Daniel 2:10 – The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king’s matter: therefore [there is] no king, lord, nor ruler, [that] asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.
the earth – yabbesheth (Aramaic) (the
earth; dry land) Literally “the dry ground”.
It is only used once in the OT. Its Hebrew equivalent (yabbesheth (dry; dry land) is only used
twice in the OT, each time signifying dry land as opposed to wetlands or the
sea.
The usual Hebrew term for the earth is ‘erets
which is translated “land” 1543 times and “earth” 712 times out of 2504
occurrences.
The equivalent Hebrew word (yabbashah)
is translated dry; dry land; dry ground as in Genesis 1:9 & 10 (“dry”).
I don’t really know why a different term is
used, other than perhaps in a particular dialect.
shew – or “reveal”
matter – millah (Aramaic) (word;
thing; utterance; command; affair; matter)
millah was translated “the
thing”
in both Daniel 2:5 &
8 (“the
thing is gone from me”) where “the thing” probably
referred to a command or utterance or decree given by the king. Here it is less
likely to refer to a command of the king and more likely to refer to making the
dream known to him, or declaring what the dream was about, as per Daniel 2:9.
king – melek (Aramaic)
(king; royal)
lord – rab (Aramaic) (captain;
chief)
ruler – shalliyt (Aramaic) (having
authority; ruler; having mastery)
magician – chartom (Aramaic) (magician;
magician-astrologer)
astrologer – ‘ashshaph (Aramaic) (conjurer;
enchanter; necromancer) (where a necromancer is one who allegedly communicates with the dead)
Chaldean – wise men, referring to the group answering the king here.
Effectively this is supposed to cover all those who might be expected to
know such answers and all those who might be expected to ask questions
demanding such answers. Ellicott says: “A
further argument of the wise men, offering a delicate flattery to the king,
and, at the same time, assuming as a proof of their wisdom, that all possibilities had been already submitted to them.
“Because no king,” they say, “has left any precedent for such a request,
therefore the thing is impossible.””
That is, according to the Chaldeans, no (other) king
or ruler had ever made such a request of any of these learned and wise men.
They were attempting to persuade the king that a demand for such knowledge was
not reasonable from any king or ruler, and no wise men of any description could
be expected to have the answers. This leads into Vs 11 below where they go even
further by saying that only those of the gods might be able to reveal such
information and the gods didn’t dwell among man and
therefore were not represented among the wise men of the earth.
not a man – In a way the Chaldeans
are here saying that even they themselves cannot be expected to know that which
cannot be known by mere man. It is possible that they may have claimed (or
implied) that they could know such things, judging by what the king said to
them in Daniel 2:5.
Note that Babylon, in particular
the Chaldeans, were cursed by God for their lies.
Jeremiah 50:35-36 – 35A sword [is] upon the Chaldeans, saith the Lord, and upon
the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise [men].
36A sword [is] upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword [is]
upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed.
The king appears to think that they should know
dreams, which is unlikely if they had consistently denied the knowledge of dreams.
So, now the Chaldeans are stating unequivocally that such knowledge of dreams
is impossible for mere man.
Daniel 2:11 – And [it is] a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.
rare – yaqqiyr (Aramaic) (rare;
noble; famous; honourable; difficult) It was a difficult thing that the king was
asking for. Some suggest that this derives primarily from a word meaning
“heavy” or “weighty”, thus that which weighs heavily
upon them, therefore “difficult”.
thing – millah again.
flesh – Flesh and blood mankind as opposed to a spirit being such as gods
were expected to be. Mankind dwelt with other mankind, and were not expected to
dwell with gods who were spirits; the two groups were assumed to be mutually
exclusive.
That the gods alone might be able to know dreams is leading into the following where Daniel is being set up to permit God to provide the answer. The Chaldeans had specified that only a god might know this, so when Daniel is able to reveal the truth about the dream, it demonstrates beyond any doubt that Daniel must have had that special knowledge that only gods could know. Here, of course, it is the true God who knows all things who is demonstrating His omniscience (all-knowing).
Isaiah 31:3 – Now the Egyptians [are] men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.
Psalm 139:23 – Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
Daniel 2:12 – For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise [men] of Babylon.
cause – kol (Aramaic) (all;
whole; the whole; the whole of; totality)
very – or “exceedingly”
furious – provoked to wrath or anger
That is, because of all of this put together (or maybe as a result of everything these wise men had said) the king
was angry, provoked to great or exceeding fury, effectively an extreme temper
tantrum. He commanded that all the wise ones of Babylon be destroyed (put to
death as per Daniel 2:5). It is clear that the king thought that the Chaldeans were
trying to excuse their inability to answer him by saying that only the gods
could know such things. The king sees this as a cop-out by those so-called “wise”
Chaldeans. He probably thinks they are trying to put one over him, to try to
confuse him with “clever” talk.
Daniel 2:13 – And the decree went forth that the wise [men] should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.
that the wise (men) should be slain – Apparently the grammar here strongly suggests that this action had already begun, that the execution of the wise men had begun and that Daniel and his companions were now next on the list. “went forth” is in the perfect tense which indicates an action already completed by that time. That is, the decree had already been established and probably put into action. However, Daniel 2:24 (“Destroy not the wise [men] of Babylon”) suggests that not all the wise men had been executed. It is also unlikely that Daniel and his companions were first on that list; most likely those who had stood before the king were the first to suffer the king’s decree.
Even though it is unlikely that Daniel and his companions would have been rewarded (as per Daniel 2:6) if those wise men had been able to deliver the right response, Daniel and the other three were still going to be put to death (as per Daniel 2:5). It is clear that Nebuchadnezzar is quite irrational at this point, so enraged with what he sees as the duplicity of his wise advisors that he totally loses his cool and literally throws a temper tantrum. All the same, it doesn’t actually say that the king specifically ordered the deaths of Daniel and his friends, but it does seem to be a blanket decree that covered all wise men, Daniel and his friends included.
Christians face spiritual warfare on a daily basis. Paul said he was in jeopardy every hour and died daily (1 Corinthians 15:30-31). Also see Romans 8:36 – As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
For Paul, spiritual warfare was more or less constant in his life. Far too many Christians just fail to realise that they are in warfare, or else they are deserters who are afraid of getting hurt. It’s the godly Christians who get hurt (2 Timothy 3:12) through their obedience to their calling to a life of suffering for Christ (1 Peter 2:21; also see 1 Peter 4:16). And if suffering means sinfulness in your life (as many churches today teach), then Paul must have been one of the biggest sinners of all time (2 Corinthians 11:20-30). If this NT teaching is to be consistent, then Daniel’s effectiveness as a servant of God was largely due to his acceptance of suffering (or even just the threat of such) as a necessary part of his service. Note that Joseph’s greatness also came as a direct consequence of his suffering.
Daniel 2:14 – Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king’s guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise [men] of Babylon:
counsel – or maybe wise advice
wisdom – tᵉ‘em (Aramaic) (decree; taste; judgment; command; discretion)
ta‘am (also Aramaic) is
a closely-related synonym, the Hebrew equivalent of which is ta‘am (taste; judgment; decision; decree)
The Hebrew ta‘am
is translated “advice” (with the idea of “discretion”) in
1 Samuel 25:33a – And
blessed [be] thy advice (ta‘am),
and blessed [be] thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to [shed]
blood.
Here it is likely to mean that Daniel used discretion in responding to
Arioch, captain of the king’s guard.
Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom
– This is not a straight-forward statement; it has a number
of varied interpretations. The best I can suggest is that Daniel
responded (replied) to the deadly decree (which was about to be carried out)
with counsel and discretion (or tact or good taste). The idea seems to be that
Daniel responded with wisdom and discretion with the intention of defusing a
very dangerous and deadly situation. Diplomacy is better than confrontation
here. He could see that arguing with the captain would be likely to only cause
more trouble, so he is now trying to calm things down with wisdom and
discretion, like pouring oil on troubled waters.
We do not know if any of the other wise men had
already been executed (but probably at least some had already, especially the
Chaldeans of Daniel 2:4). It is clear, though, that if Daniel cannot slow
the executions down enough to get time to find out why the decree had gone out
and therefore be able to suggest some remedy, then the book of Daniel may never
be written!
Daniel 2:15 – 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.
hasty – chatsaph (Aramaic) (urgent;
harsh; show insolence) It is only used twice in the OT, the other in Daniel 3:22 where it is
translated “urgent” (“because the king’s commandment was
urgent”)
Here it could mean either in such a hurry (urgent) or so harsh a
judgment. Why was it so urgent to execute so many who probably had nothing to
do with the responses given by the Chaldeans? Or, on the other hand, why was
the penalty so harsh for those who weren’t given any
opportunity to be able to respond?
So Arioch tells Daniel about what has
happened. This gives Daniel the opportunity to be able to quickly consider what
he might do to avert such a slaughter. (It would have to be “quickly” because
there probably would not have been much time to think things through before a
lot of deaths occurred.) Nebuchadnezzar would not have accepted any delay in
his decree being carried out. Perhaps the captain of his guard (a man he
obviously had to trust implicitly) could have some leeway when it came to
carrying out the penalty, but certainly not very much. The king does not appear
to be endowed with a lot of such patience though!
Daniel has to come up with an answer on the
spot, for it is unlikely that he would have had time to consult with his
companions first. Clearly he is being led by God
through this such that he knows (has to know, in fact) immediately what
he has to say and do. If he gets this wrong, wholesale slaughter will take
place (or continue, if it has already begun, for the captain is not likely to
do the killing, but instead the soldiers he has under his authority). And if he
gets it wrong, it could be Daniel’s turn to get “cut in pieces”! (Daniel 2:5)
Daniel 2:16 – Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation.
Obviously Daniel was able to communicate properly with Arioch such that Arioch has made an executive decision to temporarily hold off the executions of Daniel and his companions. (Vs 13 above strongly suggests that Arioch has approached Daniel intending to execute him.) If Arioch has misread this situation, his life could also be ended. It wouldn’t have been easy to serve someone who could legally have you executed in a moment merely for doing something that offended the king. (And this king seemingly was very easily offended!)
Daniel must have been very persuasive, or, more likely, God was setting up the whole series of circumstances such that things would fall into place for Daniel because he trusted in God to do so.
The king had accused the Chaldeans of trying to buy time to come up with a conspired answer (Daniel 2:8-9) and had refused to give them extra time. Of course, the Chaldeans probably didn’t ask for time because they were sure that they would never have the required answer even if permitted the extra time. They were simply trying to time-waste until maybe a useful diversion came up.
But Daniel has put his life (and all the others’ lives too) on the line by stating that if he can have some time to consider (clearly to pray about it), then he will reveal the dream and the interpretation to the king. Daniel 2:19 says that God answered Daniel in a night vision which implies that Daniel had desired at least that night to prepare before having to answer the king.
Daniel 2:24 suggests that Daniel might have been able to avert the execution of most (or possibly but not likely all) of the wise men under penalty of execution, but this is not clear. It is probable that Arioch (the king’s captain) considered Daniel’s request to be worth trying before carrying out the king’s decree. Thus Arioch must have had the confidence of the king in dealing with such situations (or considered that he did!) and therefore must have had some discretionary authority to deal with things as he saw fit. Arioch must also have been a compassionate man, probably not in a hurry to slaughter people without good cause. Possibly he considered the king’s decree to be severe, or maybe he thought the king should at least hear from others of the wise men before condemning them all to death.
Daniel 2:17 – Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:
Daniel has probably been given until the next morning to deliver the goods. It is unlikely that Nebuchadnezzar would permit much extra time after his impatient behaviour concerning the Chaldeans earlier on. Daniel is clearly placing his absolute trust in God whom he knows (by faith) can reveal all knowledge, even dreams. However, it is one thing to claim that God can know all things; it is another thing to be actually told such things by God.
It is true of much of God’s dealings with man. Most Christians fully believe that God can do whatever miracle He desires, and at any time. But when we ask God for miracles, we aren’t certain if He will deliver for us. It isn’t because we doubt God’s ability, but that we don’t know if God will deliver a miracle for us when we ask. God can do all things, but doesn’t actually do all things! Mostly our faith is not in whether God can do something, but whether He will do something.
Note when Daniel’s three companions were about to be thrown into the fiery furnace. They knew that their God could deliver them, but if He chose not to, then they would still trust their God.
Daniel 3:16-18 – 16Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we [are] not careful to answer thee in this matter. 17If it be [so], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver [us] out of thine hand, O king. 18But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
Daniel is also letting his three companions know what is at stake here. If he hadn’t managed to see the king already, then all of them might have been dead by now anyway, so Daniel’s decision to talk to the king has not made it worse for them than it already is. He does, though, have another reason why he’s letting them know. He desires them to join with him to entreat God for His mercy – see Vs 18 below.
Daniel 2:18 – That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise [men] of Babylon.
Daniel and his companions place their needs before God. They petition Him for His mercies that He would provide the answer the king is demanding. If God doesn’t reveal this secret (the dream and its interpretation), then they will perish (‘abad – translated “to destroy” in Vs 12 above)
Daniel 2:12 – For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy (‘abad) all the wise [men] of Babylon.
‘abad is an Aramaic word (corresponding to the Hebrew word ‘abad) This Aramaic word occurs 6 times in Daniel and also appears in the one single verse in Jeremiah which is written in Aramaic.
Jeremiah 10:11 – Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, [even] they shall perish (‘abad) from the earth, and from under these heavens.
It is not clear why this one verse in Jeremiah should be in Aramaic with the rest of Jeremiah in Hebrew. Some commentaries suggest that it may have been a marginal note added while in Babylon and that this note eventually replaced the original Hebrew terms. But a more convincing explanation (in my view) is that Jeremiah is telling those who will soon be captive in Babylon what to say to those who might try to convert them to the Babylonian religion. Being able to say this in Aramaic to the Chaldeans would help prevent confusion over what they meant. It’s a bit like learning an important necessary phrase or two off by heart in a foreign language.
Of course, it may also have been written in the margin as a translated verse for use in Babylon. The Hebrew language wasn’t all that different to Aramaic.
It is true that Daniel’s action resulted in saving the lives of him and his three companions, but it is clear that it was God’s plan to have Daniel set up in a position of authority as a result of Daniel’s interpretation of the dream.
Daniel 2:46-49 – 46Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him. 47The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth [it is], that your God [is] a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret. 48Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise [men] of Babylon. 49Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel [sat] in the gate of the king.
Just as Joseph’s God-given wisdom in the interpretation of dreams led him to become the second most powerful man in Egypt, it is likewise with Daniel’s God-given wisdom here. In each case God has planned the apparent persecution or destruction of His people in order to bring about His ultimate purpose: His glory.
In Joseph’s words:
Genesis 50:20 – But as for you, ye thought evil against me; [but] God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as [it is] this day, to save much people alive.
I know this is a verse calvinists have often thrown at me to “prove” that God decrees evil (sin) for His glory, that God planned evil itself here. But God cannot be tempted with evil, nor will He tempt anyone with evil. It is man himself who devises evil and God permits man to have his free will to oppose God in this way.
James 1:13-14 – 13Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
And it was God’s wisdom to Joseph to interpret dreams that brought Joseph to Pharaoh.
Genesis 41:8 – And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but [there was] none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.
Genesis 41:15 – And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and [there is] none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, [that] thou canst understand a dream to interpret it.
Just as God permitted Adam the free will to choose to sin and bring destruction upon mankind, God permits man to do evil, knowing that His ultimate plan for this world will not be thwarted. We will look at the culmination of God’s plan for His people when we look at Daniel 9:24 – Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
Nothing will prevent God from achieving this everlasting righteousness for His people Israel (and likewise for His church).
Psalm 51:6 – Behold,
thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the
hidden [part] thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
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