Daniel 2:2

"Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the enchanters, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream. Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in the Syrian language, O king, live forever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation. The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye make not known unto me the dream and the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill. But if ye show the dream and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honor: therefore show me the dream and the interpretation thereof. They answered the second time and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation. And the king answered and said, I know of a certainty that ye would gain time, because ye see the thing has gone from me. But if ye make not known unto me the dream, there is one law 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 show me the interpretation thereof."

THE KING'S DEMAND

Certainly His Majesty was in a vile mood! The KJV indicates that Nebuchadnezzar had actually forgotten the dream; but our version seems to reveal the king's utmost distrust of the alleged "wise men" who had been summoned. The last two lines of the passage cited here reveal the king's purpose of requiring the wise men to tell him the dream in order that he might also trust them to reveal the interpretation of it. In this light, we do not know whether Nebuchadnezzar had actually forgotten the dream, or if he had merely decided to test his enchanters and magicians by requiring them to repeat the dream.

Of interest is the mention of the Chaldeans in this passage. `This was a name that came to be applied to the astrologers, soothsayers, magicians, enchanters, diviners and wise men as a class, and without reference to race. The inclusion of Daniel in the number here indicates as much. (See the introduction for more on this.) It will be noted that the Chaldeans also included a special group who bore that name; but they seem to have been spokesmen for the entire group.

In Daniel 2:4b, the Syrian language is introduced, not by the author of Daniel, but by the Chaldeans; and Daniel, the faithful author was able to report the proceedings in the language by which the communications were carried on. It is a virtual certainty that only Daniel could have done such a thing. The preposterous notion that some forger some four hundreds years subsequent to the times of Daniel could have done this is such an outlandish improbability that it seems impossible that intelligent writers should have been deceived by it. This Syrian language (the 6th century Aramaic) continues through Daniel 7.

"O king, live forever ..." Such language of respect and servility was the stock in trade of all flatterers and courtiers at oriental courts. The king in this instance was unmoved by all the high sounding words. He wanted one thing, actually two, (1) the dream repeated to him, and (2) its proper interpretation. After all, the thing that the king required was not all that unreasonable. Is it not true, that if a man can reveal the future, he should have no trouble remembering someone else's dream? Something had compelled the king to believe that the alleged wise men could not do either!

"Ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses made a dunghill ..." Such cruel and excessive punishments were common in the behavior of oriental despots; and there is no doubt that the whole confraternity of the wise men were threatened at this juncture with destruction. The Chaldean spokesmen repeatedly informed the king that they would be unable to interpret the dream unless they were given the essentials of the dream to form the basis of their interpretation; but the king refused to be moved.