{"id":1699,"date":"2015-05-09T12:39:05","date_gmt":"2015-05-09T16:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.danielgoepfrich.com\/?p=1699"},"modified":"2022-08-30T22:56:29","modified_gmt":"2022-08-31T02:56:29","slug":"daniel-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theologyisforeveryone.com\/daniel-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chapter two<\/strong> is surprising, in that it takes place in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s reign, while Daniel was still in training (Daniel 2:1). When Nebuchadnezzar sacked Jerusalem in chapter one, he was on his way back to Babylon to assume the crown from his father. Thus, Daniel\u2019s captivity and Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s reign began at the same time, so his second year as king was Daniel\u2019s second year of training. During this time, Nebuchadnezzar could not sleep and had a dream that troubled him so much that he needed to know its meaning.<\/p>

Verse four (Daniel 2:4) contains an interesting and important note. When the king\u2019s magi replied to him, Daniel recorded it in Aramaic rather than Hebrew. From verse four to Daniel 7:28, Daniel recorded everything in Aramaic; the rest of the book is in Hebrew. This is the longest Old Testament passages in Aramaic rather than Hebrew; the others are Ezra 4:8\u20136:18; 7:12\u201326 and Jeremiah 10:11.<\/p>

Rather than telling the magi his dream, Nebuchadnezzar demanded that they tell him both the dream itself and its meaning (Daniel 2:5-9). This, of course, they could not do; only the gods, they insisted, could tell a man his own dreams (Daniel 2:10-11). Because they could not do this, Nebuchadnezzar demanded the death of all of them and their students, including the Jewish captives in training (Daniel 2:12-13). When Daniel heard of it, he requested the opportunity to pray to his God for the answer, which he was granted (Daniel 2:14-18). He brought together the other three and prayed. (It seems the other captives probably did not continue in the Jewish faith as these four did.) Daniel 2:20-23 contains Daniel\u2019s praise to God for granting their request and revealing Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s dream to him.<\/p>

Although he was courteous in addressing the king, Daniel made sure to give full credit to the true God. He acknowledged the magi\u2019s inability (Daniel 2:27), pointed the king to God (Daniel 2:28), calling him \u201cthe revealer of mysteries\u201d (Daniel 2:29), and noted that the purpose of this revelation was not because Daniel was special but because God wanted Nebuchadnezzar to know it (Daniel 2:30).<\/p>

The rest of the chapter details the dream (Daniel 2:31-36), its interpretation (Daniel 2:37-45), and the king\u2019s response (Daniel 2:46-49). Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of a large statue of a man made of four different metals in its four major sections.<\/p>