Daniel 2: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

Nebuchadnezzar has dreams that trouble him and demands that his wise men tell him both the dream and its meaning, threatening death if they fail; when they say no one can do this, he orders all the wise men of Babylon killed. Daniel asks the king for time, prays with his three friends, and the secret is shown to him in a night vision. He then describes the statue of gold, silver, bronze, and iron with clay, and the stone cut without hands that smashes it, and gives the king the meaning of each part. Nebuchadnezzar bows before Daniel, calls Daniel's God a revealer of secrets, and promotes Daniel and his friends to high office in the province of Babylon.

Claim by Claim

1. 2:1
   • In the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams.
   • His spirit was troubled by the dreams.
   • His sleep was affected, the wording leaving it unclear whether his sleep left him or came over him.
2. 2:2
   • The king gave orders to summon the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans.
   • They were summoned in order to tell the king his dreams.
   • They came and stood before the king.
3. 2:3
   • The king said to them that he had dreamed a dream.
   • The king said his spirit was troubled to know the dream.
4. 2:4
   • The Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic.
   • They said, O king, live forever.
   • They asked the king to tell his servants the dream.
   • They said they would give the interpretation.
5. 2:5
   • The king answered the Chaldeans.
   • The king declared his word on the matter fixed, the wording being open to meaning either that his decree is firm or that the dream has gone from him.
   • The king said that if they did not make the dream and its interpretation known to him, they would be cut in pieces.
   • The king said their houses would be made a rubbish heap.
6. 2:6
   • The king said that if they showed the dream and its interpretation, they would receive gifts, rewards, and great honor from him.
   • The king ordered them to show him the dream and its interpretation.
7. 2:7
   • They answered a second time.
   • They asked the king to tell his servants the dream.
   • They said they would show its interpretation.
8. 2:8
   • The king answered them.
   • The king said he knew for certain that they were buying time.
   • The king said they were doing so because they saw that the matter was settled from him, the same wording that may mean the dream had gone from him.
9. 2:9
   • The king said that if they did not make the dream known to him, there was only one decree for them.
   • The king said they had agreed together to speak lying and corrupt words before him.
   • The king said they intended to do this until the time changed.
   • The king told them to tell him the dream.
   • The king said that by their telling the dream he would know that they could show him its interpretation.
10. 2:10
    • The Chaldeans answered before the king.
    • They said there is no man on earth who can show the king's matter.
    • They said no king, however great and powerful, has asked such a thing of any magician, enchanter, or Chaldean.
11. 2:11
    • They said the thing the king asks is difficult.
    • They said there is no one else who can show it before the king except the gods.
    • They said the dwelling of the gods is not with flesh.
12. 2:12
    • Because of this the king was angry and very furious.
    • The king commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed.
13. 2:13
    • The decree went out that the wise men were to be killed.
    • They sought Daniel and his companions to kill them.
14. 2:14
    • Daniel answered Arioch with counsel and discretion.
    • Arioch was the captain of the king's guard.
    • Arioch had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon.
15. 2:15
    • Daniel spoke to Arioch, the king's officer.
    • Daniel asked why the decree from the king was so harsh.
    • Arioch then made the matter known to Daniel.
16. 2:16
    • Daniel went in to the king.
    • Daniel asked the king to give him time.
    • Daniel said he would show the king the interpretation.
17. 2:17
    • Daniel went to his house.
    • Daniel made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions.
18. 2:18
    • Daniel told them to seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret.
    • The purpose was that Daniel and his companions should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
19. 2:19
    • The secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night.
    • Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
20. 2:20
    • Daniel answered and said.
    • He said, Blessed be the name of God from everlasting to everlasting.
    • He said that wisdom and might belong to God.
21. 2:21
    • He said God changes the times and the seasons.
    • He said God removes kings.
    • He said God sets up kings.
    • He said God gives wisdom to the wise.
    • He said God gives knowledge to those who know understanding.
22. 2:22
    • He said God reveals the deep and hidden things.
    • He said God knows what is in the darkness.
    • He said light dwells with God.
23. 2:23
    • Daniel said he gives thanks and praise to the God of his fathers.
    • He said God had given him wisdom and might.
    • He said God had now made known to him what they had asked of God.
    • He said God had made known to them the king's matter.
24. 2:24
    • Daniel went in to Arioch.
    • The king had appointed Arioch to destroy the wise men of Babylon.
    • Daniel told him not to destroy the wise men of Babylon.
    • Daniel told him to bring him in before the king.
    • Daniel said he would show the king the interpretation.
25. 2:25
    • Arioch brought Daniel in before the king in haste.
    • Arioch said to the king that he had found a man among the exiles of Judah.
    • Arioch said that this man would make the interpretation known to the king.
26. 2:26
    • The king answered and spoke to Daniel.
    • Daniel's name was Belteshazzar.
    • The king asked whether Daniel was able to make known to him the dream he had seen and its interpretation.
27. 2:27
    • Daniel answered in the presence of the king.
    • Daniel said the secret the king has asked about cannot be shown to the king by wise men, enchanters, magicians, or diviners.
28. 2:28
    • Daniel said there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets.
    • Daniel said that God has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the latter days.
    • Daniel said the following was the king's dream and the visions of his head upon his bed.
29. 2:29
    • Daniel said that as the king lay on his bed his thoughts arose about what would come to pass hereafter.
    • Daniel said that the revealer of secrets made known to the king what will come to pass.
30. 2:30
    • Daniel said this secret was not revealed to him because of any wisdom he has more than any living person.
    • Daniel said it was revealed so that the interpretation might be made known to the king.
    • Daniel said it was revealed so that the king might know the thoughts of his heart.
31. 2:31
    • Daniel said the king was watching.
    • Daniel said a single great image appeared.
    • Daniel said the image's brightness was surpassing.
    • Daniel said the image stood before the king.
    • Daniel said the appearance of the image was terrifying.
32. 2:32
    • The head of the image was of fine gold.
    • Its chest and arms were of silver.
    • Its belly and thighs were of bronze.
33. 2:33
    • Its legs were of iron.
    • Its feet were partly of iron and partly of fired clay.
34. 2:34
    • The king watched until a stone was cut out without hands.
    • The stone struck the image on its feet of iron and clay.
    • The stone broke the feet in pieces.
35. 2:35
    • Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were broken in pieces together.
    • They became like chaff of the summer threshing floors.
    • The wind carried them away.
    • No place was found for them.
    • The stone that struck the image became a great mountain.
    • The stone filled the whole earth.
36. 2:36
    • Daniel said this was the dream.
    • Daniel said they would tell its interpretation before the king.
37. 2:37
    • Daniel said the king is a king of kings.
    • Daniel said the God of heaven has given the king the kingdom, the power, the strength, and the glory.
38. 2:38
    • Daniel said that wherever the children of men dwell, God has given the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven into the king's hand.
    • Daniel said God has made the king ruler over them all.
    • Daniel said the king is the head of gold.
39. 2:39
    • Daniel said that after the king another kingdom would arise, inferior to his.
    • Daniel said a third kingdom, of bronze, would arise.
    • Daniel said the third kingdom would rule over all the earth.
40. 2:40
    • Daniel said a fourth kingdom would be strong as iron.
    • Daniel said iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things.
    • Daniel said that like iron that shatters, this kingdom would break in pieces and crush all these.
41. 2:41
    • Daniel said the king saw the feet and toes partly of potter's clay and partly of iron.
    • Daniel said the kingdom would be divided.
    • Daniel said some of the strength of the iron would be in it.
    • Daniel said this was because the king saw the iron mixed with wet clay.
42. 2:42
    • Daniel said the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay.
    • Daniel said the kingdom would be partly strong.
    • Daniel said the kingdom would be partly brittle.
43. 2:43
    • Daniel said the king saw iron mixed with wet clay.
    • Daniel said they would mingle themselves with the seed of men.
    • Daniel said they would not hold together one with another.
    • Daniel said this is as iron does not mix with clay.
44. 2:44
    • Daniel said that in the days of those kings the God of heaven would set up a kingdom.
    • Daniel said that kingdom would never be destroyed.
    • Daniel said that kingdom would not be left to another people.
    • Daniel said it would break in pieces and consume all those kingdoms.
    • Daniel said it would stand forever.
45. 2:45
    • Daniel said the king saw a stone cut out of the mountain without hands.
    • Daniel said the stone broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold.
    • Daniel said the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass hereafter.
    • Daniel said the dream is certain.
    • Daniel said its interpretation is trustworthy.
46. 2:46
    • King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face.
    • The king did homage to Daniel.
    • The king commanded that a grain offering and pleasing incense be offered to Daniel.
47. 2:47
    • The king answered Daniel.
    • The king said it is true that Daniel's God is a God of gods.
    • The king said Daniel's God is a Lord of kings.
    • The king said Daniel's God is a revealer of secrets.
    • The king said this because Daniel was able to reveal this secret.
48. 2:48
    • The king made Daniel great.
    • The king gave Daniel many great gifts.
    • The king made Daniel ruler over the whole province of Babylon.
    • The king made Daniel chief of the prefects over all the wise men of Babylon.
49. 2:49
    • Daniel made a request of the king.
    • Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon.
    • Daniel remained in the gate of the king.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

2:1

Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon from about 605 to 562 BC. His armies captured Jerusalem and deported many of its people, which is how Daniel, a Judean, came to be living in the Babylonian capital. Chapter 1 describes a three-year training course for the captive young men before they entered royal service; how that fits with "the second year of his reign" here is much debated, and the book itself does not explain it.

2:2

These are four named groups of professional experts kept at the Babylonian court, each with its own techniques for reading omens, dreams, and the movements of the stars. The exact difference between them is no longer recoverable; the point of listing them is that the king summoned every kind of specialist he had. "Chaldean" is used two ways in this book: for the people of southern Babylonia, whose dynasty then ruled the empire, and, as here, for this class of learned diviners.

2:4

Aramaic was the everyday international language of the Near East at this period, used for trade and government across the region. From this point in the verse the book of Daniel is itself written in Aramaic rather than Hebrew, and stays in Aramaic until the end of chapter 7. "May the king live forever" is a standard court greeting, roughly like "Your Majesty", the expected way to open when addressing a monarch.

2:5

The Aramaic behind "My word on this is fixed" is genuinely uncertain and has been read two ways: "the word has gone out from me," meaning the decision is publicly announced and cannot be recalled, or "the matter has gone from me," meaning the king has forgotten the dream itself. Older English versions took the second sense. Being cut in pieces was a real form of execution in the ancient Near East, and demolishing a condemned man's house was a recognized penalty that wiped out his standing along with his life.

2:8

"gain the time" means buy time, stall, drag things out.

2:9

"Only one sentence" means a single verdict covers the whole group, with no separate hearings and no exceptions: they all die together.

2:10

"asked such things at any magician" is older English for "asked such a thing of any magician."

2:11

"flesh" here means mortal human beings. The experts are making a standard claim of their profession: gods know things humans cannot, and gods are not available to be questioned directly.

2:12

The wise men of Babylon were an organized body of scholars attached to the royal court, which is why one failure could bring a sentence down on the whole guild at once.

2:13

Daniel and his friends counted as members of that body because of the royal training described in chapter 1, so the order covered them even though they had not been in the room when the king asked.

2:14

The title translated "commander of the guard" literally means "chief of the butchers" or "chief slaughterer." It named the head of the royal bodyguard, whose duties included carrying out the king's executions, which is why this officer, and not a jailer, is the one going around Babylon with the death list.

2:16

The fact that Daniel could go in and ask the king directly shows he already held a recognized place at court from the training in chapter 1.

2:17

These are the Hebrew names of the three friends deported with Daniel. At the Babylonian court they were renamed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the names used in verse 49 and throughout chapter 3.

2:18

"The God of heaven" was the usual way Jews living under foreign rule referred to their God when speaking in an imperial setting. It was a title outsiders could understand, since many peoples worshiped a chief sky-god, without naming the God of Israel directly.

2:19

A vision was like a picture in his mind.

2:21

"the times and the seasons" here does not mean weather or the calendar. It means stretches of history and the appointed moments within them, the timing of events.

2:23

"God of my fathers" means the God his parents and grandparents had worshiped.

2:25

The captives from Judah were the population Nebuchadnezzar had deported to Babylon after conquering Jerusalem. Arioch's phrasing quietly claims credit for the discovery, though Daniel had already approached the king himself in verse 16.

2:26

Belteshazzar was the Babylonian name assigned to Daniel when he entered royal training, a standard practice for foreign officials taken into imperial service. It is a different name from Belshazzar, the king who appears in chapter 5.

2:27

"soothsayers" is an old English word for people who claimed to speak the truth about hidden things or the future. The Aramaic word behind it seems to name a specific class of diviners, possibly those who determined a person's fate.

2:28

"The days to come" translates an idiom that literally means "the end of the days." In older Hebrew and Aramaic writing it usually means simply the later time, the future, rather than the end of the world; in some later texts it carries the stronger sense of a final age. Both readings have been argued for here.

2:31

Two King James words have shifted. "terrible" in 1611 meant terrifying or awe-inspiring, not "very bad." "whose brightness was excellent" means its shining was extraordinary, out of the ordinary, rather than "very good."

2:32

The four metals run downward in value (gold, silver, bronze, iron) while running upward in hardness, since iron is the toughest of them and gold the softest. The clay at the bottom breaks the pattern: it is neither valuable nor strong.

2:33

This is potter's clay, the kind jars were made from. Baked hard it holds its shape, but it cracks and shatters easily.

2:34

"cut out without hands" means the stone was broken loose from the rock with no human quarrying it, so nobody shaped or aimed it. "smote" simply means struck.

2:35

Grain was threshed on a flat, exposed patch of ground, then tossed into the air so the summer wind blew away the light husks and left the heavy grain behind. Chaff was the standard image for something weightless and worthless that vanishes without trace once the wind touches it.

2:37

"King of kings" was an official title used by Babylonian and later Persian rulers. It is not flattery but an administrative description: an emperor whose subjects included other kings ruling their own territories under him.

2:38

Ruling over people, wild animals, and birds is the same range of authority described for humanity in Genesis 1. It is a way of saying the king's power extends as far as power can extend.

2:39

The text names only the first kingdom, Nebuchadnezzar's. The second, third, and fourth are left unidentified, and readers from ancient times onward have matched them to different empires. The book itself declines to say.

2:40

"bruise" in the King James is stronger than the modern word. It means crush or shatter, not leave a mark on.

2:41

Two different words for clay are in play. One is the potter's fired clay, hard but brittle, which shatters rather than bends; the other is wet, unfired mud. Neither will bond with iron: cast them together and you get a mass that holds its shape only until something strikes it.

2:42

"partly broken" means partly brittle, easily broken, rather than already broken.

2:43

The phrase is literally "they will mix themselves with the seed of men." It is most often taken as marriage alliances between ruling houses, dynasties intermarrying to bind themselves together, but the wording is broad enough to cover any attempted merging of peoples, and the text does not specify.

2:44

"shall not be left to other people" means it will not pass into the hands of a different nation, which is what happens to every empire in the sequence when a stronger power takes it over.

2:46

Bowing face to the ground, presenting an offering of grain, and burning incense were acts normally directed to a god, not to a man. The narrator reports what the king ordered without commenting on it, and Daniel's reply in the next verse redirects the king's words to the God who gave the answer.

2:47

"a God of gods" and "a Lord of kings" are Hebrew and Aramaic ways of forming a superlative: the greatest of all gods, the master over all kings.

2:48

A province was an administrative district of the empire under a governor. The province of Babylon was the central one containing the capital itself, so this was a senior appointment rather than a posting to the edges of the empire.

2:49

The King James "sat in the gate of the king" uses a standard idiom. The gateway of a city or palace was where officials held court, heard cases, and conducted business, so "sitting in the gate" means holding an official post at the seat of government, Daniel stayed at the center while his three friends took up the provincial administration.