Daniel 2:2-12

2 and the king saith to call for scribes, and for enchanters, and for sorcerers, and for Chaldeans, to declare to the king his dreams. And they come in and stand before the king;

3 and the king saith to them, `A dream I have dreamed, and moved is my spirit to know the dream.'

4 And the Chaldeans speak to the king [in] Aramaean, `O king, to the ages live, tell the dream to thy servants, and the interpretation we do shew.'

5 The king hath answered and said to the Chaldeans, `The thing from me is gone; if ye do not cause me to know the dream and its interpretation, pieces ye are made, and your houses are made dunghills;

6 and if the dream and its interpretation ye do shew, gifts, and fee, and great glory ye receive from before me, therefore the dream and its interpretation shew ye me.'

7 They have answered a second time, and are saying, `Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and the interpretation we do shew.

8 The king hath answered and said, `Of a truth I know that time ye are gaining, because that ye have seen that the thing is gone from me,

9 [so] that, if the dream ye do not cause me to know -- one is your sentence, seeing a word lying and corrupt ye have prepared to speak before me, till that the time is changed, therefore the dream tell ye to me, then do I know that its interpretation ye do shew me.'

10 The Chaldeans have answered before the king, and are saying, `There is not a man on the earth who is able to shew the king's matter; therefore, no king, chief, and ruler, hath asked such a thing as this of any scribe, and enchanter, and Chaldean;

11 and the thing that the king is asking [is] precious, and others are there not that do shew it before the king, save the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.'

12 Therefore the king hath been angry and very wroth, and hath said to destroy all the wise men of Babylon;

Daniel 2:2-12 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.