Daniel 2 · The Lantern

Nebuchadnezzar’s Troubling Dream

And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, with which his spirit was troubled, and his sleep broke from 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…

Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to show the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.

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

Then spoke the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.

The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if you will not make known to me the dream, with its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.

But if you show the dream, and its interpretation, you shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honor: therefore show me the dream, and its interpretation.

They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation of it.

The king answered and said, I know of certainty that you would gain the time, because you see the thing is gone from me.

But if you will not make known to me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for you have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.

The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king’s matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.

And it is a rare thing that the king requires, and there is none other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.

For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.

The Dream Revealed to Daniel

Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king’s guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon:

He answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.

Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would show the king the interpretation.

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

That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should 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 was the secret revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: 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 them that 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 and secret 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.

I thank you, and praise you, O you God of my fathers, who have given me wisdom and might, and have made known to me now what we desired of you: for you have now made known to us the king’s matter.

Daniel Interprets the Dream

Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus to him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will show to the king the interpretation.

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 brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus to him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known to the king the interpretation.

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

Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king has demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, show 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 heaven that reveals secrets, and makes known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, are these;

As for you, O king, your thoughts came into your mind upon your bed, what should happen hereafter: and he that reveals secrets makes known to you what shall happen.

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…

But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation 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, saw, and look a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before you; and its form was terrible.

"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.

This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of bronze,

His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.

You saw till that a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them to pieces.

"Thou sawest till that a stone was cut." Thou sawest, as it were, a stone cut without hands, and smiting the image upon its feet. For the human kingdom was decisively separated from the divine; with reference to which it is written, "as it were cut." The stroke, however, smites the extremities, and in these it broke all dominion that is upon earth.

We know that the stone cut from the mountain without hands is Christ, who came from the kingdom of the Jews without human father: the stone that shattered all the kingdoms of the earth, all the tyrannies of idols and devils; the stone that grew and became a great mountain and filled the whole world.

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 was the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that struck the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole 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 we will tell its interpretation before the king.

You, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.

And wherever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven has he given into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all. You are this head of gold.

And after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you, and another third kingdom of bronze, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: since iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things: and as iron that breaks all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.

And whereas you saw the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, since you saw the iron mixed with miry clay.

And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.

And whereas you saw iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cling one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

Since you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without 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 shall happen hereafter: and the dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.

Nebuchadnezzar Promotes Daniel

Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odors to him.

The king answered to Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing you could reveal this secret.

Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors 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.

Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat 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.

Truly this holy prophet loved God with all his heart, all his soul, all his strength, all his power. And having loved so fervently, he genuinely trusted, and he believed deeply, expecting that help would come from him. And it was as he had expected. And so also one is taught about the love of a neighbor, as it happened that the companions were also accepted.