Daniel 2 · The Lantern

Nebuchadnezzar’s Troubling Dream

And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him.

There is a type of dream that comes from God, since he has promised to pour out the grace of the Holy Spirit on all flesh and has ordained that his sons and handmaidens shall utter prophecies and dream dreams. Such dreams may be compared with the grace of God as being honest, holy, prophetic, inspired, edifying and inducing to virtue.

Verse 1. "In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar saw a dream and his spirit was terrified, and his dream fled from him." If the three lads had entered before him at the end of three years, as he himself had commanded, how is it that he is now said to have seen the dream in the second year of his reign?

We learned earlier that at the beginning of his [Nebuchadnezzar's] reign, he advanced with the army to Judea in the third year of the reign of Joachim.… So most blessed Daniel, recalling the first year after the capture of the Jews, … now adds, "in the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar has a dream." He [Daniel] added this not without reason but that we should know the ti…

And the king said to call the magicians and the enchanters and the sorcerers and the Chaldeans, to tell the king his dreams. And they came and stood before the king.

And the king said to them: I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.

And the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic: O king, live forever! Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.

The king answered and said to the Chaldeans: The word from me is sure. If you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be made into pieces, and your houses will be set as a refuse heap.

And if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from before me gifts and a reward and great honor. Therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation.

They answered a second time and said: Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation.

The king answered and said: I know for certain that you are buying the time, because you see that the word from me is sure.

That if you do not make known to me the dream — one is your law. And a lying and corrupt word you have agreed to speak before me until the time changes. Therefore tell me the dream, and I will know that you can declare its interpretation to me.

The Chaldeans answered before the king and said: There is no man on the dry land who is able to declare the word of the king, inasmuch as no king, great and ruling, has asked a thing like this of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean.

And the word the king asks is precious, and there is no other who can declare it before the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.

Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and said to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

And the law went out, and the wise men were being killed; and they sought Daniel and his companions to kill them.

The Dream Revealed to Daniel

Then Daniel returned counsel and discretion to Arioch, the chief of the guard of the king, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon.

He answered and said to Arioch the ruler of the king: Why is the law so harsh from before the king? Then Arioch made the word known to Daniel.

And Daniel went in and asked from the king that he would give him time, and he would declare the interpretation to the king.

Then Daniel went to his house and made the word known to Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah his companions,

and to seek compassion from before the God of the heavens concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions would not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

We find in the books of Kings the very holy woman Hannah fulfilling the precepts of this Gospel teaching. For while praying without uttering a sound, in her heart and in the sight of God she poured out her desire in her prayers. She was immediately found worthy to be heard by the Lord.

Daniel told his companions to entreat the God of heaven to reveal this mystery unto them in order that he and his brethren might not perish, together with all the other wise men of Babylon; and then unto Daniel, in a vision of the night, was the mystery revealed.

O what a craftsman this Spirit is! There is no delay in learning whatever he wills. As soon as he touches the mind, he teaches, and merely to have touched is to have taught. For as soon as he illuminates the human soul, he transforms it; he suddenly takes away what it was, and suddenly produces what it was not.

Then to Daniel, in a vision of the night, the mystery was revealed. Then Daniel blessed the God of the heavens.

Daniel answered and said: Let the name of God be blessed from everlasting and to everlasting, for wisdom and might are his.

And he changes the times and the seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who know understanding.

Many other things may also be called gifts of God, such as riches and bodily strength, physical beauty and earthly power. These things are also given by God, as Daniel says: "He deposes kings and sets up kings," but they are not spiritual gifts.

Verse 21. "And it is He who changes times and seasons, who transfers kingdoms and establishes kingdoms." Let us not marvel, therefore, whenever we see kings and empires succeed one another, for it is by the will of God that they are governed, altered, and terminated. And the cases of individuals are well known to Him who founded all things.

"He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who understand learning." However much a man may have a good natural judgment and along with this frequency of experience, they do not suffice unless there be illumination through divine influence. He touches upon sapiential, sciential, and intellectual certitude. But whence comes this certitude? Certainly from God.

He reveals the deep things and the hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.

Concerning the light Daniel noted, "It reveals the profound and hidden things, knowing those things that are in the darkness and the light is with it," that is, the Son with the Father, for even as the Father is light, so too is the Son light.

Such is the life of the devout, acknowledging that God is the source of understanding. He was the One who met Daniel's needs at the right moment and assured him a safe harbor. And after being well supplied with that which was the best, Daniel did not prove forgetful of the gifts but sang praises in response to his holy benefactor.

"He reveals deep and hidden things and knows what is established in darkness: and the light is with him." He touches upon sapiential certitude when he says: "He reveals deep things." This light is pure and is with him: no one is illumined with certitude except through him.

To you, God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might; and now you have made known to me what we sought from you, for you have made known to us the word of the king.

Daniel Interprets the Dream

Because of this Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon. Bring me in before the king, and I will declare the interpretation to the king.

After this happened, Daniel rose and went to Arioch and said to him, "Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon, but bring me before the king and I will proclaim to the king the dream and its interpretation." [Daniel 2:24] He, after hearing these things "brought in Daniel with haste and said, 'I found a man from the sons of the captivity of Judah, who will proclaim the interpretat…

Let us not then be looking open-mouthed towards others. For it is true, the prayers of the saints have the greatest power; on condition however of our repentance and amendment.

Verse 24. "Destroy not the wise men of Babylon. Take me in before the king and I will set forth the explanation to the king. ..." He follows the example of the clemency of God, who intercedes in behalf of his persecutors, and is unwilling that those men should perish on whose account he himself had been threatened with death.

Then Arioch in haste brought Daniel in before the king, and said thus to him: I have found a man from the sons of the exile of Judah who will make known the interpretation to the king.

The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar: Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen, and its interpretation?

Daniel answered before the king and said: The mystery that the king asks — the wise men, enchanters, magicians and diviners are not able to declare to the king.

He was astounded and said to Daniel, "'Are you able to proclaim the dream which I saw and its interpretation?' And Daniel said, 'The mystery which the king asks about is not for magicians, enchanters, or soothsayers to proclaim to the king, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and makes known to king Nebuchadnezzar what must be in the last days.'" [Daniel 2:26-28…

Verse 27. "As for the secret for which the king is asking, neither the wise men nor the magi nor the soothsayers nor the diviners are able to declare it to the king." In place of diviners (haruspices), as we have rendered it, the Hebrew text has Gazareni , which only Symmachus has rendered as sacrificers , a.

The one who interprets what another has seen is more a prophet than the one who had seen.… Less a prophet is he who … sees in spirit only the signs of the things signified, and a greater prophet is he who is granted only an understanding of images.

But there is a God in the heavens who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed are these.

You, O king — your thoughts came up upon your bed about what will be after this; and the revealer of mysteries has made known to you what will be.

For after the king had taken Egypt and after taking over the Jewish land and deporting the people, he considered upon his bed what was there to do after these things.

Verse 29. "Thou, O king, didst begin to meditate upon thy bed as to what should come to pass hereafter." Instead of the true reading the Septuagint alone inserts the translation "in the last days" after the "hereafter." But if it be read thus, we must inquire quite carefully as to where "last days" have been written; and we would refute those who think the world will never be d…

"Thou, O king, diddest begin to think in thy bed, what should happen in times to come; and he that revealeth mysteries did shew thee what things should come:" and a little after: "Thou diddest see, and behold as it were a great statue." Wherefore, seeing Daniel doth with reverence insinuate that the dream should come to pass, and also declareth from what cogitation it did sprin…

And as for me, not by wisdom that is in me more than in all the living has this mystery been revealed to me, but in order that they might make the interpretation known to the king, and that you might know the thoughts of your heart.

Just as he himself also, being lowly and humbling himself, and not boasting, though he was found wiser than all of the Babylonians, said, "Moreover this mystery was not revealed to me because the wisdom in me is greater than all those who dwell upon the earth, rather it was revealed to me for the sake of making known the interpretation to the king, so that you may know the cons…

For nothing is so advantageous, and so likely to pacify the hearers, as to say nothing about one's self of an honorable nature, but, on the contrary, to obviate all surmise of wishing to do so.

Verse 30. "Moreover this holy secret has not been revealed to me in virtue of any wisdom which inheres in me more than in all living men, but rather that the interpretation might be manifested to the king, and that thou mayest know the thoughts of thine own mind." The king had imagined that cleverness of the human intellect could embrace a knowledge of the future, and for that…

You, O king, were looking, and see: a single great image. That image was large and its brightness surpassing; it stood before you, and its form was fearful.

"Thou sawest," etc. Apollinaris on this: He looked, and behold, as it were, an image. For it did not appear to him as an actual object, presented to the view of an onlooker, but as an image or semblance. And while it contains in it many things together, that is in such a way that it is not really one, but manifold.

It is made known that the devout as well as the impious see visions and dreams, as can be proved from Scripture.… Nebuchadnezzar, who worshiped images and ordered those who worshiped God to be cast into fire, saw a dream extending over the whole age of the world.… Thus, we cannot infer with absolute certainty that the one who has seen visions and dreams and apparitions is undou…

Verse 31. "Thou sawest, O king, and behold there was, as it were, a large statue." Instead of "statue," that is a sculptured effigy, the only rendering used by Symmachus, others have translated it as "image," intending by this term to indicate a resemblance to future events.

That image: its head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze,

its legs of iron, its feet part of them of iron and part of them of clay.

You were looking until a stone was cut out, not by hands, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces.

After these things, what does Daniel say? "A stone was cut without hands and struck the image." [Daniel 2:34] For in all events after the iron was mixed with clay and spread to the tips of the toes and while they are discordant with one another of the seed of men, what is left which is necessary to await but Christ who comes from the heavens as a stone which is cut from a mount…

The thing is, I think, a dark saying, a shadow of what should come. For what is the stone that is laid but Christ Himself? for of Him Isaiah says, "And I will lay in the foundations of Sion a costly stone, precious, elect:" and Daniel likewise, "A stone was cut out without hands," that is, Christ was born without a man.

A stone was cut without hands, and it brake in pieces the clay, the iron, the brass, the silver and the gold, and it filled the whole earth.

Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken in pieces together, and they became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, and no place was found for them. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled all the earth.

If therefore the great God showed future things by Daniel, and confirmed them by His Son; and if Christ is the stone which is cut out without hands, who shall destroy temporal kingdoms, and introduce an eternal one, which is the resurrection of the just; as he declares, "The God of heaven shall raise up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed,"-let those thus confuted come to…

It talks of a mountain, and the mountain is veiled to the party of Donatus.… The holy Daniel saw a vision and wrote down what he saw, and he said that he had seen a stone hewn out of a mountain without hands. It is Christ, coming from the nations of the Jews, which was also a mountain, you see, because it has the kingdom.… What is the mountain over which the heretics stumbled?

This is the dream, and its interpretation we will tell before the king.

You, O king, king of kings — to whom the God of the heavens has given the kingdom, the power and the strength and the honor;

and wherever the sons of man dwell, the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, he has given into your hand and made you ruler over all of them — you are the head of gold.

And after you will arise another kingdom, lower than you; and a third kingdom, of bronze, which will rule over all the earth.

And a fourth kingdom will be strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and crushes everything; and like iron that shatters, it will break and shatter all these.

And that you saw the feet and the toes, part of them of a potter’s clay and part of them of iron — the kingdom will be divided; and some of the firmness of the iron will be in it, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with miry clay.

And the toes of the feet, part of them of iron and part of them of clay — from one end the kingdom will be strong, and from it will be broken.

And that you saw the iron mixed with miry clay — they will mix themselves with the seed of man, but they will not cling, this one with that one, just as iron does not mix with clay.

And in the days of those kings the God of the heavens will set up a kingdom that will never be ruined, and the kingdom will not be left to another people. It will break in pieces and bring to an end all these kingdoms, and it will stand forever.

Inasmuch as you saw that from the mountain a stone was cut out, not by hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold — the great God has made known to the king what will be after this. And the dream is certain and its interpretation sure.

Nebuchadnezzar Promotes Daniel

Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and bowed down to Daniel, and he said to pour out to him an offering and pleasing odors.

The king answered Daniel and said: Truly your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery.

Then the king made Daniel great and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the prefects over all the wise men of Babylon.

For since he himself humbled himself and declared himself to be the least of all men, the king extolled him and appointed him ruler of all the lands of Babylon. In which manner Pharaoh also did to Joseph, having then appointed him ruler of all the land of Egypt.

Verse 48. "Then the king elevated Daniel to a high position, and gave him many great gifts and set him up as governor over all the provinces of Babylon..." In this matter also the slanderous critic of the Church has ventured to castigate the prophet because he did not reject the gifts and because he willingly accepted honor of the Babylonians.

This is itself divine guidance. It is most fitting that the subjects benefit from the piety of the ruler: so also at one point God had done the same with Joseph.… He sent a man before them; Joseph was sold as a slave.

And Daniel asked from the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego over the work of the province of Babylon; and Daniel was in the gate of the king.

"And Daniel asked a favor from the king and he appointed Shadrach, Mishach, and Abednego over the affairs of the country of Babylon." [Daniel 2:49] And this which happened under Daniel is worthy of faith and approval.

Verse 49. "Moreover Daniel made request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the public works of the province of Babylon. But Daniel himself was in the king's gate." Daniel does not forget those men with whom he had made intercession to the Lord, and who had shared his peril with him.