Paragraph # 1 Study # 1
February 27, 2018
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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1769 Translation:
1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.
2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.
3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.
4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.
5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.
6 But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.
7 They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it.
8 The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me.
9 But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, [
there is but] one decree for you: for ye 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 ye can shew me the interpretation thereof.
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.
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.
12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise [
men] of Babylon.
13 And the decree went forth that the wise [
men] should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.
1901 ASV Translation:
1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep went from him.
2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the enchanters, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.
3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.
4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king
in the Syrian language,
O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.
5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans,
The thing is gone from me: if ye make not known unto me the dream and the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.
6 But if ye show the dream and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honor: therefore show me the dream and the interpretation thereof.
7 They answered the second time and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.
8 The king answered and said, I know of a certainty that ye would
gain time, because ye see
the thing is gone from me.
9 But if ye make not known unto me the dream, there is but one law for you; for ye 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 ye can show me the interpretation thereof.
10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king's matter, forasmuch as no king,
lord, or ruler, hath asked such a thing of any magician, or enchanter, or Chaldean.
11 And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is no other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.
12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
13 So the decree went forth, and the wise men were to be slain; and they sought Daniel and his companions to be slain.
- I. The Second Year of the Reign of Nebuchadnezzar.
- A. Since Daniel and his companions (2:13) were, at this time, already serving in the king's government, they had already had their "three years" of education/attempted brainwashing.
- B. For Daniel to date this chapter's events "in the second year" gives those who hate this book an "opening" to argue for a "flaw".
- 1. The assumptions, however, are ludicrous.
- a. First, there is the assumption that Daniel was too stupid to realize that he had made a huge mistake in his chronology.
- b. Second, there is the assumption that calling Nebuchadnezzar "the king" in 1:1 was also an error.
- c. Third, there is the assumption that Daniel, having been trained in all things Babylonian for three years, would not be fully cognizant of the king's identity and the details of his rule.
- 2. The facts are indisputable.
- a. That Daniel wrote the book in its totality more than 70 years later in time than the events so that he used the terms he used in his "70 years later" setting. This is not to say that he didn't record the details along the way as they occurred, but it is to say that he did not put them into the form of the scroll/book as we now have it.
- b. To call Nebuchadnezzer "king of Babylon" in 1:1 while he was handling the kingdom as a king under the authority of his ailing father is no "error". In his "70 years later" setting, it is no error to call Nebuchadnezzar "the king" since that is how he was remembered at the time Daniel put his material into its final form.
- C. This "second year" was the second year after the death of his father when Nebuchadnezzar had solidified his authority over the Babylonian Empire. It was shortly after Daniel and his companions had been promoted into service in the kingdom since the record indicates that Daniel was not present when the other "wise men" of Babylon were called upon by the king to deal with his insomnia.
- 1. Those summoned were "magicians", "astrologers", "sorcerers" and "Chaldeans".
- 2. Daniel and his companions were "sought" after the king made his decree of death to the wise men (2:13).
- 3. Daniel was ignorant of what had happened and had to be told by Arioch, the captain of the king's guard (2:14-15).
- II. The Focus of Attention is Upon "Impossibility".
- A. The issue for the king was that he was incapable of getting any rest because his dream(s) was so potent and repeated that he deeply felt like there was "something" going on that had potent implications for him.
- B. The king created a subterfuge to attempt to get a viable answer to what his dream(s) suggested and the wise men declared over and again that what he wanted was "impossible" because the "gods", alone, possess "omniscience" (this is where the focus should be rather than upon "power").
- 1. The king required the wise men to tell him what he had dreamed after they had requested to know (2:4-5). They repeated their request after his threats/promises (2:7).
- 2. The wise men declared that "no man on earth" could do what he was requiring and then took the dangerous step of telling him that he was "out of line".
- 3. The declaration that only "the gods" could do what he was demanding clearly shows that the notion of "omniscience" as the indicator of "deity" is settled in their minds.
- B. The king and his politicians were both liars and the king well knew it.
- C. The potency of the king's "penalty" for "inability" was extreme and the promises were large.
- 1. Though the king knew that "only the gods" could do what he was demanding, he also knew that his so-called "wise" men claimed to have the insight of the gods in their position as "the wise".
- 2. The king also knew that there were two most fundamental motivators at "ground zero" for the "wise": a potent fear of fearsome death; and a potent lust for outsized rewards.
- III. The Problem for Daniel and His Friends Was Couched in the Reality of Habakkuk's Promise From God.
- A. This is the second time, already, that the spectre of "death" hangs over the faithful.
- 1. The king is a megalomaniac and extremely dangerous to any who oppose him in any sense.
- 2. He also had a fiery and sudden "temper" (angry and very furious).
- B. This is also the second time that Daniel uses his diplomatic skills to handle the problem.
