Daniel 2 Study Notes

2:1 Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams took place in the second year of his reign, which might appear to conflict with the claim that Daniel’s three-year training program (1:5) began in Nebuchadnezzar’s first year (1:1). However, by Babylonian reckoning Daniel’s second year of training occurred during what was considered the first year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign (604-603 BC; see note at 1:1 about reckoning time). Therefore, the king sought interpretation of his dreams in 602 BC, shortly after Daniel had completed his three-year education.

2:2-3 On magicians and mediums, see note at 1:20. The Hebrew word for sorcerers comes from an Akkadian word that can also mean “witchcraft.” Chaldeans is both a general ethnic term for the Babylonian people and, as used here, a specific term for priests who served as astrologers, soothsayers, and wise men in the king’s government.

2:4-7:28 The narrative switches from Hebrew to Aramaic in v. 4 and continues in Aramaic until 7:28. Chapters 2-7 pertain to God’s revelations about the Gentile nations. The structure is chiastic (ABCCBA).

2:5-9 Some versions translate the phrase my word is final as “the dream is forgotten.” It is better to translate it as referring to the certainty and finality of the king’s demand. Nebuchadnezzar withheld the facts of the dream not because he could not remember them but because he wanted to test his wise men.

2:10-11 This candid confession by the wise men admits that despite all their incantations, magic, and astrology, they were not capable of receiving supernatural revelation.

2:12 Wise men is a general term for all the king’s counselors, who gained their knowledge through occult practices.

2:13 Daniel and his friends were subject to execution because they were in the class of wise men; they had not participated in any of the discussions with the king.

2:14-16 That the king would grant a stay of execution under these circumstances is more than remarkable.

2:17-19 The mystery refers to a secret that can only be known by divine revelation.

2:20-23 Daniel’s song of praise includes the two key ideas of the chapter: First, God is sovereign over the political affairs of humanity because he removes kings and establishes kings. Second, God alone can give revelation by giving wisdom to the wise and by revealing the deep . . . hidden things, even the king’s mystery that had stumped the wise men.

2:24-26 The king was likely surprised to hear further word regarding this matter.

2:27 Daniel asserted that no pagan soothsayer could solve the mystery. Rather, he attributed revelation to God alone. The word translated diviner expresses the idea of cutting or determining, referring to a person who is able to determine another’s fate.

2:28 In the last days indicates that the king’s dream would find its complete fulfillment only in the end times.

2:29-30 Daniel tactfully stressed that Nebuchadnezzar—rather than himself—was the recipient of the revelation.

2:31-45 Daniel interpreted the parts of the colossal statue to represent four empires in historical succession. The head represented the kingdom of Babylon (605-539 BC). The chest and arms symbolized the Medo-Persian Empire (539-331 BC). The stomach and thighs stood for the Greek Empire (331-146 BC). The legs referred to the Roman Empire (146 BC-AD 1476 in the West and AD 1453 in the East). The feet were mixed of iron and clay and represented a future continuation or revival of Rome. The material of each section of the statue decreased in value but increased in strength (except for the feet; see vv. 42-43). The decreased value may symbolize the moral decline of each succeeding kingdom. The increased strength refers to the harsher domination each successive kingdom would impose on its subjects. Daniel also described a stone that would shatter the final kingdom and grow into a mountain that filled the whole earth. This “stone” is the kingdom of God.

Primarily because they disbelieve in the possibility of predictive prophecy, critical scholars assume that Daniel was written in 165 BC and therefore is looking backward rather than forward at the rise of earthly kingdoms such as the Roman Empire. They divide the four kingdoms into Babylon, Media, Persia, and Greece. On the other hand, most interpreters who accept the reality of predictive prophecy in Scripture believe Daniel was written in the late sixth century and view the fourth kingdom as Rome. They hold different opinions about the meaning of the stone, however. Some view it as a spiritual kingdom, embodied in the church, which gradually conquered the Roman Empire. Others more accurately view it as a future kingdom, when Messiah Jesus will return and establish his physical rule that will govern the whole earth and never be destroyed.

2:37 In Ezk 26:7 God himself calls Nebuchadnezzar king of kings. But Daniel makes clear that his position is a gift of God. King Artaxerxes claims the title for himself in Ezr 7:12. But the title belongs truly only to Jesus Christ (1Tm 6:15; Rv 17:14; 19:16).

2:46-47 King Nebuchadnezzar responded to Daniel’s remarkable revelation by recognizing the God of Israel as part of the pantheon of gods, though he did not recognize the God of Israel as the one and only true God.