King Nebuchadnezzar was troubled by a forgotten dream and demanded his wise men reveal both the dream and its interpretation, threatening their lives upon failure. When they could not, Daniel and his companions sought divine intervention through prayer. God revealed the dream and its meaning to Daniel, who then presented it to the king, interpreting the great image as a succession of world empires culminating in God's eternal kingdom. Impressed, Nebuchadnezzar exalted Daniel and acknowledged the supremacy of his God.
¶ And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.
Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.
The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.
But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.
But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye 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 ye can shew me the interpretation thereof.
The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew 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 requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.
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.
And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter.
¶ Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation.
Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation.
The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?
Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;
But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;
As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.
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 thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
¶ Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.
Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
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 the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
And whereas thou sawest 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, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave 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.
Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
¶ Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him.
The king answered unto 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 thou couldest 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.
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.
Study Notes for Daniel 2
Verse 1
The events occur in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign (c. 603 BC), placing Daniel and his friends early in their three-year training period (1:5). The troubling dream establishes the crisis.
Verse 2
The list of Babylonian occultists (magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, Chaldeans) highlights the reliance of the empire on divination, which God's prophets consistently rejected.
Verse 4
This verse marks the beginning of the Aramaic section of Daniel (2:4b–7:28). Aramaic was the international language of commerce and diplomacy in the Near East.
Verse 5
The king's violent decree underscores the absolute power of Nebuchadnezzar and establishes the impossible nature of the task: the wise men must reveal the dream itself, not just an interpretation.
Verse 9
Nebuchadnezzar shrewdly understood that if they could not reproduce the forgotten dream, any interpretation they offered would be a fabrication, proving their lack of true divine insight.
Verse 11
The wise men correctly identify that only 'the gods' could reveal such a secret, but they fail to recognize the true God of heaven, whose dwelling, unlike pagan deities, is accessible to man.
Verse 13
As members of the 'wise men' class, Daniel and his companions were directly targeted by the decree, highlighting the immediate danger faced by the faithful exiles.
Verse 14
Daniel’s response is characterized by 'counsel and wisdom,' demonstrating a controlled, divinely guided prudence in contrast to the panic and fury of the Babylonian court.
Verse 18
Daniel immediately turns to corporate prayer, illustrating the power of faithful communal dependence on the 'God of heaven' in a time of mortal danger.
Verse 19
The secret was revealed in a 'night vision,' emphasizing the supernatural origin of the knowledge and confirming God’s immediate response to faithful prayer.
Verse 21
This doxology (vv. 20–23) affirms God's absolute sovereignty over history, time, and political authority ('he removeth kings, and setteth up kings').
Verse 26
The king addresses Daniel by his Babylonian name, Belteshazzar, a practice often used in the court setting, though Daniel retains his Hebrew identity throughout the book.
Verse 28
This is the theological core of the chapter. Daniel attributes the revelation solely to the 'God in heaven' and identifies the dream's subject matter as eschatological: 'what shall be in the latter days.'
Verse 30
Daniel humbly rejects any personal credit for the wisdom, ensuring that the king understands the interpretation is purely for the glory of God and the benefit of the king's understanding.
Verse 31
The image, with its excellent brightness and terrible form, symbolizes the imposing power and majesty of the successive world empires.
Verse 32
The progression from gold to iron and clay signifies a decrease in inherent value and glory, but an increase in hardness and military strength among the successive kingdoms.
Verse 34
The stone 'cut out without hands' signifies the supernatural, divine origin of the final kingdom, which is not built by human effort or political maneuvering.
Verse 37
Daniel identifies Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian Empire (626–539 BC) as the 'head of gold,' the most glorious and absolute of the four earthly kingdoms.
Verse 39
The second kingdom (silver) is typically identified as Medo-Persia (539–331 BC), and the third (brass) as the Greek Empire established by Alexander the Great (331 BC onwards).
Verse 40
The fourth kingdom (iron) is universally identified as the Roman Empire, known for its crushing military strength and widespread dominion.
Verse 43
The mixture of iron and clay suggests political instability and failed attempts at permanent unification through alliances or intermarriage ('mingle themselves with the seed of men').
Verse 44
This is the climax of the interpretation: the four human empires will be superseded by the eternal, indestructible Kingdom of God (the messianic kingdom), which will fill the whole earth.
Verse 46
Nebuchadnezzar's immediate response is to worship Daniel, showing a pagan ruler's tendency to deify the messenger; however, his words in v. 47 acknowledge the supremacy of Daniel's God.
Verse 47
Nebuchadnezzar affirms the God of Israel as supreme ('a God of gods, and a Lord of kings'), marking a temporary and dramatic shift in his religious understanding.
Verse 49
Daniel uses his new influence to secure appointments for his three friends. This action demonstrates loyalty and sets the stage for the narrative events of the following chapter.
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