Daniel 2:4, commentary and pictures

The Chaldeans answered the king in Aramaic with honor and a wish for his long life, asking him to tell his servants the dream so they could give its interpretation. The king demanded the dream itself as proof of their claimed wisdom and threatened all the wise men of Babylon with death, putting Daniel and his companions in mortal danger with the rest. The Chaldeans had no light or knowledge to recover the forgotten dream, which God had withheld from them so they could not invent a false interpretation, exposing the limits of human wisdom. When no help could be gotten from the wise men, Daniel and his companions pleaded with God on bended knees, and God as the revealer of secrets revealed the dream and its meaning to Daniel through an angel, so he could make it known and their lives were spared. The prophecy of this chapter was fulfilled with striking exactness as confirmed by history, giving testimony to the inspiration of Scripture and lessons for those living in our day.

The Request and Crisis

The Chaldeans answered the king in Syriack, that is Aramaic, greeting him with the wish that he live forever, asking him to tell his servants the dream, and promising that they would then give its interpretation. Their offer to interpret depended entirely on his first supplying what he had dreamed, for they had no light or knowledge by which to recover the dream themselves. This reply opens the account of the king's trouble over a dream that had gone from his mind so that he could not remember it, which God took and withheld from him.

The withholding kept the wise men from using their claimed understanding of mysteries to invent a false interpretation. The king demanded not only the interpretation but the telling of the dream itself, to accept that power as proof of their claim to be magicians and astrologers. When they could not relate the dream and give its meaning, the decree went forth to slay all the wise men of Babylon under threat of death. Because Daniel and his fellows were numbered with the wise men, they also were to share that fate and their lives were at stake.

The magicians answered in fear and trembling that the demand was unreasonable and a test beyond what had ever been required of any man. The king became furious, acting as men do who hold great power with uncontrollable passions, and decided that every one of them should be put to death. Daniel then came before the king and pleaded for time to bring the matter before God, from whose decision there could be no appeal. With his companions who worshiped the true God he pleaded on bended knees and with contrition of heart for the power and wisdom that alone would avail, that matters might be so arranged that they need not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

Through God's providence, people connected with God were thus brought to the king to help him in the trouble over the dream he could not remember.

Human Failure, Divine Revelation

The Chaldeans' answer asks the king to first supply the dream and then promises an interpretation, which shows they had no light or knowledge of the dream itself until he told it to them. They could not independently recover what had been forgotten, and their reply in Aramaic exposes the limit of their claimed wisdom. The king reasoned that anyone truly able to interpret the dream should also be able to tell him what he had dreamed.

The dream was taken and withheld so the wise men could not use their claimed knowledge of mysteries to put a false interpretation upon it. Their later inability to recall the forgotten dream exposed the limits of human wisdom and scientific power. That inability represents the failure of learned people who lack wisdom and knowledge from God to understand prophecy, while the lessons of the dream were given for people living in our day.

When no help could be gotten from the wise men, Daniel and his companions who depended on God sought Him in prayer, and God as the revealer of secrets gave superior wisdom through the Hebrew captives. He revealed both the dream and its interpretation to Daniel through an angel, enabling Daniel to make it known to the king and to the people. In the crisis in which the king threatened to destroy the wise men and Daniel with them, God gave the interpretation and their lives were spared.

Prophecy and Its Proof

The verse belongs to the prophecy of Daniel 2 that includes the mingling of iron and clay. That chapter's prophecy was fulfilled with striking exactness, as confirmed by the historical record. That exact fulfillment stands as testimony to the inspiration of Scripture.