Daniel 2:38

And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. AND WHERESOEVER THE CHILDREN OF MEN DWELL, THE BEASTS ... AND THE FOWLS - the dominion originally designed for man (; ), forfeited by sin; temporarily delegated to Nebuchadnezzar and the world-powers; but, as they abuse the trust for self, instead of for God, to be taken from them by the Son of man, who will exercise it for God, restoring, in His person, to man the lost inheritance (Psalms 8:4). THOU ART THIS HEAD OF GOLD - alluding to the riches of Babylon; hence called "the golden city" ...

Daniel here declares “ the golden head of the image “ to be the Babylonian kingdom. We know that the Assyrians were subdued before the monarchy was transferred to Babylon; but since they did not prevail sufficiently to be considered as supreme rulers in that eastern territory, the Babylonian empire is here mentioned first. It is also worthwhile to remark, that God was unwilling to refer here to what had already occurred, but he rather proposed that the people should in future depend on this prophecy and rest upon it. Here it would have been superfluous to say anything about the Assyrians, since that empire had already passed away. But the Chaldeans were still to reign for some time — say seventy or at least sixty years. Hence God wished to hold the minds of his own servants in suspense till the end of that monarchy, and then to arouse them by fresh hopes, until the second monarchy should...

31-45 This image represented the kingdoms of the earth, that should successively rule the nations, and influence the affairs of the Jewish church. 1. The head of gold signified the Chaldean empire, then in being. 2. The breast and arms of silver signified the empire of the Medes and Persians. 3. The belly and thighs of brass signified the Grecian empire, founded by Alexander. 4. The legs and feet of iron signified the Roman empire. The Roman empire branched into ten kingdoms, as the toes of these feet. Some were weak as clay, others strong as iron. Endeavours have often been used to unite them, for strengthening the empire, but in vain. The stone cut out without hands, represented the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, which should be set up in the kingdoms of the world, upon the ruins of Satan's kingdom in them. This was the Stone which the builders refused, because it was not cut out b...

Verse 38. _THOU_ ART _THIS HEAD OF GOLD_] See on Daniel 2:31-27, and at the end. Daniel 2:49....

AND WHERESOEVER THE CHILDREN OF MEN DWELL, THE BEASTS OF THE FIELD, AND THE FOWLS OF THE HEAVENS, HATH HE GIVEN INTO THY HAND - This is evidently general language, and is not to be pressed literally. It is designed to say that he ruled over the whole world; that is, the world as then known. This is common language applied in the Scriptures to the Babylonian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman kingdoms. Thus in Daniel 2:39, the third of these kingdoms, the Grecian, was to “bear rule over all the earth.” Compare Daniel 8:5 : “And, as I was considering, behold, an he-goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth.” So of the Roman empire, in Daniel 7:23 : “The fourth beast shall devour the whole earth.” The

EXPOSITION DANIEL 2:1 DANIEL FIRST BECOMES DISTINGUISHED. DANIEL 2:1 AND IN THE SECOND YEAR OF THE REIGN OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR NEBUCHADNEZZAR DREAMED DREAMS, WHEREWITH HIS SPIRIT WAS TROUBLED, AND HIS SLEEP BRAKE FROM HIM. The versions only differ verbally from the Massoretic text as represented by the above. The Septuagint renders "And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, he chanced to fall into dreams and visions, and to be troubled with his vision, and his sleep went from him." The differences here that may evidence a difference of text are slight. Theodotion and the Peshitta are very close to the Massoretic. The Vulgate renders, "In the second year of

AND WHERESOEVER THE CHILDREN OF MEN DWELL,.... Not in every part of the habitable world, but in every part of his large dominion inhabited by men: THE BEASTS OF THE FIELD, AND THE FOWLS OF THE HEAVEN, HATH HE GIVEN INTO THINE HAND; all parks, chases, and forests (so that none might hunt or hawk without his permission), as well as the persons and habitations of men, were at his dispose; showing the despotic power and sovereign sway he had over his subjects: AND HATH MADE THEE RULER OVER ALL: men, beasts, and fowl: he not only conquered the Egyptians, Tyrians, and Jews, and other nations about them; but, according to Megasthenes l he exceeded Hercules in strength, and conquered Lybia and Iberia, and carried colonies of them into Pontus; and, as Strabo m says, carried his arms as far as the pillars of Hercules: THOU ART THIS HEAD OF GOLD; or who was represented by the golden head of the...

WHERESOEVER THE CHILDREN This is universal dominion. It was never fully realized, but power was given for it....

CHAPTER 2 NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S DREAM AND ITS INTERPRETATION _ 1. The forgotten dream (Daniel 2:1)_ 2. The prayer meeting in Babylon and the answer (Daniel 2:14) 3. Daniel before the king (Daniel 2:24) 4. The revelation and interpretation of the dream (Daniel 2:29) 5. The promotion of Daniel and his companions (Daniel 2:46) Daniel 2:1. The king had a dream which was occasioned by thinking concerning the future ...

THE INTERPRETATION OF THE DREAM. According to Daniel's interpretation the colossal statue is a pictorial representation of the course of history. Four empires succeed each other and are finally destroyed by a fifth which is of Divine origin (not made with hands), and ultimately dominates the world. We can identify these empires with practical certainty, and the identification proves that the statue depicts the history of 450 years, roughly speaking from 600 to 150 B.C. It will be observed that, according to the figure, history degenerates through this period. The gold becomes silver, the silver brass, and the brass iron. The golden empire is undoubtedly the Babylonian. Nothing could exceed the unstinted praise which the writer lavishes upon Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2:37 f.)_._ The silver kingdom is that of the Medes, which the Book of Daniel interposes between the Babylonian and Persian Em...