Chapter Two

1. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in the second year of his reign. 2–11. The impotence of the Babylonian wise men to reveal the dream’s content and the king’s command for their destruction. 12–24. The revelation of the dream to Daniel and his prayer of thanksgiving. 25–45. Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. 46–49. The king’s acknowledgment of the omnipotence and wisdom of the God of Israel and his exaltation of Daniel and his friends.

Daniel 2:1. In the second year of King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, and his mind was disturbed, and his sleep left him. The interpretation by Daniel of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream occurred after the completion of his three-year education Dan 1:5. This is guaranteed by the fact that after explaining the dream he was appointed chief of the Babylonian wise men Dan 2:48, which surely could not have happened had he not completed his study of books and the Chaldean language Dan 1:4, and which is, on the contrary, fully understandable after the education was complete, since in the examination following its completion Daniel proved ten times wiser than all the Babylonian wise men Dan 1:20. Similarly, if the interpretation of the dream had preceded the completion of his education, something incredible would have resulted: the chief of the wise men undergoes an examination in wisdom. Finally, a student who had not completed his education could not be included among the wise men, and yet Daniel and his friends were in danger of being killed together with the latter Dan 2:18. By the time the dream was explained, Daniel’s three-year education had been completed, but in that case this event could not have fallen in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, as the Bible affirms. In order to resolve such a contradiction, exegetes resort to various hypotheses. According to some of them, by the second year of Nebuchadnezzar is meant not the second year of his reign, but the second after Daniel’s three-year education (Jachiads), the second after the destruction of Jerusalem (Josephus), or finally, the second after the subjugation of all surrounding peoples to Nebuchadnezzar (Cornelius a Lapide, Maldonatus). But such a way of reconciliation is inconsistent with the direct, unambiguous words of the Bible: “in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.” Other exegetes explain the present reading as a corruption of the original text, which dated Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams to either the 12th or 20th year of his reign. From 12 arose the second, through the omission of the Hebrew letter “yodh” (12 in Hebrew כי), and from 20 through the substitution of the letter kaph with the similar-looking letter beth (20 in Hebrew ב, two כ). Weakening such a supposition is evidence relating to the 14th year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign in the testimony of the prophet Ezekiel concerning Daniel’s wisdom Ezek 28:3: Daniel’s wisdom was known to his contemporaries before the 20th year of Nebuchadnezzar. More natural and plausible is the resolution of this disagreement by the assumption of a twofold method of reckoning the years of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. His accession fell in the middle of 605 B.C., and from the twentieth of Tishri (beginning of October) of that year there are already official documents with Nebuchadnezzar’s name as reigning sovereign. Meanwhile, according to the custom of the Babylonians to reckon the reign of their rulers from the 1st of Nisan of the year following his accession to the throne, the first year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign was, as is evident from the so-called Ptolemaic Canon, not 605 but 604 B.C. In accordance with this reckoning, which the prophet Daniel followed, the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign (602 B.C.) is the third since his accession and, consequently, the third year of Daniel’s and his friends’ education, since it began in 605 B.C. (Pesotsky. The Holy Prophet Daniel, pp. 296–298). The unusual character of the images and the overall enigmatic and mysterious nature of the dream produced in the king’s heart a feeling of unease: “his spirit was troubled.”

Daniel 2:2. And the king ordered that they call the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. Daniel 2:3. And the king said to them, I have had a dream, and my spirit is troubled; I want to know what this dream means. In the view of Nebuchadnezzar, dreams were one of the means through which the gods announced their will to men. Thus, in one of his inscriptions, he addresses a prayer to the god Shamash, asking him to reveal his mercy and favor to him in a dream. Regarding even this new forgotten dream as a revelation from above, the king naturally desires to know it, since this is equivalent to knowing the will of the gods, and he is troubled and tormented by the uncertainty (“my spirit is troubled to know this dream”). In order to restore the forgotten thing to memory and thereby find peace, he turns to the only possible and reliable means available to him—to the aid of the Babylonian wise men of five classes, each of which possessed specialized knowledge. Among them the “magicians” (Hebrew hartumim)—experts in sacred Chaldean writing, interpreters through its aid of dreams in a religious sense and sorcerers of evil demons by words alone without the aid of magical means (cf. Exod 7:11. Expository Bible vol. 1); the “astrologers” (Hebrew asaphim, from asaph to blow; Greek μαγοι; Slavonic volkhvy)—men who, according to blessed Jerome, pursued philosophical investigation of various matters, explained miraculous visions and prophecies of oracles, proclaimed the will of the gods to the people, composed hymns in honor of them, and finally produced incantations by means of blowing; “mekasfim”—sorcerers, magicians, who employed visible magic for their sorcery, using among other things for these purposes the blood of sacrificial animals (blessed Jerome); “kasdim”—Chaldeans in the proper sense, or priests (Herodotus; Diodorus Siculus), who observed the movements of the stars, engaged in astronomical calculations and on the basis of them predicted human destiny (blessed Jerome), and finally “gazrim” (verse 27)—the same as astronomers, diviners by stars, by the entrails of animals, by the flight and cry of birds, etc. Nebuchadnezzar summons the wise men, of course their representatives, from all five classes, since the knowledge of any one group was insufficient for explaining the dream. The hartumim were to give its interpretation, the asaphim to communicate the will of the gods to the king; in order to more precisely determine the good fortune or misfortune foretold by the dream, it was possible to divine by the stars and entrails of animals, which the kasdim and gazrim engaged in; should the dream have portended some misfortune, the same kasdim, as priests, were to appease the gods by sacrifices, and the mekasfim were to attempt to avert the calamity by their magic.

Daniel 2:4. The Chaldeans answered the king in Aramaic, O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will reveal its meaning. Beginning their speech with the customary greeting in addressing a king in the east: “O king, live forever” 1 Sam 10:24; 1 Sam 1:31; Nehem 2:3; Dan 3:9; Dan 5:10, the wise men are convinced that they have been summoned to explain a dream well known to the king.

Daniel 2:5. The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The dream has left my mind. If you do not make known to me the dream with its meaning, you will be cut into pieces and your houses will be destroyed. Daniel 2:6. But if you show the dream and its meaning, you will receive gifts, rewards, and great honor from me. Therefore show me the dream and its meaning. The requirement presented to the wise men to relate the content of the forgotten dream did not seem to Nebuchadnezzar to be impossible. Claiming the ability to discover hidden and secret things with the aid of the gods, they could obviously learn in one way or another even the dream he had seen. And therefore Nebuchadnezzar considered himself justified in, for failure to fulfill his requirement, imposing on them the customary Babylonian punishment—dismemberment into pieces Ezek 16:40; Ezek 23:47.

Daniel 2:7. They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its meaning. Daniel 2:8. The king answered and said, I know for certain that you are trying to gain time, because you see that the dream has left me. Daniel 2:9. Because you do not make known the dream to me, your fate is sealed: you have prepared falsehood and deception to speak to me until the time passes. So tell me the dream, and then I will know that you can show me its meaning. From the answer of the wise men, Nebuchadnezzar understood that they did not possess higher knowledge, and understood as well that they were unwilling to confess this, hoping in one way or another to extricate themselves from their difficult position (“they are stalling for time”). The wise men waited, “for time to change,” that is, for the king himself to express something definite about what he had seen in his dream, or for some circumstance to appear that would make it possible to penetrate into the secret unknown to them. But an answer constructed on the basis of such hints and guesses must be far from the truth (“they intend to say something false and cunning”). Therefore, Nebuchadnezzar demands that the wise men at once communicate the content of the dream he saw. This will serve as proof of their higher knowledge and at the same time as a guarantee that the interpretation itself is free from error.

Daniel 2:10. The Chaldeans answered before the king and said, There is not a man on earth who can reveal this matter to the king, and therefore no king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean. Daniel 2:11. What the king is asking for is so difficult that only the gods can reveal it, and the gods do not dwell with mortal flesh. Daniel 2:12. Because of this the king became angry and furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar exposed the designs of the wise men, and they, understanding the futility of further excuses, confessed their inability to fulfill the king’s command. Their declaration that he is asking them, mere mortals, for something impossible and unheard of, and that his desire can be satisfied only by the gods themselves, is at once both a justification and a protest against the punishment imposed. For Nebuchadnezzar, it deprived him of his last hope of learning the dream he had seen and therefore threw him into a rage, which manifested itself in a command to strike down all the wise men. If their representatives proved to be deceivers, falsely claiming higher knowledge for themselves, then those too, evidently, are their assistants—the lesser wise men.

Daniel 2:14. Then Daniel answered with wisdom and prudence to Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. Daniel 2:15. And he said to Arioch, the king’s commander, Why is the decree from the king so harsh? Then Arioch explained the matter to Daniel. Daniel 2:16. Then Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time so he could show the king the interpretation. And Arioch, the captain of the guard (Hebrew rav. tabbachaia), was one of the most important officials, since this title was borne by Nebuchadnezzar’s military commander Nebuzaradan Jer 39:9; Jer 41:10; Jer 43:6; Jer 52:12, and Nebuchadnezzar himself knew of Daniel’s outstanding wisdom Dan 1:19-20. And this circumstance (Daniel “approached Arioch with counsel and wisdom”) caused the former to halt the execution of the royal command, and the latter to agree with the prophet’s request. A new hope was born in the king to learn his forgotten dream.

Daniel 2:20. Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and strength belong to him. The basic thought of the prayer: the glorification of the power and wisdom of God, manifested in the revelation to Daniel of the dream.

Daniel 2:21. He changes the times and the seasons, removes kings and sets up kings, gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who understand. Daniel 2:22. He reveals what is deep and hidden, knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with him. Foretelling great revolutions in mankind and speaking of God’s supreme dominion over the fate of the world, the dream testifies to God’s power: the Lord according to His will and authority “changes times and seasons, removes kings, and sets up kings” (Cf. 1 Sam 2:7-8; Prov 8:14). Inaccessible in its significance to human wisdom, revealed and explained to Daniel by God Himself, it speaks of divine wisdom Dan 2:22.

Daniel 2:23. I praise and glorify you, God of my fathers, because you have given me wisdom and strength and have made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter. Thanksgiving for the revelation of the meaning of the dream.

Daniel 2:24. After this Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon. Bring me before the king, and I will reveal the interpretation to the king. Daniel 2:25. Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king and said to him, I have found a man from the captives of Judah who can make known the interpretation to the king. Having postponed the death sentence for a time Dan 2:13-15, Arioch should not carry out the royal command at all: the content of the dream seen by Nebuchadnezzar has been revealed to Daniel. Following Eastern custom, which forbids access and entry to the king without prior announcement Esth 4:11, the prophet is brought to Nebuchadnezzar by Arioch, as a person interested in the outcome of the whole affair. He, having halted the death sentence, as it were justifies his act: he brings to the king a man able to reveal the meaning of the dream.

Daniel 2:26. The king said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Are you able to make known to me the dream I have seen and its meaning? Directly acquainted with Daniel’s wisdom, Nebuchadnezzar is nevertheless not yet entirely sure that he, a foreigner Dan 2:25, can reveal what proved beyond the capacity of the Babylonian wise men.

Daniel 2:27. Daniel answered before the king and said, The secret that the king asks cannot be revealed by the wise men, astrologers, magicians, or soothsayers. Daniel 2:28. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the coming days. Your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed are these: Daniel 2:29. As for you, O king, thoughts came to you on your bed about what will happen afterward, and he who reveals secrets has made known to you what will come to pass. Daniel 2:30. But this secret has been revealed to me not because I have more wisdom than all people, but so that the king might be shown the interpretation and understand the thoughts of your heart. The doubt of the king is lawful when considered in the light of ordinary human wisdom: it is powerless to resolve the mystery. The latter is known to God alone. He, having sent the dream to Nebuchadnezzar, can explain it. The Lord chose Daniel as His instrument in this case. It follows that Daniel is capable of recounting and explaining the dream, thanks to illumination from above. Therefore, the king can be assured that his dream will be revealed and explained.

Daniel 2:31. You, O king, saw a great image. This great image, whose appearance was brilliant, stood before you, and its form was terrifying. Daniel 2:32. The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms were of silver, its belly and thighs were of bronze, Daniel 2:33. Its legs were of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. Daniel 2:34. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Daniel 2:35. Then all of it broke in pieces together—the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold became like chaff on the summer threshing floor, and the wind carried them away so that no trace was left of them. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled all the earth. Daniel 2:36. This is the dream. Now we will tell its meaning before the king. In accordance with the king’s question Dan 2:26, Daniel first sets forth the content of the dream, and then Dan 2:36 proceeds to its explanation. In answer to the king’s thoughts about what will come after him Dan 2:29, that is, whether the monarchy he created will remain the master of the fate of the world or will give way to other empires, the dream presents the history of the succession of four earthly kingdoms and the establishment on earth of the Kingdom of God.

Daniel 2:37. You, O king, are a king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given a kingdom, power, strength, and glory. Daniel 2:38. And wherever people live—the animals of the field and the birds of the heaven—he has given into your hand and has made you ruler over all of them. You are the head of gold. Referring the symbol of the golden head to Nebuchadnezzar (“You are this head of gold”), the prophet understands by him the whole Babylonian monarchy, as is indicated by the words: “And after you another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours” Dan 2:39. According to history, this other kingdom arose not after Nebuchadnezzar, but after all his successors to the throne—it replaced the Babylonian empire. In the dream it is personified in the person of Nebuchadnezzar, since to him, the “king of kings” (cf. Ezek 26:7), the world conqueror (cf. Jer 27:6; Jer 28:14), it owed its existence, power, glory, and world-wide character. As the first in the succession of world empires, the Babylonian monarchy is depicted as the head; as distinguished, especially under Nebuchadnezzar, by greatness and brilliance, it is the head of gold.

Daniel 2:39. After you will arise another kingdom inferior to yours, and then a third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth. The symbolic image of the two silver arms, joining in one breast Dan 2:32, indicates at the same time both its bipartite nature and its unity. Such was the Medo-Persian empire, united and indivisible Dan 8:20 in spite of two peoples that composed it. As the successor to the Babylonian, it is regarded also by the prophet Daniel himself Dan 5:28. The history of the Medo-Persian kingdom was not distinguished by the greatness and brilliance that characterized the Babylonian monarchy, which is why it is called “inferior to it.” The third kingdom in the succession, while yielding to the first two in external brilliance (the brass belly of the statue), would significantly surpass them in power and strength: “which shall bear rule over all the earth.” Such a character was ascribed by the First Book of Maccabees to the Greek kingdom. Its founder—Alexander the Great—traversed to the ends of the earth, ruled over regions, peoples, and rulers, and made the earth fall silent before him 1 Macc 1:3-4. The Greek kingdom, which succeeded the Medo-Persian monarchy, is considered as such by the prophet Daniel Dan 8:8-7 and in the First Book of Maccabees 1 Macc 1:1.

Daniel 2:40. And the fourth kingdom will be strong as iron, because iron breaks in pieces and destroys all things. Like iron that shatters all of these, it will break in pieces and destroy. Daniel 2:41. And whereas you saw the feet and toes partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom will be divided, but there will be in it the strength of iron, since you saw the iron mixed with clay. Daniel 2:42. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. Daniel 2:43. And whereas you saw iron mixed with clay, they will mix with the seed of men, but they will not stick together, just as iron does not mix with clay. The fourth kingdom is represented by the image of iron shins and feet partly of iron and partly of clay. According to the prophet, this means that, while possessing all-crushing power, it will be as brittle as clay. The simultaneous manifestation of these two opposite qualities is not admissible because a kingdom falling apart cannot be at the same time all-crushing and destroying. It is more natural therefore to see in the words of the prophet an indication of two different moments in the history of the fourth monarchy: a period of extraordinary power, strength and might, and a period of decline, decomposition, caused by the impossibility of consolidating into one all the disparate parts of the state. Initially firm as iron, it will subsequently become brittle as iron-clay. The prophet Daniel himself distinguishes these two moments, giving separate explanations of the iron shins and the iron-clay feet of the statue. Characterizing in this way the fourth kingdom, the prophet does not, however, name it by name, as he does for the second and third monarchies, and this circumstance serves as grounds for identifying it either with the Syrian-Egyptian kingdom or the Roman. As for the first opinion, it finds no foundation in the vision in chapter 8 parallel to Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The Syrian and Egyptian kingdoms are presented in it as horns growing on the head of the goat Dan 8:21-22, that is, as kingdoms formed out of the Greco-Macedonian monarchy, and therefore should be regarded as its continuation and modification, which cannot be said of the fourth kingdom. Further, according to Dan 8:22 and Dan 11:4, the Syrian and Egyptian kingdom will be weaker than the monarchy from which they arose; meanwhile the fourth kingdom is presented as surpassing all preceding ones in power. There are more grounds for understanding the Roman monarchy by it: it possessed the qualities of Daniel’s fourth kingdom. With its all-crushing, invincible in its initial stages power, its worldwide devastating conquests, it surpassed all preceding states. But originally united as an indivisible whole and therefore firm as iron, the Roman kingdom subsequently entered a period of brittleness and self-destruction, which began at the moment of the conquest of various peoples. The diverse nationalities that entered into its composition did not consolidate into one, and the more its boundaries expanded, the more elements of clay entered into it, contributing not to the strengthening of power, but to its weakening through constant uprisings and numerous civil wars. “Converting into Roman citizens Gauls and Egyptians, Africans and Huns, Spaniards and Syrians, how could emperors expect,” says blessed Augustine, “that such a motley crowd would be loyal to the interests of Rome, which had persecuted them?”

Daniel 2:44. And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be given to another people. It will break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, but it will stand forever. Daniel 2:45. Because you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and it broke in pieces the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold, the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is true, and its interpretation is reliable. Daniel 2:35. At the time of the existence of the fourth monarchy (the stone struck the feet of the statue) appears a new kingdom, represented as a stone. Divine in its origin (“the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom”), eternal (“which shall never be destroyed”), itself indestructible, toward earthly kingdoms all-crushing (Dan. 2:35), it will gradually become a universal kingdom (“the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled all the earth”—Dan 2:35). All these characteristics point to the messianic kingdom, founded by God in heaven, which appeared in the days of the Roman kingdom, crushing by its higher spiritual and moral force the brutal force of the pagan world and filling all the earth. In accordance with the conception of the Old Testament church, under the image of a mountain Isa 2:2-3; Mic 4:2, the small at its appearance messianic kingdom is depicted in the form of a stone. It tears away from the mountain Dan 2:34—the New Testament church arose from the heart of the Old Testament. However, some exegetes on the basis of Isa 8:14; Isa 28:16; Matt 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11; 1 Pet 2:4; Rom 9:32 understand by the stone the Messiah himself, and by the mountain—the Virgin Mary (“O cornerstone cut from the uncut mountain, O Virgin, from you was cut a cornerstone”). With this understanding, the messianic kingdom is personified, like the first monarchy, in the person of its Founder. Daniel 2:46. Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and worshiped Daniel, and commanded that an offering and incense be brought to him. Daniel 2:47. The king answered Daniel and said, It is truly so, that your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of secrets, since you were able to reveal this secret. In the person of Daniel, who revealed and explained the dream, Nebuchadnezzar recognized not an ordinary wise man versed in Chaldean wisdom, but a man endowed with higher divine knowledge Dan 2:47; cf. Dan 4:5-6. He expressed such a view in that he rendered to the prophet divine honors, as is indicated by the Hebrew verb “sagad”—worshipped Isa 44:15; Isa 46:6, and the offering of incense before him. According to the opinion of blessed Jerome and Josephus Flavius, Nebuchadnezzar worshipped in the person of Daniel the God dwelling in him, whom he recognized as the highest of all gods.

Daniel 2:48. Then 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. The title “chief of the Babylonian wise men” (cf. Dan 4:6) was apparently for Daniel only an honorific title, but did not give him the actual and real power. At least, from the subsequent history it is evident that he stood apart from the Chaldeans: the latter appeared repeatedly at the king’s summons, but the prophet was not among them Dan 4:3-4. Daniel’s nominal membership in the caste of Chaldeans is quite natural, as it was strictly closed and did not admit foreigners into its ranks; moreover, according to Diodorus, the title of Chaldean was passed from father to son.