Daniel 2:10
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. 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.
The Chaldeans admitted that no man on earth could show the king his forgotten and hidden dream, calling it an extraordinary and unprecedented demand that no king, lord, or ruler had ever asked of magician, astrologer, or Chaldean, and saying only the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh could disclose it. The wise men had first asked the king to tell them the dream before they would interpret it, and when they could not tell both the dream and its meaning under threat of death, the matter turned to Daniel, who with his companions prayed until God revealed the dream and its interpretation to him. Their failure exposed the limits of the celebrated wisdom on which Nebuchadnezzar trusted, and by God's providence the details were withheld and removed from the king so their false claims would be exposed and they could not impose a false interpretation on it. In contrast the secret was revealed through God to Daniel, showing that those who worship Him possess a superior heavenly wisdom that cannot be bought or gained by human skill, and that worldly learning alone cannot understand prophecy whose exact fulfillment in history anchors faith for the present day.
Setting and Chaldean Admission
Daniel 2:10 belongs to the account of Nebuchadnezzar's troubling and remarkable dream of the great image, connected with the mingling of iron and clay, which he told before the wise men of Babylon. After waking he could not recall its details, having forgotten the dream, and Daniel later made known and interpreted what had been lost to the king. The verse stands in the background to Daniel's remembered ability to reveal the forgotten dream and give its interpretation.
The Babylonian wise men first asked Nebuchadnezzar to tell them his dream before they would interpret it, showing they could not supply the forgotten dream themselves. In answer the Chaldeans declared there is not a man upon the earth that can show the king's forgotten, lost, and hidden matter. They said no king, lord, nor ruler ever asked such a thing of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean, calling the demand extraordinary and unprecedented and an unreasonable test of their supposed powers. Only the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh, who did not dwell with human beings, could disclose it.
The king threatened to kill the wise men if they could not tell both the dream and its meaning. Their inability to reveal the forgotten and lost dream led him to turn to Daniel. Daniel and his companions prayed, and God revealed the dream and its interpretation to Daniel, by His angel, so he could make it known.
Exposure of Human Wisdom
The admission that no man upon the earth could show the king's forgotten matter exposed the limits of the wisdom on which Nebuchadnezzar relied and trusted. The celebrated and vaunted wisdom of Babylon failed when tested, for the secret could not be revealed by human skill or by scientific wisdom. The wise men could give no light about divine mysteries, confessing that only gods whose dwelling is not with flesh could disclose what was hidden.
The king's insistence on being told both the dream and its meaning exposed their false claims to wisdom, since one truly able to interpret the dream should also be able to tell it. By God's providence the details were forgotten, withheld, and removed from Nebuchadnezzar, so that the pretensions of the wise men would be exposed. The dream was taken away so they could not use their claimed understanding of mysteries to impose a false interpretation upon it.
In contrast the secret was revealed through God to Daniel, after Daniel and his companions prayed and after the king in his anger threatened to kill the wise men and turned to Daniel. God made known both the dream and its interpretation to Daniel, by His angel, so that he could declare it before the king. This showed that those who worship God possess superior wisdom, a heavenly wisdom that cannot be bought or obtained through human expertise.
Their failure represents learned people who lack wisdom and knowledge from God and therefore cannot understand prophecy. Learning from the world alone does not make a person a true representative of God. The lessons of the dream were given for people living in the present day, and the prophecy of this chapter in its exact fulfillment in the historical record testifies to the inspiration of Scripture and anchors faith.