Daniel 2:1–49

2:1 Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon, and the following events occurred in his “second year.” This year may seem out of chronological order, for at the end of the previous chapter Daniel and his friends had already completed three years of training and education. According to the Babylonian system, however, a king’s partial accession year was not counted among the years of his reign.¹ The “second year” thus refers to two years after the accession year. Nebuchadnezzar’s second year spanned from Nisan 1, 603 BC, to the end of Adar 602 (March 22, 603–April 9, 602).

Shortly after the four Judean teens completed their Babylonian education (1:18–19), during his second regnal year in Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar “had dreams,” with a twofold effect: “his spirit was troubled” and “his sleep left him.” He was unsettled by what he saw and did not understand its meaning. This would be especially frustrating for a king who thought that perhaps the gods were revealing something to him about the future of his kingdom.

2:2 The king may have waited until daytime to summon his experts, but since verse 1 reports that “his sleep left him,” his summons may have occurred at night. His wise men consisted of “the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers,” with “the Chaldeans” encompassing all of them. He commanded them to “tell . . . his dreams.”

2:3–4 Nebuchadnezzar disclosed that he had a dream, whose possible interpretations troubled him (v. 3). The wise men in his court spoke to him in Aramaic (v. 4), and from that point through chapter 7, the book of Daniel switches from Hebrew to Aramaic. The men spoke typical ancient Near Eastern words of deference (“O king, live forever!”), perhaps reflecting a prayer servants prayed on behalf of their ruler. Their next statement parsed the situation carefully: first Nebuchadnezzar should tell them the dream, and then they would interpret it (v. 4).

2:5–6 Nebuchadnezzar rejected the terms of the wise men. He wanted them to recount both the dream and the interpretation. Only then could he find them trustworthy. If they failed to meet his demand, they and their households would be destroyed, but if they met his demand, Nebuchadnezzar promised “gifts and rewards and great honor.”

2:7 Despite the threat to their lives, the wise men again asked to be told the dream’s content (cf. v. 4). At this point, it is evident they will not meet the king’s demand. Indeed, they cannot. Inventing the interpretation would not necessarily have exposed them as liars, but any attempt to describe the king’s dream would instantly discredit them. The king was not one to make idle threats (cf. his treatment of Zedekiah in 2 Kings 25:6–7). Their only hope was that Nebuchadnezzar would change his mind and disclose his dream.

2:8–9 Nebuchadnezzar accused the wise men of trying to “gain time” out of fear of his “firm” word of judgment. He also accused them of agreeing to “speak lying and corrupt words before me till the times change.” This changing of the times probably refers to the transition of rulers or even kingdoms, for Nebuchadnezzar certainly would not live forever (cf. v. 4).

2:10–11 In view of Nebuchadnezzar’s troubled spirit (vv. 1, 3), warnings of destruction (v. 5, 9a), and accusations of flattery (v. 9b), the wise men declared the impossibility of what he demanded. Note the comprehensive phrases: “There is not a man on earth,” “no great and powerful king has asked such a thing,” “. . . any magician or enchanter or Chaldean” (v. 10). They not only admitted their inability to describe the king’s dream; they also claimed his demand was unprecedented.

Did Nebuchadnezzar himself think such a request was reasonable? Perhaps his encounter with Daniel, who had “understanding in all visions and dreams” (1:17), and who along with his three friends was “better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all [the] kingdom” (v. 20), had given Nebuchadnezzar unrealistic expectations of his own band of astrologers and magicians.

After 2:11, the wise men fall silent, making their final words in this verse significant and ironic: “. . . the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” The notion of gods dwelling with mortals may have seemed inconceivable in Babylonian lore, but the stories in Israel’s history painted a much different picture. From the beginning of Israel’s Scriptures, Yahweh was a God who dwelled with his people. He was in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve (Gen. 2:15–25; 3:8), his glory filled the tabernacle the Israelites carried to the Promised Land (Ex. 40:34–38), and he indwelled the temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 8:1–11). The story of the world’s true Lord is that of a God who dwells with flesh. In the outworking of God’s redemptive plan, one day the Word himself would not only dwell with flesh but become flesh (John 1:14).

2:12–13 The inability of the king’s wise men did not alter Nebuchadnezzar’s threat, nor did their admission of their inability quell his anger. Full of fury, and in fulfillment of verses 5 and 9, Nebuchadnezzar “commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed” (v. 12). This decree of death extended to all the wise men of Babylon, including Daniel and his companions (v. 13).

2:14–15 With the decree of destruction hanging over him, Daniel proceeded “with prudence and discretion.” We saw this attitude in chapter 1, when Daniel interacted with Ashpenaz and the steward (1:8–13). Now, Daniel spoke with Arioch, “captain of the king’s guard.” Arioch “had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon,” so speaking with him could have posed a danger, even though Daniel believed Arioch was the right man to answer his question: “Why is the decree of the king so urgent?”

Daniel’s question revealed that he was unaware of what had taken place between Nebuchadnezzar and his cohort. Though Daniel had completed three years of training, he had not become a sorcerer, magician, or enchanter (cf. 2:2); such positions would have compromised his devotion to Yahweh. He would serve the king when summoned (1:19; 2:2), but he had not spoken with Nebuchadnezzar about the recent dream (2:1).

2:16 Daniel went into the presence of the king and requested an appointment. How he gained access is not reported, but the reason for his request is not surprising: “that he might show the interpretation to the king.” This was an act of faith, for Daniel did not even have knowledge of the dream. Apparently he was persuasive, because he left the palace alive.

2:17–18 After meeting with the king about an appointed time to give the dream’s interpretation (cf. v. 16), Daniel returned to his house and “made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions.” If the three friends were at the house already, this may indicate that the four shared a home together. Or perhaps when the decree of destruction went out (vv. 12–13), Daniel and his companions gathered together in his home.

Daniel told his friends to “seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery,” so that they might not be killed with “the rest of the wise men of Babylon.” Daniel hoped for deliverance from Nebuchadnezzar’s rage, and God, as the God “of heaven,” was the only one who could help them in this earthly predicament.

2:19 God answered Daniel and his friends’ prayer. Daniel received his vision “at night,” just as Nebuchadnezzar’s dream had come (v. 1). It is not clear whether Daniel was asleep or awake, as God gives visions during both states (cf. 7:1; 9:20–23); possibly Daniel and his friends remained fervent in prayer until God granted understanding.

Daniel responded to God’s answer with words of exaltation (2:19–23). “God of heaven” (cf. v. 18) is the transcendent Creator who has shown favor to Daniel and his friends. God’s power and wisdom are not restricted to the boundaries of the Promised Land; with global jurisdiction, God is involved in the affairs of his people wherever they find themselves. “God of heaven” recalls Genesis 24:7, where Abraham remembered how Yahweh, “the God of heaven,” took him “from my father’s house and from the land of my kindred.”² This connects faithful Daniel to the foremost patriarch. Daniel trusted in the God of Abraham, who had once again removed a man from his father’s house and homeland, this time through exile. God took Abraham to the Promised Land, but he took Daniel from it. If God were only the God of Jerusalem, Daniel would have no hope. But God is the God of heaven, and so to him Daniel prayed, offering thanks and praise.

2:20–23 Daniel transitioned from petition to praise. To God belong “wisdom and might” (v. 20)—the true and living God knows the future and brings to pass what he has planned. Verses 21–22 illustrate God’s “wisdom and might,” although in reverse order—verse 21a concerning his might and verses 21b–22 his wisdom. God’s might is seen in that “he changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings” (v. 21). The second phrase interprets the first: the transition of rulers and kingdoms is what Daniel meant by “times and seasons.” God is sovereign over all powers and authorities on earth—even Nebuchadnezzar—and is not limited only to those who worship him. He determines who is in power and when.

Daniel also praised God because “he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him” (vv. 21b–22). God gave Daniel wisdom and knowledge regarding the king’s dream and its interpretation—Daniel needed to know “the mystery” (v. 19), so God revealed the “deep and hidden things” by taking “what is in the darkness” and making it known.

The final verse of Daniel’s blessing to God (v. 23) pulls together the elements of verses 20–22. He calls Yahweh “O God of my fathers,” indicating continuity with his faithful ancestors, especially the patriarchs—the “God of heaven” was the “God of my fathers” (vv. 19, 23). To him Daniel offered “thanks and praise,” words unpacking what he meant by “Blessed be the name of God” (v. 20). Daniel explained explicitly why he praised the God of heaven: “You have . . . made known to me what we asked of you” (v. 23). The plural (“what we asked”) confirms that Daniel’s friends also sought God’s mercy through prayer (vv. 17–18).

The doxology is not only the structural center in chapter 2 (cf. Section Outline above) but also its theological center, and, in fact, God’s sovereignty and wisdom surge like mighty rivers throughout the whole book and figure in other biblical doxologies that praise his might and wisdom (cf. 1 Chron. 29:11; Rom. 11:33–36).

2:24 Ready to disclose his life-saving knowledge, “Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon.” This is their second encounter in this chapter (cf. v. 15). Earlier, Daniel had gone before the king directly (v. 16), but the reason for now going to Arioch is suggested in his opening words: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon” (v. 24). Daniel perhaps feared that, if he went to Nebuchadnezzar first, the king would not get word out to Arioch in time to spare the Babylonian wise men from death. Since the remainder of chapter 2 does not report the destruction of the wise men, it is reasonable to assume that Daniel’s success resulted in everyone’s survival.

2:25 The harshness and urgency of the king’s decree warranted haste. Arioch rushed Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar’s presence and announced the breaking news: “I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” Arioch’s claim may have overstated his own role in the situation, for it was not Arioch who discovered Daniel but Daniel who sought Arioch. Calling Daniel “a man” was especially ironic, since earlier the king’s wise men insisted that no one “except the gods” could grant the king’s request (v. 11).

2:26 We are reminded that Daniel was also known as Belteshazzar, the name the chief of the eunuchs had given him (1:7) because the king had chosen it (5:12) in honor of his own god (4:8). Nebuchadnezzar calls Daniel that name in a later story (4:9, 18).

Daniel had previously gone to Nebuchadnezzar to request an appointment, “that he might show the interpretation to the king” (2:16). Now Daniel has returned, so the king’s question is appropriate: “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” Nebuchadnezzar had made the same request of the Babylonian wise men, who had failed him (vv. 10–11). The king did not lower his expectation at this juncture.

2:27–29 Daniel spoke to Nebuchadnezzar at length (vv. 27–45). First he asserted that God had revealed the mystery to him (vv. 27–30); then he told the king the dream (vv. 31–35) and interpreted it (vv. 36–45).

Daniel began by reminding the king that none of his wise men fulfilled what he had asked (v. 27). In contrast to human inability, however, “There is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries”; this God had “made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days”; and Daniel was ready to recount it to the king (v. 28). “Latter days” indicated that Nebuchadnezzar had dreamed of future events pertaining to kingdoms beyond Babylon (cf. vv. 37–45).

Verse 29 has the same general content as verse 28, only reversed. In verse 28 Daniel spoke about both a God “who reveals mysteries” and the fact that the king had the visions in bed. In verse 29 Daniel said the vision came while the king was in bed and then characterized God as “he who reveals mysteries.” The notion of the “latter days” in verse 28 is repackaged with the phrases “what would be after this” and “what is to be” in verse 29. The semantic and conceptual connections in verses 28 and 29 reinforce that the God of heaven has done what mere man cannot do: reveal details concerning the future (cf. Rev. 1:19).

2:30 After saying that God had revealed the future to Nebuchadnezzar (vv. 2:28–29), Daniel now claimed to know this mystery, as well as a divinely revealed interpretation of it, “that you may know the thoughts of your mind.” Daniel knew the dream “not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living,” an admission that may have surprised Nebuchadnezzar, for he had evaluated Daniel very highly at the end of his three-year education (1:19–20). As Daniel now prepared to tell the dream and its interpretation, he did not seize the opportunity for self-exaltation.

2:31–35 Daniel made a general statement about the dream: “You saw, O king, . . . a great image.” This image is the subject of the rest of Daniel’s monologue. It was “mighty and of exceeding brightness,” and “its appearance was frightening” (v. 31). This intimidating image was a man composed of several metals, and Daniel began at the top of the image as he described it: a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, middle and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet partly of iron and partly of clay (vv. 32–33). The body parts can be distilled into four sections, with their corresponding elements (table 1.1).

Then Daniel related what happened to the image: a stone, “cut out by no human hand,” struck the image on the feet and broke them (v. 34). The whole statue was affected, for “the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces” (v. 35a). The list of metals is now in reverse order, ascending from feet to head. The shattering was so thorough that the pieces “became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found” (v. 35b)—an image of divine judgment (cf. Ps. 1:4). No part of the image could endure the stone, which “became a great mountain and filled the whole earth” (Dan. 2:35c). This worldwide dominion was something ascribed to no other metal or body part—the metals were all vulnerable, but the stone was invincible.