Paragraphs # 3, 4 & 5 Study # 1
March 13, 2018
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(There is no audio for this study.)
1769 KJV Translation:
24 Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise [
men] of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise [
men] of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation.
25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation.
26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name [
was] Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?
27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise [
men], the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;
28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;
29 As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came [
into thy mind] upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.
30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for [
any] wisdom that I have more than any living, but for [
their] sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness [
was] excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof [
was] terrible.
32 This image's head [
was] of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet [
that were] of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
36 This [
is] the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
37 Thou, O king, [
art] a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou [
art] this head of gold.
39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all [
things]: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
42 And [
as] the toes of the feet [
were] part of iron, and part of clay, [
so] the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, [
but] it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream [
is] certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshiped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him.
47 The 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.
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.
49 Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel [
sat] in the gate of the king.
1901 ASV Translation:
24 Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and said thus unto him: Destroy not the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show unto the king the interpretation.
25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the children of the captivity of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation.
26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?
27 Daniel answered before the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded can neither wise men, enchanters, magicians, nor soothsayers, show unto the king;
28 but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and he hath made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these:
29 as for thee, O king, thy thoughts came [
into thy mind] upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter; and he that revealeth secrets hath made known to thee what shall come to pass.
30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but to the intent that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that thou mayest know the thoughts of thy heart.
31 Thou, O king, sawest, and, behold, a great image. This image, which was mighty, and whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the aspect thereof was terrible.
32 As for this image, its head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass,
33 its legs of iron, its feet part of iron, and part of clay.
34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon its feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them in pieces.
35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken in pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, so that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great
mountain, and filled the whole earth.
36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
37 Thou, O king, art king of kings, unto whom the God of heaven hath given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory;
38 and wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens hath he given into thy hand, and hath made thee to rule over them all: thou art the head of gold.
39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee; and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron that crusheth all these, shall it break in pieces and crush.
41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
43 And whereas thou sawest the iron mixed with
miry clay, they shall mingle themselves
with the seed of men; but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron doth not mingle with clay.
44 And in the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty thereof be left to another people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshiped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odors unto him.
47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou hast been able to reveal this secret.
48 Then the king made Daniel great, and gave him many great gifts, and made him to rule over the whole province of Babylon, and to be chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon.
49 And Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel was
in the gate of the king.
- I. Arioch's Involvement (2:24-25).
- A. The king had given him the command to destroy the wise men of Babylon (24a).
- B. Daniel urged him to not destroy the wise men of Babylon, but to take him to the king so he could show the king the interpretation (24b).
- C. He took Daniel before the king and claimed to have "found" a man of the captives of Judah who would make known the interpretation to the king (25).
- II. Daniel Before the King (2:26-28a).
- A. The king's question (26).
- 1. Addressed to Daniel who identifies himself as Belteshazzar.
- 2. Questions whether he can reveal both dream and interpretation.
- B. Daniel's initial response (27-28a).
- 1. He reiterates the impossibility of the king's requirement as far as "men" go.
- 2. He presents the fact that there is "a God in heaven" Who reveals secrets, the main one of which is "what shall be in the latter days". This sets aside the actual impact of "prophecy" as an argument for the identity of the true God because that argument only stands upon man's witness of the fulfillment(s).
- III. Daniel's Presentation of the Dream (2:28b-35).
- A. Daniel focuses upon the actual content of the dream because this is a substitute for the argument of "prophecy" as a revelation of the identity of the true God.
- B. The major issue of the contents of the dream is "what should come to pass hereafter and ... what shall come to pass".
- C. Daniel's disclaimer: he is not the source of, or reason for, "this secret", but it is for the "sakes" of the living, but he will make the interpretation known so the king can know "the thoughts of his heart".
- D. The actual contents of the dream.
- 1. The king saw (a word used seven times in this chapter, one fourth of the use in the whole book; and nine times in chapter seven) a great image of extraordinary brightness with a "terrible" form.
- 2. That form consisted of a head of fine gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron, and feet of a mixture of iron and clay.
- 3. The king watched the image until a stone smashed into the feet and broke them into pieces.
- a. The stone was cut out without hands.
- b. The stone pulverized every part of the image from the feet upwards so that they were like dust and the wind carried it away so that all of the parts were completely eliminated.
- c. The stone swelled into a great mountain that filled the whole earth.
- IV. Daniel's Interpretation of the Dream (2:36-45).
- A. Daniel declares this was what the king dreamed.
- B. He follows up with a declaration that "we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king".
- C. The details of the interpretation.
- 1. There is an extended interpretation of "the head of gold", with the meaning of "gold" given in detail (king of kings whom God has given a kingdom of power, strength, and glory so that men, beasts and fowls are in his hand and he has been made "ruler over them all").
- 2. Then there is a bare skeleton of details given of the following two kingdoms in which the first is "inferior" (as silver is inferior to gold) and the second is "of brass" and simply "bears rule over all the earth".
- 3. Then there is an extended interpretation of the fourth kingdom.
- a. It will be as strong as iron and will use its strength to subdue all the previous kingdoms.
- b. But it will become, at the "feet and toes" stage, a mixed kingdom of the strength of iron and the brokenness of clay.
- c. This mixed stage will be marked by a "mingling of the seed of men" so that the allegiances will be compromised.
- 4. Then there is the revelation of the final kingdom that the God of heaven will set up.
- a. It will never be destroyed.
- b. It will not be left to other people (as the people of the gold, silver, and brass kingdoms were "left" to the iron kingdom).
- c. It will completely annihilate all of the prior kingdoms and will, itself, stand forever.
- d. These details fit the vision of a stone cut out of the mountain without hands that pulverized the entire image and all its parts.
- D. The conclusion: "The Great God" has made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter with all certainty.
- V. Nebuchadnezzar's Initial Response (2:46-49).
- A. The king fell on his face and worshiped Daniel and commanded sacrifices to him.
- B. The king acknowledged that Daniel's "god" is "a God of gods, a Lord of kings, and a Revealer of secrets because Daniel could recount the vision and give its interpretation.
- C. The king exalted Daniel with many great gifts and the position of "ruler over the whole province of Babylon" as well as "the chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon".
- D. The king acceded to Daniel's request that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be put in charge of "the affairs of the province of Babylon".
- E. He placed Daniel in his gate.