B E c 1-3. Chaldeans all brought in. Chaldeans.
d 4-9. King's requisition. "
e 10,11. Their inability. "
F G f 12-16. King's resentment. Suspense.
g 17,18. Daniel and others. "
H 19-23. Revelation. "
E c 24,25. Daniel brought in. Daniel.
d 26,27. King's requisition. "
e 28-30. Daniel's ability. "
F H 31-45. Communication. Captivity.
G f 46-48. King's gratitude. "
g 49. Daniel and others. "
495 B.C.
Daniel 2)
1 And (thus linking on this chapter of momentous prophecy with ch. 1, which is pure history.) in the second year (495 B.C.] Daniel's 18th year]. Therefore Jehioakim's 5th year, of the burning of the roll which marked the official rejection of Yahaveh. Hence Nebuchadnezzar's dream. Daniel was in Babylon, and writes from that standpoint. The supposed difficulty is a proof of genuineness; for the writer would have been a fool as well as a forger to have left it unexplained) of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams (it was bad dreams), wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep had been upon him. (i.e. had now gone from.)
2 Then the king commanded to send for (this tells us of the religious system of Babylonia, of which subsequent Jewish commentators and Greek translators would know little or nothing. There were 6 classes of the Chaldean priesthood) the magicians (Heb. chatummim, connected with the kharutu [the scepter] or rod of office of those who repelled demons and evil spirits by incantations, &c. They thought that they were great), and the astrologers (Heb. 'ashshāpphīm = in Babylonian, asipi, prophets who assumed to announce the will of heaven and predict the future. they were a class apart from the others. The inscriptions speak of bab Assaput = the gate of the oracle; also of bit Assaput = the house of the oracle), and the sorcerers (Heb. mehashsh = wizard [Ex. 7:11; 22:18. Deut. 18:10. Mal. 3:5.);, and the Chaldeans, for to show the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. (This was the "religious" community. Nothing new under the sun.)
3 And the king said to them, "I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream." (Contrast this with Daniels vision; and note the other recorded dreams [Gen. 20:3]. It will tell you of God's plan, but not your individual future.)
4 Then spoke the Chaldeans to the king in Aramaic (Language of the captivity. It was pure Hebrew to thi point. Some of this language was carried over after the captivity. You will find examples of it in the "Dead Sea Scrolls". The insertion of this word here is to call our attention to the fact that what follows is written not in Hebrew, but in Aramaic, as far as the end of ch. 7. See Ezra 4:8-6:18 and 7:12-26; also see Jer. 10:11. The Syriac and Chaldee are properly Western and Eastern Aramaic.), "O king (this is the 1st Aramaic word so written. Cp. 3:9; 5:10; 6:6,21; Neh. 2:3), live for ever: tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation." (Give them some drugs and they'll come up with something.)
5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, "The thing (the dream) is gone from me (referring to the forgotten dream): if you will not make known to me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill. (The kings decree is law. He's going to find out if they are real or playing church. Cp. 3:29. Ezra 6:11. A further mode of punishment, from the Medo-Persians, in 6:7.)
6 But if you show the dream, and the interpretation thereof, you shall receive of me gifts and presents and great honor: therefore show me the dream, and the interpretation thereof."
7 They answered again and said, "Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation of it." (They could make up anything.)
8 The king answered and said, "I know of certainty that you would gain time (it may have reference to that day being an unlucky day. Cp. Est. 3:7), because you see the thing is gone from me.
9 But if you will not make known to me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for you have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can shew me the interpretation thereof." (The religious community of today even has a hard time of interpreting God's Word, idioms, and figures of speech.)
10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, "There is not a man upon the dry ground that can show the king's matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean. (Man can't, but God can.)
11 And it is a rare thing that the king requires, and there is none other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh." (Is emphatic. They held that that there were gods who dwelt in men. But these were beyond mortal men altogether.)
12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. (i.e. the members of all the classes collectively, mentioned in v.2. Denotes acquired wisdom.)
13 And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his companions to be slain. (Daniel hadn't heard about this)
14 Then Daniel answered with prudence and discretion to Arioch (An ancient Babylonian name preserved and handed down from Gen. 14:1 = Iri-Aku = venerable) the captain of the king's executioners (cp. Gen. 37:36; 39:1; 40:3. 2 Kings 25:8. Jer. 39:9), which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon:
15 He answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, "Why is the decree so hasty from the king?" Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.
16 Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would appoint him a time, and that he would show the king the interpretation. (How could Daniel be so sure?)
17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: (They didn't pre-meditate.)
18 That they would desire great mercy of the God of heaven (see 2 Chron. 36:23) concerning this mystery; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. (He trusted our Father. He asked for God's intercession. Grace = unmerited favor.)
The English word "mystery" is a transliteration of the Greek word musterion, (*0) which means a sacred secret.
It occurs in the Septuagint Version (280 B.C.) nine times as the equivalent for the Chaldee raz in the Chaldee portion of "Daniel", which means to conceal; hence, something concealed that can be revealed, viz. in Dan. 2:18, 19, 27, 28, 29, 30, 47, and 4:9.
It occurs frequently in the Apocryphal books; which, though of no use for establishing doctrine, are of great value in determining the meaning of Biblical usage of Greek words. In these books musterion always means the secret of friends, or of a king, &c. (*1) See Tobit 12:7, 11. Judith 2:2. Wisdom 2:22 (transl. "mystery"); 14:23. Eccl. 22:22; 27:16, 17, 21. 2Macc. 13:21. (R.V.). The passage in Judith is remarkable: for Nabuchodonosor calls his captains and great men together just before entering on a campaign and "communicated with them his secret counsel", lit. "the mystery of his will". This is exactly the same usage as in Eph. 1:9, except that the Gr. word for will or counsel is different. (*2)
By the end of the second century A.D. it was used interchangeably with tupos (= type), sunbolon (= symbol), and parabole (= parable).
When we find the Greek word musterion rendered sacramentum in the Latin Vulgate of Eph. 5:32, it is clear that it was used as meaning a secret sign or symbol, and not in the modern meaning put upon the word "Sacrament", i.e. "holy mysteries".
It is evident to all that God has made known His will "at sundry times and in divers manners" (Heb. 1:1, 2). He also kept certain things secret, and revealed them from time to time according to His purposes and counsels. Hence the word musterion is connected with several concealed or secret things in the New Testament.
1. It was used of the secrets of the kingdom: which had been concealed, until the Lord revealed them to His disciples (not to the People) in Matt. 13:10, 11. It had not before been known that the kingdom would be rejected, and that there would be a long interval between that rejection and its being set up in glory. This was concealed even from the prophets who foretold it (1Pet. 1:10-12).
2. In Rom. 11 it is used in connection with the duration of Israel's blindness. That blindness itself was not a secret, for it had been foretold in Isa. 6:9, 10. But the duration of the blindness was kept a "secret" from Isaiah and only revealed through Paul (Rom. 11:25).
3. It was used of a fact connection with resurrection, which had never before been made known to the sons of men.
The Lord had spoken of it to Martha (John 11:25, 26), but though she believe it, she did not understand that to those who should be alive and remain to His Coming the Lord would be "the life", and they would "never die" (v. 26).
The Thessalonians who "received the word" were not left in ignorance of it (1Thess. 4:13), for the Lord's words in John 11:25, 26 were explained to them.
But in 1Cor. 15:51 the secret was fully and plainly shown; and it was that "we shall not all sleep". Up to that moment the universal belief had been that we must all die (cp. Heb. 9:27). thenceforward it was revealed and made known for faith that all would not die, but that those who are alive and remain (lit. remain over) unto the Lord's Coming will not die at all (see note 1Thess. 4:15, and cp. Phil. 3:14).
4. Side by side with these Divine secrets there was the secret of the [foretold] lawlessness (2Thess. 2:7 cp. Dan. 12:4). It was already working during the dispensation covered by "Acts"; and had the nation repented at the call of those "other servants" of Matt. 22:4 (Acts 2:38; 3:12-26; &c), those secret counsels of "the lawless one" and "the transgressors" would have "come to the full" (Dan. 8:23). But now they are postponed and in abeyance until the appointed time.
5. But "the great secret" which concerns us to-day was not revealed until after the close of that dispensation covered by "Acts". (see Acts 28:17-31).
Paul was not commissioned to put in writing the "purpose" of God which was "before the overthrow of the world" (Ap. 146), until that dispensation was ended.
What this "great secret" was can only be learned fully from the Prison Epistles. There alone can we find the things which had been concealed and kept secret "since the world began" (Rom. 16:25); "which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men" (Eph. 3:5); "which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God" (Eph. 3:9); "which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest" (Col. 1:26), where "now" (Gr. nun) with the pret. = just now, recently.
The special scriptures which describe this secret are the postscript of Rom. 16:25, 26. Eph. 3:1-12. Col. 1:24-27.
The mention of "the mystery" in Rom. 16:25, 26 has perplexed many, because the revelation of it is specifically propounded in the Epistle to the Ephesians.
Hence it has been suggested that the Epistle originally ended at Rom .16:24 with the Benediction (or even at v. 20 (see the marginal notes in the R.V.,) and that the ascription (vv. 25-27) was added by the apostle after he reached Rome (1) in order to complete the structure by making it correspond with the ascription in ch. 11:33-36; and (2) to complete the Epanodos or Introversion and thus to contrast "God's gospel", which was revealed of old by the prophets of the Old Testament and never hidden (1:2, 3) with the mystery which was always hidden and never revealed or even mentioned until 16:25-27.
In any case, while there is no doubt about the general order of the Epistles, the actual dates are conjectural, and rest only upon individual opinions as to the internal evidence. And, after all, Rom. 16:25-27 is not the revelation of the mystery as given in the Prison Epistles, but an ascription of glory to Him Who had at length made it manifest by prophetic writings (not "the writings of the prophets", for it is the adjective "prophetic", not the noun "prophecy" as in 2Pet. 1:20). Romans and Ephesians are thus brought together as two central Epistles of the chronological groups: the one ending one group, and the other beginning the next, both being treatises rather than epistles, and both having Paul for their sole author, while in all the other Epistles he has others associated with him.
As to the great secret itself, it is certain that it cannot refer to the blessing of Gentiles in connection with Israel. This is perfectly clear from the fact that that was never a secret. Both blessings were made known at the very same time (Gen. 12:3); and this well known fact is constantly referred to in the Old Testament. See Gen. 22:18; 26:4; &c. Deut. 32:8. Ps. 18:49; 67:1, 2; 72:17; 117:1. Isa. 11:10; 49:6. Luke 2:32. Rom. 15:8-12.
But the secret revealed in the Prison Epistles was never the subject of previous revelation.
In Eph. 3:5 it is stated to be "now revealed". This cannot mean that it had been revealed before, but not in the same manner as "now"; because it is stated that it had never been revealed at all.
It concerns Gentiles; and it was "revealed unto His holy apostles (*3) and prophets by the Spirit", that the Gentiles should be joint-heirs, and a joint-body, (*4) and [joint] partakers of the promise in Christ through the gospel (see Notes on Eph. 3:5, 6).
We cannot know the whole purpose of God in keeping this concealed all through the ages; but one thing we can clearly see, viz. that had God made it known before, Israel would of necessity have had an excuse for rejecting the Messiah and His kingdom.
As to ourselves, the question of "who is in the secret?" does not arise. For we are not to suppose that all who do not know of it are "lost".
One thing we know, and that is : it is made known for "the obedience of faith", or for "faith-obedience" (Rom 16.26).
It is a subsequent revelation; and the question is, do we believe it and obey it by acting according to it?
Abraham had several Divine revelations made to him. From his call in Gen. 11 he was a "righteous" man. In ch. 12 he believed God concerning His promises of the future. In ch. 13 he believed God concerning the promise of the Land. But in ch. 15 God made a further revelation concerning the see which He would give him; and it is written, "Abraham believed in the Lord, and it was counted (or imputed) unto him for righteousness".
Even so with ourselves and the subsequent revelation of the mystery in the Prison Epistles. Let us believe it, and we may be sure that it will be counted unto us for something, for some blessing, which those who refuse to believe it will lose.
(*0) It is from mueo = to initiate or admit to secrets; and mustes was used of the person so initiated.
(*1) In subsequent Revisions of the Sept., Theodotion (A.D. 160) uses it for the Heb. sod (Job 15:8. Ps.
25:14. Prov. 20:19). See notes in loc.
(*2) In Judith 2:2 it is boule while in Eph. 1:9 it is thelema .
(*3) These were not those of the Old Testament dispensation, but were the subjects of a promise by the Lord Himself in Matt. 23:34. Luke 11:49, which was fulfilled in Eph. 4:8, 11. See the notes on these
passages.
(*4) Greek sussomos, a remarkable word occurring only here in the N.T.
(Above taken from Appendix 193 of the Companion Bible.)
19 Then was the mystery revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. (Don't ever forget to do this at that moment.)
20 Daniel answered and said, "Blessed be the name of God from age to age: for wisdom and might are His: (It there for you to call upon)
21 And He changes the times and the seasons (cp. v.9; 7:25. 1 Chron. 29:30. Job 34:24-29. Ps. 31:14,15. Ecc. 3:1-8. Jer. 27:5-7): He removes kings, and sets up kings (cp. 4:17,32. 1 Sam. 2:7,8. Job 12:18. Pss. 75:6,7; 113:7,8. Prov. 8:15,17. Luke 1:51,52. Acts 13:21,22): He gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: (Common sense. You have to have a foundation before God can show you something. Ex. 31:3,6. 1 Kings 3:8-12; 4:29; 10:24. 1 Chron. 22:12. 2 Chron. 1:10-12. Prov. 2:6,7. Luke 21:15. 1 Cor. 1:30. Jas. 1:5,17; 3:15-17.)
22 He reveals the deep and hidden things (cp. vv.11,28,29. Gen. 37:5-9; 41:16,26,28. Job 12:22. Ps. 25:14. Isa. 14:24,26; 42:9. Matt. 11:25. Rom. 16:25,26. Eph. 3:5. Col. 1:25-27): He knows what is in the darkness (cp. Job 26:6. Ps. 139:11,12. Jer. 23:24. Luke 12:2,3. John 21:17. 1 Cor. 4:5. Heb. 4:13), and the light dwells with Him. (He knows what no man can know. Cp. 5:11,14. Pss. 36:9; 104:2. John 1:9; 8:12; 12:45,46. 1 Tim. 6:16. Jas. 1:17. 1 John 1:5)
23 I thank you, and praise you (He gave them life), O You God of my fathers, who has given me wisdom and might, and has made known unto me now what we desired of You: for You have now made known unto us the king's matter."
24 Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus to him; "Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will show to the king the interpretation."
25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus to him, "I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known to the king the interpretation."
26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, "Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?" (He wanted to let Daniel know he had seen it.)
27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, "The mysteries which the king has demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, show to the king; (Fake religion can't show you anything. Some play church.)
28 But there is a God in heaven that reveals mysteries (Daniel didn't take credit), and has made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days (This concern us. See Gen. 49:1. Num. 24:14. Deut. 4:30; 32:29). Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, are these;
29 As for thee, O king, your thoughts came up into your mind upon your bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and He that reveals mysteries makes known to you what shall come to pass.
30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living (human being), but to the intent that the interpretation should be to the king, and that you might know the thoughts of your heart. (God is able to discern hearts, which is the mind)
31 You, O king, went looking, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before you; and the appearance thereof was awesome. (Prophecy of end times)
32 This image's (note the 5 parts. These 5 are preserved distinct throughout. Note that the most precious metal, and the highest specific gravity was at the top, decreasing with its descent: Gold =19.3; silver = 10:51; brass = 8.5; iron = 7.6; clay = 1.9: so it was top-heavy from the first) head was of fine gold (Babylonian dynasty), his breast and his arms of silver (Medo-Persian dynasty), his belly and his thighs of brass, (Grecian dynasty)
33 His legs of iron (Roman dynasty), his feet part of iron and part of clay. (Will not mix. Mohammedan dynasty)
34 You saw till that a Stone (The Savior, Emanuel. See Ps. 118:22) was cut out without hands (an expression always emphasizing the absence of all human instrumentality and the act of God alone. See v.45; 8:25 Job 34:20. Lam. 4:6. Cp. Acts 7:48; 17:24,25; 19:26. 2 Cor. 5:1. Eph. 2:11. Col. 2:11. Heb. 9:11,24), which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. (Or, they were beaten small. The 10 world rulers, the one world system.)
35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind (rŭach) carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the Stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. (Thus marking the 2nd kingdom, that of Messiah)
36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
37 You, O king, are a king of kings: for the God of heaven has given you a kingdom (the O.T. is not designed to be a compendium of "ancient history". It is the history of Yahaveh's People, Israel; and other nations are refereed to only as, and in so far as, they come into connection with Israel. Babylon was the most ancient of kingdoms [Gen. 10:10]. Cp. Deut. 32:8. Nebuchadnezzar was not the 1st king; but he was the "head" or beginning of the Gentile dominion in the earth when Israel had been "removed" [according to Jer. 15:4; 24:9; 29:19]. These successive kingdoms are reckoned only as they obtained possession of Jerusalem. They existed before that; and each, in turn, was absorbed in the one that succeeded), power, and strength, and glory. (He was a type of the anti-Christ, but only lets him go so far to fulfill God's plan)
38 And wheresoever the sons of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven has He given (according to His word [Jer. 27:6,7; 28:14,&c. Cp. 1:2 and Ezek 26:7) into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all. You (Nebuchadnezzar) are represented by this head of gold. (i.e. the 1st of the 5 kingdoms, not the 1st king of Babylon. Anti-Christ system. So is Satan today, the prince of the air. He will deceive you if you let him.)
39 And after you shall stand up (begin to exist. See Ex. 1:8) another kingdom (the kingdom of Medo-Persia, which succeeded Babylon by occupying Jerusalem [2 Chron. 36:22]) inferior to you (as silver is inferior to gold, in value and specific gravity, so the 2nd kingdom was inferior to the 1st. The successive kingdoms are marked by evolution [or rather, devolution]. In the 1st [Babylon] the king possessed absolute power ["whom he would he slew", &c., 5:19]; the 2nd [Medo-Persia] was a government by law which was superior to the king [6:1,14,&.]), and another third kingdom of brass (this again was "inferior", as being less despotic), which shall bear rule over all the earth.
40 And the fourth kingdom (i.e. Rome [Luke 2 and 8]. Observe that it does not say there were "four, and no more", as alleged; but "the forth". An ordinal number, not cardinal. The 5th revealed in vv.41-43. The power which was to succeed Rome in the possession of Jerusalem was to be the Mohammadan power, which was still future when our Lord referred to it in Luke 21:24; but the Lord does not name it, because the condition of Acts 3:18-26 could not be anticipated, assumed, or forestalled) shall be hard as iron (this was the character of Rome, both royal, imperial, and republican): forasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and crushes all things: and as iron that dashes all these (or brings to ruin), shall it break in pieces and bring to ruin. (Part of the 4 hidden dynasties, "new word order", [1] political; [2] educational; [3] monetary; [4] religion. It will break up, but, the false Christ, Satan, will heal it and deceive many thinking he is Christ.)
41 And whereas you saw the feet and toes, part of potters' clay (the 5th power is now described [the "feet and toes"]. It came into possession of Jerusalem in 636 A.D. [Rome having held the city for 666 years: viz., from the battle of Actium, 31 B.C. -636 A.D.]. Its character as described in v.41 is exact; and, as represented by the "feet", Jerusalem has indeed been "trodden down" [Luke 21:24] as was never done by any of the other 4 powers), and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the hardness of the iron, forasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with muddy clay. (Compare Jacob and Esau. Descendants are The free world and Russia [Esau, the red nation])
42 And as the toes of the feet were a portion [of them] (or some of them) of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and in part (or at the end) [of it shall be] easily broken. (Never gets its act together.)
43 And whereas you saw iron mixed with miry clay, they (i.e the toes) shall mingle themselves with the seed of men (supernatural with flesh won't mix. See Rev. 12:7): but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron mingles not with clay. (Socialism and Communism wont mix with God's children. It will not stand.)
44 And in the days of these kings (represented by the 10 toes: i.e. in their days, at the end of the time of the 5th power. Cp. Rev. 17:12-18. That is the moment of the great Stone, and the coming of Messiah.) shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed (this hasn't happened yet: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
45 Forasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces (the "deadly wound") the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God has made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure." (You can count on it. See 8:23.)
46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshiped Daniel (don't worship man), and commanded that they should offer a gift offering and sweet odors to him.
47 The king answered to Daniel, and said, "Of a truth it is, that your God He is a God of gods, and a Lord (Adonai) of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing you could reveal this secret."
48 Then the king exalted Daniel, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the nobles over all the wise men of Babylon. (Always be wiser than the srpent and peaceful as a dove)
49 Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (never forget your friends. See Rom. 13), over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the judgment seat (over high court) of the king. (Wisdom is a powerful force.)