And the king commanded to call the scribes, and the magicians, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to shew the king his dreams; and they came and stood before the king.
In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar cannot sleep and cannot remember his dream. So he calls in every expert his empire can supply — and behind that command stands a bigger question: who really governs the world's greatest throne?
The dream was no accident. One writer sets the whole scene under a hand that never lets go of the controls:
Man may look supreme — think of Nebuchadnezzar over his empire. But always remember this: God never gives up the reins of government. He may control by His own hand or through others, but He does control the smallest events on earth as well as the greatest. So it was no chance that Nebuchadnezzar had his dreams in the second year of his reign.
The four groups named in the verse were not harmless court advisers. (Where the ESV says "enchanters", older translations say "astrologers".) Their knowledge came from a particular source:
Babylon got much of its "science" through arts in which men dealt with demonic powers. So Daniel and his companions were up against a "science" that comes from Satanic sources, as well as one that clever men had worked out. And the verdict, given by the pagan king himself, was that the knowledge and science and wisdom that comes from God was ten times better.
Nebuchadnezzar already had the answer inside his own palace. He had tested Daniel and ranked him above every one of these men — and still he called for them instead:
God allowed all of this to force the king to acknowledge Him through His servant Daniel. The king had already found Daniel ten times wiser than all the wise men of Babylon. Still, he forgot or rejected Daniel and turned to the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers and Chaldeans. He demanded that they not only interpret the dream, but first tell him the dream he had forgotten.
One writer sees the same pattern in all of us:
But man must always come to the end of his own resources before he becomes willing to turn to God for help and direction… So all the wise men of his kingdom gathered to hear the commands of Nebuchadnezzar — men of knowledge and experience, the philosophers and scientists of the day.
Asking them to name a dream the dreamer had forgotten sounds cruel. But it was the one test they could not fake:
They could give an interpretation without trouble. If it dealt with future events, it might pass unchallenged, because until the time came for it to happen, no one could say whether it was true or false. So God's purpose — to expose how empty their claimed skill and knowledge were — would not have been reached.
And set against what these men claimed for themselves, the demand was fair:
But when we remember the huge claims these wise men of Babylon made for themselves, the demand does not look so outrageous.
The gathering of experts sets up a public test. Babylon's finest training is about to fail in front of everyone:
But turning to this first great scene, we see the complete failure of the wisdom of the world. At the court of Babylon they took unusual care to train men in all wisdom and knowledge. Now the time had come to put that training to the test… while, on the other hand, the king was made to feel how utterly powerless all human resources are. It was God's opportunity to display His own power, and the perfect wisdom for which even a poor captive was made the channel.
This was more than a test of skill. God was confronting the powers Babylon trusted:
The truth is, this was simply a challenge thrown down by the God of heaven before these men, who stood for the wisdom of a world deceived by the devil. The same challenge goes out word for word in Isaiah 41: "Set forth your case, says the LORD… Tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods… Behold, you are nothing, and your work is less than nothing."
- Arranged — The sleepless night of the world's most powerful man was no accident. God never hands over the reins of government. He controls the smallest events as well as the greatest.
- Summoned — The four groups named were not neutral scholars. Much of Babylon's "science" came from dealings with demonic powers.
- Overlooked — The king had already found Daniel ten times wiser than all of them. In trouble he still turned everywhere else. Man reaches the end of his own resources before he turns to God.
- Exposed — Demanding the dream itself closed every escape route. An interpretation alone could never be checked. Their own huge claims made the test fair.
- Answered — The failure of the world's wisdom became God's opportunity. He displayed His power through a captive, and told the pretended gods, "you are nothing."
And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, O king, live for ever! tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.
The king has put his wise men on the spot, and they answer with an offer: give us the dream, and we will give you the meaning. That reply is also the point where the book's original language changes.
From this verse onward the text is no longer Hebrew. One writer traces how the switch maps exactly onto the book's subject matter:
Daniel's prophecy falls into two simple parts after the introductory chapter, which tells of the courageous stand Daniel and his three companions took against idolatry, and how God honoured it. From the point where the Chaldeans spoke "to the king in Syriac" (Dan. 2:4) to the end of Daniel 7, this language of the Gentiles is used, and Hebrew is only returned to as we start Daniel 8. So the historical details and the prophecies relating to the Gentile powers are written in the Gentile language.
The ESV calls it Aramaic; older translations say "Syriac," which is the same tongue.
The choice of language was not an accident of transcription. It made the record readable by the very powers it described:
It is interesting that the portion from Daniel 2:4 to the close of Daniel 7 is in the Syriac or Aramean language. That was the tongue spoken by the Babylonians and the Assyrians. These were the two powers used in the captivity of all Israel. In that portion we have the rise, progress and doom of Gentile power sketched by God. So not Hebrew but Syriac is the chosen tongue. The Gentiles could then read for themselves. They were left without excuse about how they used the governmental power God had entrusted to them.
The choice also makes a claim. Babylon had captured Jerusalem, and that looked like a win for Babylon's gods:
The Gentiles had triumphed over the kingdom of Judah. But God would teach them that they had not triumphed over Jehovah. Their gods had not given them the victory. He, and He alone, was the true God, the God of heaven.
Earlier in the book Daniel is taught "the tongue of the Chaldeans" (Daniel 1:4). Writers note that this is not the same as the Aramaic spoken here, and one offers a reason for the switch in the room itself:
In Dan. 2:4 we find that the wise men answered the king in the Syriac language, that is Aramaic. There must be some reason why Daniel says the wise men answered the king in Aramaic. Aramaic is held to be not the learned and court language, but the common language of the people. The wise men may have used it so that all who heard could judge whether what they said was reasonable, even though the king might condemn them.
Their request sounds modest, and it is easy to feel for them. But it put their own claims to the test:
We might pity these men of wisdom, put through such an ordeal. But we must remember two things. First, the professionals of the occult sciences of that day claimed to be able to reveal secrets and to see into regions hidden from mortal eyes. Second, God designed the whole thing to bring the wisdom of the wise to nothing in the eyes of this absolute monarch, to take them in their own craftiness, and so to pour contempt on all the pride of man. Their reply was, "Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation."
The king's demand still sounds harsh. One writer weighs it against what these men claimed they could do:
This request appears at first sight wholly unreasonable, and the Chaldeans tell the king, "There is not a man on earth who can show the king's matter... And it is a rare thing that the king requires, and there is no other who can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh." But remember the vast pretensions of these wise men of Babylon. Then the demand does not appear so outrageous.
The men closest to the throne had no light. God gave it elsewhere:
"The secret of the LORD is with those who fear him." The magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans lived in the atmosphere of the royal presence. They were all in the dark about the royal dream... But there was a God in heaven who knew all about it. He could unfold it to those who had faith enough, devotion enough and self-denial enough to separate themselves from Babylon's pollutions, though they were caught up in Babylon's captivity.
- Language. From this verse to the end of chapter 7 the book leaves Hebrew for Aramaic — a Gentile tongue for the Gentile part of the prophecy.
- Audience. God chose that tongue so the nations could read the story of their own rise and fall, and be left with no excuse.
- Claim. Babylon's victory over Judah was no victory over God. He alone is the God of heaven.
- Exposure. Their polite offer — you supply the dream, we supply the meaning — put their advertised powers on trial. God used it to bring the wisdom of the wise to nothing.
- Location. God kept the secret from the men nearest the throne. He gave it to those who had kept clear of Babylon's pollutions.
The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The command is gone forth from me If ye do not make known unto me the dream, and its interpretation, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.