Daniel 2:1-6

The King's Forgotten Dream

1 Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar ¹had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his ²sleep left him.

2 Then the king gave orders to call in the ³magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.

3 The king said to them, "I ⁴had a dream and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream."

4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in ⁵Aramaic: "⁶O king, live forever! ⁷Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation."

5 The king replied to the Chaldeans, "The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be ⁸torn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap.

6 "But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me ⁹gifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation."

Read Chapter Compare

Daniel 2:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DANIAL 2

The subject of this chapter is a dream which Nebuchadnezzar had dreamed, but had forgot; upon which he calls his magicians and astrologers together, to tell him it, and the interpretation of it; threatening them with death if they did not, and promising them great rewards and honour if they did, Da 2:1-6, they urge the unreasonableness of the demand, and the impossibility of the thing; which so highly incensed the king, that he ordered their immediate destruction, Da 2:7-13, Daniel and his companions being in danger, he goes in to the king, and desires time, and he would show him what he had dreamed; which being granted, he spent it in prayer to God, Da 2:14-18, and the thing being revealed to him, he gave thanks to God, Da 2:19-23, and being introduced to the king, he both told him his dream, and the interpretation of it; which concerned the four monarchies of the world, and the everlasting kingdom of the Messiah, Da 2:24-45, upon which he was highly honoured, and greatly promoted by the king, Da 2:46-49.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 9

1. Genesis 40:5-8; Genesis 41:1, 8; Job 33:15-17; Daniel 2:3; Daniel 4:5
2. Esther 6:1; Daniel 6:18
3. Genesis 41:8; Exodus 7:11; Isaiah 47:12, 13; Daniel 1:20; Daniel 2:10, 27; Daniel 4:6; Daniel 5:7
4. Genesis 40:8; Genesis 41:15; Daniel 4:5
5. Ezra 4:7; Isaiah 36:11
6. Daniel 3:9; Daniel 5:10
7. Daniel 2:7
8. Ezra 6:11; Daniel 2:12; Daniel 3:29
9. Daniel 2:48; Daniel 5:7, 16, 29

Footnotes 11

[a]. Lit "dreamed dreams"
[b]. Lit "was gone upon him"
[c]. Lit "said to call"
[d]. Or "soothsayer priests"
[e]. Or "master astrologers," and so throughout the ch
[f]. Lit "dreamed"
[g]. Lit "was troubled"
[h]. Lit "know"
[i]. The text is in Aramaic from here through 7:28
[j]. Another reading is "The word has gone from me"
[k]. Lit "made into limbs"