12 For H6903 this H1836 cause H3606 the king H4430 was angry H1149 and very H7690 furious, H7108 and commanded H560 to destroy H7 all H3606 the wise H2445 men of Babylon. H895
Then H116 Nebuchadnezzar H5020 in his rage H7266 and fury H2528 commanded H560 to bring H858 Shadrach, H7715 Meshach, H4336 and Abednego. H5665 Then H116 they brought H858 these H479 men H1400 before H6925 the king. H4430
Surely the wrath H2534 of man H120 shall praise H3034 thee: the remainder H7611 of wrath H2534 shalt thou restrain. H2296
Then H116 was Nebuchadnezzar H5020 full H4391 of fury, H2528 and the form H6755 of his visage H600 was changed H8133 against H5922 Shadrach, H7715 Meshach, H4336 and Abednego: H5665 therefore he spake, H6032 and commanded H560 that they should heat H228 the furnace H861 one H2298 seven times H7655 more H5922 than H1768 it was wont H2370 to be heated. H228
For wrath H3708 killeth H2026 the foolish man, H191 and envy H7068 slayeth H4191 the silly one. H6601
The fear H367 of a king H4428 is as the roaring H5099 of a lion: H3715 whoso provoketh him to anger H5674 sinneth H2398 against his own soul. H5315
The king H4430 answered H6032 and said H560 to the Chaldeans, H3779 The thing H4406 is gone H230 from me: H4481 if H2006 ye will not H3809 make known H3046 unto me the dream, H2493 with the interpretation H6591 thereof, ye shall be cut H5648 in pieces, H1917 and your houses H1005 shall be made H7761 a dunghill. H5122
Then G5119 Herod, G2264 when he saw G1492 that G3754 he was mocked G1702 of G5259 the wise men, G3097 was exceeding G3029 wroth, G2373 and G2532 sent forth, G649 and slew G337 all G3956 the children G3816 that were in G1722 Bethlehem, G965 and G2532 in G1722 all G3956 the coasts G3725 thereof, G846 from G575 two years old G1332 and G2532 under, G2736 according G2596 to the time G5550 which G3739 he had diligently enquired G198 of G3844 the wise men. G3097
But G1161 I G1473 say G3004 unto you, G5213 That G3754 whosoever G3956 is angry G3710 with his G846 brother G80 without a cause G1500 shall be G2071 in danger G1777 of the judgment: G2920 and G1161 whosoever G3739 G302 shall say G2036 to his G846 brother, G80 Raca, G4469 shall be G2071 in danger G1777 of the council: G4892 but G1161 whosoever G3739 G302 shall say, G2036 Thou fool, G3474 shall be G2071 in danger G1777 of G1519 hell G1067 fire. G4442
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Daniel 2
Commentary on Daniel 2 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 2
It was said (ch. 1:17) that Daniel had understanding in dreams; and here we have an early and eminent instance of it, which soon made him famous in the court of Babylon, as Joseph by the same means came to be so in the court of Egypt. This chapter is a history, but it is the history of a prophecy, by a dream and the interpretation of it. Pharaoh's dream, and Joseph's interpretation of it, related only to the years of plenty and famine and the interest of God's Israel in them; but Nebuchadnezzar's dream here, and Daniel's interpretation of that, look much higher, to the four monarchies, and the concerns of Israel in them, and the kingdom of the Messiah, which should be set up in the world upon the ruins of them. In this chapter we have,
Dan 2:1-13
We meet with a great difficulty in the date of this story; it is said to be in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, v. 1. Now Daniel was carried to Babylon in his first year, and, it should seem, he was three years under tutors and governors before he was presented to the king, ch. 1:5. How then could this happen in the second year? Perhaps, though three years were appointed for the education of other children, yet Daniel was so forward that he was taken into business when he had been but one year at school, and so in the second year he became thus considerable. Some make it to be the second year after he began to reign alone, but the fifth or sixth year since he began to reign in partnership with his father. Some read it, and in the second year, (the second after Daniel and his fellows stood before the king), in the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar, or in his reign, this happened; as Joseph, in the second year after his skill in dreams, showed and expounded Pharaoh's, so Daniel, in the second year after he commenced master in that art, did this service. I would much rather take it some of these ways than suppose, as some do, that it was in the second year after he had conquered Egypt, which was the thirty-sixth year of his reign, because it appears by what we meet with in Ezekiel, that Daniel was famous both for wisdom and prevalence in prayer long before that; and therefore this passage, or story, which shows how he came to be so eminent for both these must be laid early in Nebuchadnezzar's reign. Now here we may observe,
Dan 2:14-23
When the king sent for his wise men to tell them his dream, and the interpretation of it (v. 2), Daniel, it seems, was not summoned to appear among them; the king, though he was highly pleased with him when he examined him, and thought him ten times wiser than the rest of his wise men, yet forgot him when he had most occasion for him; and no wonder, when all was done in a heat, and nothing with a cool and deliberate thought. But Providence so ordered it; that the magicians being nonplussed might be the more taken notice of, and so the more glory might redound to the God of Daniel. But, though Daniel had not the honour to be consulted with the rest of the wise men, contrary to all law and justice, by an undistinguishing sentence, he stands condemned with them, and till he has notice brought him to prepare for execution he knows nothing of the matter. How miserable is the case of those who live under arbitrary government, as this of Nebuchadnezzar's! How happy are we, whose lives are under the protection of the law and methods of justice, and lie not thus at the mercy of a peevish and capricious prince!
We have found already, in Ezekiel, that Daniel was famous both for prudence and prayer; as a prince he had power with God and by man; by prayer he had power with God, by prudence he had power with man, and in both he prevailed. Thus did he find favour and good understanding in the sight of both, and in these verses we have a remarkable instance of both.
Dan 2:24-30
We have here the introduction to Daniel's declaring the dream, and the interpretation of it.
Dan 2:31-45
Daniel here gives full satisfaction to Nebuchadnezzar concerning his dream and the interpretation of it. That great prince had been kind to this poor prophet in his maintenance and education; he had been brought up at the king's cost, preferred at court, and the land of his captivity had hereby been made much easier to him than to others of his brethren. And now the king is abundantly repaid for all the expense he had been at upon him; and for receiving this prophet, though not in the name of a prophet, he had a prophet's reward, such a reward as a prophet only could give, and for which that wealthy mighty prince was now glad to be beholden to him. Here is,
Dan 2:46-49
One might have expected that when Nebuchadnezzar was contriving to make his own kingdom everlasting he would be enraged at Daniel, who foretold the fall of it and that another kingdom of another nature should be the everlasting kingdom; but, instead of resenting it as an affront, he received it as an oracle, and here we are told what the expressions were of the impressions it made upon him.