Daniel 2: 1-12 HCSB
1 In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams that troubled him, and sleep deserted him. 2 So the king gave orders to summon the diviner-priests, mediums, sorcerers, and Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. When they came and stood before the king, 3 he said to them, "I have had a dream and am anxious to understand it." 4 The Chaldeans spoke to the king (Aramaic begins here): "May the king live forever. Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation." 5 The king replied to the Chaldeans, "My word is final: If you don't tell me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb, and your houses will be made a garbage dump. 6 But if you make the dream and its interpretation known to me, you'll receive gifts, a reward, and great honor from me. So make the dream and its interpretation known to me." 7 They answered a second time, "May the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will give the interpretation." 8 The king replied, "I know for certain you are trying to gain some time, because you see that my word is final. 9 If you don't tell me the dream, there is one decree for you. You have conspired to tell me something false or fraudulent until the situation changes. So tell me the dream and I will know you can give me its interpretation." 10 The Chaldeans answered the king, "No one on earth can make known what the king requests. Consequently, no king, however great and powerful, has ever asked anything like this of any diviner-priest, medium, or Chaldean. 11 What the king is asking is so difficult that no one can make it known to him except the gods, whose dwelling is not with mortals." 12 Because of this, the king became violently angry and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
The First chapter clearly states that Daniel was training for three years before he joined the king's court, but this happens in the second year of the king's reign. what we know about the history of this period explains the difficulty. At the beginning of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar co-ruled with his father Nabopolassar until his fathers death. Therefore the second year mentioned would be that of his sole rulership of the kingdom. The Chaldeans mention are a group of Babylonian priest from the original tribe of Babylon. I love the shrewdness of the king here, he knows that the priests could make up any interpretation they thought would please him, but if they could also tell him the dream that would show true divine knowledge.
Daniel 2: 13-45 HCSB
13 The decree was issued that the wise men were to be executed, and they searched for Daniel and his friends, to execute them. 14 Then Daniel responded with tact and discretion to Arioch, the commander of the king's guard, who had gone out to execute the wise men of Babylon. 15 He asked Arioch, the king's officer, "Why is the decree from the king so harsh?" Then Arioch explained the situation to Daniel. 16 So Daniel went and asked the king to give him some time, so that he could give the king the interpretation. 17 Then Daniel went to his house and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah about the matter, 18 [urging] them to ask the God of heaven for mercy concerning this mystery, so Daniel and his friends would not be killed with the rest of Babylon's wise men. 19 The mystery was then revealed to Daniel in a vision at night, and Daniel praised the God of heaven 20 and declared: May the name of God be praised forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him. 21 He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. 22 He reveals the deep and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him. 23 I offer thanks and praise to You, God of my fathers, because You have given me wisdom and power. And now You have let me know what we asked of You, for You have let us know the king's mystery. 24 Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had assigned to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He came and said to him, "Don't kill the wise men of Babylon! Bring me before the king, and I will give him the interpretation." 25 Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king and said to him, "I have found a man among the Judean exiles who can let the king know the interpretation." 26 The king said in reply to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, "Are you able to tell me the dream I had and its interpretation?" 27 Daniel answered the king: "No wise man, medium, diviner-priest, or astrologer is able to make known to the king the mystery he asked about. 28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has let King Nebuchadnezzar know what will happen in the last days. Your dream and the visions [that came into] your mind [as you lay] in bed were these: 29 Your Majesty, while you were in your bed, thoughts came [to your mind] about what will happen in the future. The revealer of mysteries has let you know what will happen. 30 As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but in order that the interpretation might be made known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind. 31 "My king, as you were watching, a colossal statue appeared. That statue, tall and dazzling, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was terrifying. 32 The head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its stomach and thighs were bronze, 33 its legs were iron, and its feet were partly iron and partly fired clay. 34 As you were watching, a stone broke off without a hand touching it, struck the statue on its feet of iron and fired clay, and crushed them. 35 Then the iron, the fired clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were shattered and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. 36 "This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation. 37 Your Majesty, you are king of kings. The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and glory. 38 Wherever people live-or wild animals, or birds of the air-He has handed them over to you and made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold. 39 "After you, there will arise another kingdom, inferior to yours, and then another, a third kingdom, of bronze, which will rule the whole earth. 40 A fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron; for iron crushes and shatters everything, and like iron that smashes, it will crush and smash all the others. 41 You saw the feet and toes, partly of a potter's fired clay and partly of iron-it will be a divided kingdom, though some of the strength of iron will be in it. You saw the iron mixed with clay, 42 and that the toes of the feet were part iron and part fired clay-part of the kingdom will be strong, and part will be brittle. 43 You saw the iron mixed with clay-the peoples will mix with one another but will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with fired clay. 44 "In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be left to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself endure forever. 45 You saw a stone break off from the mountain without a hand touching it, and it crushed the iron, bronze, fired clay, silver, and gold. The great God has told the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its interpretation certain."
Daniel is given the interpretaion by God and takes it to the king, being sure to let him know that this was from God's power and not from any special abilities Daniel had, as well as being very clear that the dreams themselves Come from Daniels God. The Babylonians had their own gods including Nebo, the Babylonian god of wisdom, from whom Nebuchadnezzar takes his own name, which means either "Nebo protect the kingdom" or "Nebo protect your favored son" . The dreams and prophecies given in Daniel are extermely accuate to recorded history, which has caused most secular scholars to claim that it had to have been written after the facts, prpbably in the second century B.C., not long before the earliest copies we have of Daniel from the dead sea scrolls, and therfore the kingdoms mentioned being Babylon, Persia, Medes, and Greece. This does not fit with the text of Daniel however, it is clear Daniel sees Medo-Persia as one kingdom, his description of the third and fourth kingdoms match more closley Greece being 3 and Rome being 4 than Persia as 3 and Greece as 4. In the interpretation it is clear to us looking back on history that the Golden head repersents Babylon, the silver the Medo-Persian kingdom, the brass Greece, And the iron Rome. The feet of iron mixed with clay refers to the end of the Roman Empire, when it breaks up into ten kingdoms and mixes with various barbarian races. The Stone in Verse 44 is the Kingdom of God brought about by the Death and resurection of Christ in the hearts of believers.
Daniel 2: 46-49 HCSB
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell down, paid homage to Daniel, and gave orders to present an offering and incense to him. 47 The king said to Daniel, "Your God is indeed God of gods, Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery." 48 Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many generous gifts. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 At Daniel's request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to manage the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king's court.
Though Nebuchadnezzar recognizes God befor Daniel and rewards Daniel for what God has done, this does nothing to change the kings heart, as we see in the next chapter.
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