1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel hath seen a dream, and the visions of his head on his bed, then the dream he hath written, the chief of the things he hath said.
Belshazzar the king hath made a great feast to a thousand of his great men, and before the thousand he is drinking wine;
a dream I have seen, and it maketh me afraid, and the conceptions on my bed, and the visions of my head, do trouble me.
And it hath come to pass afterwards, I do pour out My Spirit on all flesh, And prophesied have your sons and your daughters, Your old men do dream dreams, Your young men do see visions.
`Pierced hath been my spirit -- I, Daniel -- in the midst of the sheath, and the visions of my head trouble me;
As to these four lads, God hath given to them knowledge and understanding in every `kind of' literature, and wisdom; and Daniel hath given instruction about every `kind of' vision and dreams.
For once doth God speak, and twice, (He doth not behold it.) In a dream -- a vision of night, In the falling of deep sleep on men, In slumberings on a bed. Then He uncovereth the ear of men, And for their instruction sealeth:
and when the seven thunders spake their voices, I was about to write, and I heard a voice out of the heaven saying to me, `Seal the things that the seven thunders spake,' and, `Thou mayest not write these things.'
`Write the things that thou hast seen, and the things that are, and the things that are about to come after these things;
for, as many things as were written before, for our instruction were written before, that through the endurance, and the exhortation of the Writings, we might have the hope.
And it shall be in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; and also upon My men-servants, and upon My maid-servants, in those days, I will pour out of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy;
After these things hath the word of Jehovah been unto Abram in a vision, saying, `Fear not, Abram, I `am' a shield to thee, thy reward `is' exceeding great.'
`I was seeing in the visions of the night, and lo, with the clouds of the heavens as a son of man was `one' coming, and unto the Ancient of Days he hath come, and before Him they have brought him near.
`After this I was seeing in the visions of the night, and lo, a fourth beast, terrible and fearful, and exceedingly strong; and it hath iron teeth very great, it hath consumed, yea, it doth break small, and the remnant with its feet it hath trampled; and it `is' diverse from all the beasts that `are' before it; and it hath ten horns.
In that night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans is slain,
`And thou, his son, Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, though all this thou hast known;
but there is a God in the heavens, a revealer of secrets, and He hath made known to king Nebuchadnezzar that which `is' to be in the latter end of the days. `Thy dream and the visions of thy head on thy bed are these: Thou, O king, thy thoughts on thy bed have come up `concerning' that which `is' to be after this, and the Revealer of secrets hath caused thee to know that which `is' to be.
And it cometh to pass, in the thirtieth year, in the fourth `month', in the fifth of the month, and I `am' in the midst of the Removed by the river Chebar, the heavens have been opened, and I see visions of God.
And Jeremiah calleth Baruch son of Neriah, and Baruch writeth from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of Jehovah, that He hath spoken unto him, on a roll of a book.
The prophet with whom `is' a dream, Let him recount the dream, And he with whom `is' My word, Let him truly speak My word. What -- to the straw with the corn? An affirmation of Jehovah.
No, go in, write it on a tablet with them, And on a book engrave it, And it is for a latter day, for a witness unto the age,
In thoughts from visions of the night, In the falling of deep sleep on men,
And He saith, `Hear, I pray you, My words: If your prophet is of Jehovah -- in an appearance unto him I make Myself known; in a dream I speak with him;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Daniel 7
Commentary on Daniel 7 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 7
The six former chapters of this book were historical; we now enter with fear and trembling upon the six latter, which are prophetical, wherein are many things dark and hard to be understood, which we dare not positively determine the sense of, and yet many things plain and profitable, which I trust God will enable us to make a good use of. In this chapter we have,
Whether those visions look as far forward as the end of time, or whether they were to have a speedy accomplishment, is hard to say, nor are the most judicious interpreters agreed concerning it.
Dan 7:1-8
The date of this chapter places it before ch. 5, which was in the last year of Belshazzar, and ch. 6, which was in the first of Darius; for Daniel had those visions in the first year of Belshazzar, when the captivity of the Jews in Babylon was drawing near a period. Belshazzar's name here is, in the original, spelt differently from what it used to be; before it was Bel-she-azar-Bel is he that treasures up riches. But this is Bel-eshe-zar-Bel is on fire by the enemy. Bel was the god of the Chaldeans; he had prospered, but is now to be consumed.
We have, in these verses, Daniel's vision of the four monarchies that were oppressive to the Jews. Observe,
Dan 7:9-14
Whether we understand the fourth beast to signify the Syrian empire, or the Roman, or the former as the figure of the latter, it is plain that these verses are intended for the comfort and support of the people of God in reference to the persecutions they were likely to sustain both from the one and from the other, and from all their proud enemies in every age; for it is written for their learning on whom the ends of the world have come, that they also, through patience and comfort of this scripture, might have hope. Three things are here discovered that are very encouraging:-
Dan 7:15-28
Here we have,
Daniel, in the close, when he ends that matter, tells us what impressions this vision made upon him; it overwhelmed his spirits to such a degree that his countenance was changed, and it made him look pale; but he kept the matter in his heart. Note, The heart must be the treasury and store-house of divine things; there we must hide God's word, as the Virgin Mary kept the sayings of Christ, Lu. 2:51. Daniel kept the matter in his heart, with a design, not to keep it from the church, but to keep it for the church, that what he had received from the Lord he might fully and faithfully deliver to the people. Note, It concerns God's prophets and ministers to treasure up the things of God in their minds, and there to digest them well. If we would have God's word ready in our mouths when we have occasion for it, we must keep it in our hearts at all times.