, beasts, and birds, wherever they live, making you king of them all. You, O king, are the golden head. # 2:38 The statue’s golden head represented Nebuchadnezzar and the kingdom of Babylon (612–539 BC).
39“And after you are gone, another kingdom will arise, a kingdom not as great as yours. # 2:39 Or literally “closer to the earth from you.” The statue’s silver chest and arms represented the kingdom of the Medes and Persians (539–331 BC). Some commentators divide this into two kingdoms, the Median and the Persian, but there never was a Median kingdom. The silver represented the Medes and Persians who ruled jointly and toppled the Babylonian Empire.
And then a third kingdom will arise to rule the land, a kingdom of bronze. # 2:39 The statue’s belly and hips of bronze represented the kingdom of Greece (331–63 BC).
40“And there will be a fourth kingdom, strong and hard as iron. It will shatter all things in its way. Like iron that breaks everything to pieces, it will crush and break all the other kingdoms. # 2:40 The statue’s legs of iron represented the kingdom of Rome (63 BC–AD 476).
41“The feet and toes you saw, partly of iron and partly of clay, represent a divided kingdom that will retain some of the iron’s strength, just as you saw the iron and the clay mixed together. 42That its feet and toes were partly iron and partly clay # 2:42 The statue’s feet and toes of iron mixed with clay represented the divided nations (AD 476–present). means that this kingdom will be both strong and fragile. 43And just as you saw the iron and the clay mingled together, so the people of this kingdom will seek to be united, # 2:43 Or “they will mix themselves with the seed of men,” a possible reference to attempting to join together by marriage between opposing tribes or nations. This was probably a reference to the intermarriage of the Seleucids and the Ptolemies in 194 BC. but they will not bond any more than iron will permanently bond with clay.
44“In the days of those kings of iron and clay, the God of heaven will set up an eternal kingdom that will never be destroyed nor ruled by other people. # 2:44 Or “be left to another people [or other kingdoms].” It will shatter and bring all other kingdoms to an end, and it will stand forever! 45This is the meaning of what you saw in your vision: a rock cut out of a mountain—but not by human hands—a rock that shattered the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold to pieces is his eternal kingdom. The Great God has revealed to you, the king, what will take place after this. The dream is true, and its interpretation trustworthy.”
The King Honors Daniel
46Then King Nebuchadnezzar bowed low to the ground in awe # 2:46 The Aramaic word carries the idea of the humility of one who bows before one greater, to show his submission and obedience. of Daniel. Then he gave orders for incense to be burned and a sacrifice of grain to be offered in Daniel’s honor. 47The king said to Daniel, “Your god is without question the God of all gods, the Master of all kings, and the Revealer of all mysteries since he has given you the revelation of this mystery.”
48Then the king promoted Daniel and made him great in the kingdom and gave him many wonderful gifts. He also made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and the chief of all the wise men of Babylon. 49At Daniel’s request, the king delegated the affairs of the province of Babylon to his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Daniel remained in the king’s palace. # 2:49 Or literally “at the king’s door.” Daniel was not present for the events of ch. 3.
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