_NEBUCHADNEZZAR, FORGETTING HIS DREAM, REQUIRETH IT OF THE CHALDEANS BY PROMISES AND THREATENINGS. THEY, ACKNOWLEDGING THEIR INABILITY, ARE ADJUDGED TO DIE. DANIEL, OBTAINING SOME RESPITE, FINDETH THE DREAM: HE BLESSETH GOD; STAYETH THE DECREE, AND IS BROUGHT TO THE KING. THE DREAM. THE INTERPRETATI... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IN THE SECOND YEAR OF THE REIGN OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR— As the affairs of Babylon have so considerable a share in the historical parts of the book of Daniel, as well as in other parts of Scripture, it may not be amiss to give here a short sketch of the kingdom of Babylon, previous to the reign of thi... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS DREAMS: SO THEY CAME— _His dream: wherefore they came. Daniel 2:3. Was troubled_] _Is distressed._... [ Continue Reading ]
IF YE WILL NOT— _If ye do not._ Instead of, _made a dunghill,_ Houbigant reads, shall be _confiscated,_ or _sold by public sale._... [ Continue Reading ]
I KNOW, &C.— "You only want to protract the time, either that the dream may return, or that my uneasiness may be dissipated; and that, occupied in other affairs, I may think no more of the dream. But I will have from you immediately a positive answer, and a precise explication." However tyrannical t... [ Continue Reading ]
DANIEL AND HIS FELLOWS— _Companions:_ Houbigant; and so Daniel 2:18.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CAPTAIN OF THE KING'S GUARD— Literally, chief of the king's executioners. Gr. αρχιμαγευρω : the chief butcher. The term טבחיא רב _rab tabbachaiaa,_ may probably mean, the leader of the guard appointed for capital punishments; Nor does this office seem to have been at all infamous; for Arioch had... [ Continue Reading ]
WHY IS THE DECREE SO HASTY— _Why is this dreadful decree gone forth from the king?_ Houbigant.... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THEY WOULD— _That they might._ _THIS SECRET_— Many useful observations might be drawn from this passage, on the nature, the efficacy, and the rewards of devotion; on the power and prevalency of united addresses to Heaven; and the important benefits which the piety of a few holy men may sometim... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN WAS THE SECRET REVEALED— It is generally thought that this secret was revealed to Daniel only, and that in sleep, by a dream. Full of the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, which denoted the succession and change of the great monarchies, Daniel humbly acknowledges before God, Daniel 2:21 that time and it... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO HAST GIVEN— _Because thou hast given._... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MAKETH KNOWN, &C.— The impious king had a prophetic dream; that the saint interpreting it, God might be glorified, and the captives, and those who served God in captivity, might receive consolation. We read the same thing of Pharaoh: not that Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar deserved to see such thing... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT AS FOR ME; &C. _BUT FOR THEIR SAKES,_ &C.— _And as for me,_ &c. _But that the interpretation may be made known to the king._ Houbigant.... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD A GREAT IMAGE— It appears from ancient coins and medals, that cities and people were often represented by the figures of men and women. A great and terrible human figure was therefore no improper emblem of human power and dominion; and the various metals of which it was composed, not unfitly... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS IMAGE'S HEAD WAS OF FINE GOLD— This Daniel interprets thus, Daniel 2:38. _Thou art this head of gold;_ thou, and thy family, and thy representatives. The Babylonian therefore was the first of these kingdoms, and it was fitly represented by the _head of fine gold,_ on account of its great riches... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS LEGS OF IRON, &C.— This the prophet has interpreted, Daniel 2:40. The fourth kingdom is there described as stronger than the preceding: as iron breaketh and bruiseth all other metals, so this breaketh and subdueth all the former kingdoms. This kingdom too is represented as divided into ten _toes... [ Continue Reading ]
A STONE WAS CUT OUT WITHOUT HANDS— _Stone,_ in Scripture, stands for king or kingdom, as _mountain_ doth for a metropolis; the seat of a kingdom governed by a royal race: and being here a different mineral from those in the image, implied that this kingdom should not only be different in number, or... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU, O KING, ART A KING OF KINGS, &C.— Daniel addresses Nebuchadnezzar, as if he was a very powerful king, and his empire very large and extensive. The monarch might, perhaps, think, like some of his predecessors, that his conquests were owing to his own fortitude and prudence. See Isaiah 10:13. Bu... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FOURTH KINGDOM SHALL BE STRONG AS IRON, &C.— This description agrees well with the Roman empire, and the event answered this prediction; for the Roman was vastly more strong and extensive than any of the preceding three. Daniel seems to divide it into three periods. The first is this kingdom, in... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SHALL MINGLE THEMSELVES, &C.— They made marriages and alliances one with another, but no hearty union ensued. Reasons of state are stronger than ties of blood; and interest will always avail with governments more than affinity. The Roman empire, therefore, is represented in a double state; firs... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE DAYS OF THESE KINGS— That is, in the days of _some_ of them. As _in the days when the judges ruled,_ Ruth 1:1 signifies, "In the days when _some_ of the judges ruled;" so _in the days of these kings,_ signifies, "In the days of _some_ of these kingdoms:" and it must be during the days of the... [ Continue Reading ]