21 Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar , Nebuchadnezzar had dreams ; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him. 2 Then the king gave orders to call in the magicians , the conjurers , the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams . So they came in and stood before the king . 3 The king said to them, "I had a dream and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream ." 4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic : " O king , live forever ! Tell the dream to your servants , and we will declare the interpretation ." 5 The king replied to the Chaldeans , "The command from me is firm : if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation , you will be torn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap . 6 "But if you declare the dream and its interpretation , you will receive from me gifts and a reward and great honor ; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation ." 7 They answered a second time and said , "Let the king tell the dream to his servants , and we will declare the interpretation ." 8 The king replied , "I know for certain that you are bargaining for time , inasmuch e e as you have seen that the command from me is firm , 9 that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only one decree for you. For you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt words before me until e the situation is changed ; therefore tell me the dream , that I may know that you can declare to me its interpretation ." 10 The Chaldeans answered the king and said , "There is not a man on earth who could declare the matter for the king , inasmuch e e as no e great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any magician , conjurer or Chaldean . 11 "Moreover, the thing which the king demands is difficult , and there is no one else who could declare it to the king except gods , whose dwelling place is not with mortal flesh ." 12 Because e of this the king became indignant and very furious and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon . 13 So the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain ; and they looked for Daniel and his friends to kill them.
14 Then Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to Arioch , the captain of the king's bodyguard , who had gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon ; 15 he said to Arioch , the king's commander , "For what reason e is the decree from the king so urgent ?" Then Arioch informed Daniel about the matter . 16 So Daniel went in and requested of the king that he would give him time , in order that he might declare the interpretation to the king . 17 Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends , Hananiah , Mishael and Azariah , about the matter , 18 so that they might request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery , so that Daniel and his friends would not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon . 19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night vision . Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven ; 20 Daniel said , "Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever , For wisdom and power belong to Him. 21 "It is He who changes the times and the epochs ; He removes kings and establishes kings ; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding . 22 "It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things ; He knows what is in the darkness , And the light dwells with Him. 23 "To You, O God of my fathers , I give thanks and praise , For You have given me wisdom and power ; Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You, For You have made known to us the king's matter ."
24 Therefore e e , Daniel went in to Arioch , whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon ; he went and spoke to him as follows : " Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon ! Take me into the king's presence , and I will declare the interpretation to the king ." 25 Then Arioch hurriedly brought Daniel into the king's presence and spoke to him as follows : "I have found a man among e the exiles e from Judah who can make the interpretation known to the king !" 26 The king said to Daniel , whose name was Belteshazzar , "Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation ?" 27 Daniel answered before the king and said , "As for the mystery about which the king has inquired , neither wise men , conjurers , magicians nor diviners are able to declare it to the king . 28 "However , there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries , and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days . This was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed . 29 "As for you, O king , while on your bed your thoughts turned to what would take place in the future ; and He who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will take place . 30 "But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me for any wisdom residing in me more than in any other living man , but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king , and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind .
31 "You, O king , were looking and behold , there was a single great statue ; that statue , which was large and of extraordinary splendor , was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome . 32 "The head of that statue was made of fine gold , its breast and its arms of silver , its belly and its thighs of bronze , 33 its legs of iron , its feet partly of iron and partly of clay . 34 "You continued looking until e a stone was cut out without hands , and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. 35 "Then the iron , the clay , the bronze , the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors ; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was 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 its interpretation before the king . 37 "You, O king , are the king of kings , to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom , the power , the strength and the glory ; 38 and wherever e the sons of men dwell , or the beasts of the field , or the birds of the sky , He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all . You are the head of gold . 39 "After you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze , which will rule over all the earth . 40 "Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron ; inasmuch e e as iron crushes and shatters all things , so, like iron that breaks in pieces , it will crush and break all these in pieces . 41 "In that you saw the feet and toes , partly of potter's clay and partly of iron , it will be a divided kingdom ; but it will have in it the toughness of iron , inasmuch e e as you saw the iron mixed with common clay . 42 "As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery , so some e of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle . 43 "And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay , they will combine with one another in the seed of men ; but they will not adhere to one e another e , even as iron does not combine with pottery . 44 "In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never e be destroyed , and that kingdom will not be left for another people ; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms , but it will itself endure forever . 45 "Inasmuch e e as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron , the bronze , the clay , the silver and the gold , the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future ; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Daniel 2:1-45
Commentary on Daniel 2:1-13
(Read Daniel 2:1-13)
The greatest men are most open to cares and troubles of mind, which disturb their repose in the night, while the sleep of the labouring man is sweet and sound. We know not the uneasiness of many who live in great pomp, and, as others vainly think, in pleasure also. The king said that his learned men must tell him the dream itself, or they should all be put to death as deceivers. Men are more eager to ask as to future events, than to learn the way of salvation or the path of duty; yet foreknowledge of future events increases anxiety and trouble. Those who deceived, by pretending to do what they could not do, were sentenced to death, for not being able to do what they did not pretend to.
Commentary on Daniel 2:14-23
(Read Daniel 2:14-23)
Daniel humbly prayed that God would discover to him the king's dream, and the meaning of it. Praying friends are valuable friends; and it well becomes the greatest and best men to desire the prayers of others. Let us show that we value our friends, and their prayers. They were particular in prayer. And whatever we pray for, we can expect nothing but as the gift of God's mercies. God gives us leave in prayer to tell our wants and burdens. Their plea with God was, the peril they were in. The mercy Daniel and his fellows prayed for, was bestowed. The fervent prayers of righteous men avail much. Daniel was thankful to God for making known that to him, which saved the lives of himself and his fellows. How much more should we be thankful to God, for making known the great salvation of the soul to those who are not among the worldly wise and prudent!
Commentary on Daniel 2:24-30
(Read Daniel 2:24-30)
Daniel takes away the king's opinion of his magicians and soothsayers. The insufficiency of creatures should drive us to the all-sufficiency of the Creator. There is One who can do that for us, and make known that to us, which none on earth can, particularly the work of redemption, and the secret designs of God's love to us therein. Daniel confirmed the king in his opinion, that the dream was of great consequence, relating to the affairs and changes of this lower world. Let those whom God has highly favoured and honoured, lay aside all opinion of their own wisdom and worthiness, that the Lord alone may be praised for the good they have and do.
Commentary on Daniel 2:31-45
(Read Daniel 2:31-45)
This image represented the kingdoms of the earth, that should successively rule the nations, and influence the affairs of the Jewish church. 1. The head of gold signified the Chaldean empire, then in being. 2. The breast and arms of silver signified the empire of the Medes and Persians. 3. The belly and thighs of brass signified the Grecian empire, founded by Alexander. 4. The legs and feet of iron signified the Roman empire. The Roman empire branched into ten kingdoms, as the toes of these feet. Some were weak as clay, others strong as iron. Endeavours have often been used to unite them, for strengthening the empire, but in vain. The stone cut out without hands, represented the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, which should be set up in the kingdoms of the world, upon the ruins of Satan's kingdom in them. This was the Stone which the builders refused, because it was not cut out by their hands, but it is become the head stone of the corner. Of the increase of Christ's government and peace there shall be no end. The Lord shall reign, not only to the end of time, but when time and days shall be no more. As far as events have gone, the fulfilling this prophetic vision has been most exact and undeniable; future ages shall witness this Stone destroying the image, and filling the whole earth.