Daniel 2:9
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 king had been troubled by a remarkable dream whose details had gone from his mind while the troubling impression remained, and he demanded that his magicians, astrologers, sorcerers and Chaldeans tell him the forgotten dream itself as the test and proof that they could give its true interpretation. When they stood in terror with no light and pleaded that the demand was unreasonable, he accused them of preparing lying, deceitful and corrupt words to speak before him in order to gain time until circumstances changed. He warned that if they would not make the dream known there was but one fixed decree for them, and in fury decreed death for all the wise men. The dream was by providence withheld so they could not attach a false interpretation to it, and their failure exposed the limits of their claimed wisdom and power to reveal mysteries. Daniel and his companions, though facing death under that decree, sought the God of heaven in prayer, and God revealed both the dream and its interpretation, showing that divine wisdom given to those who depend on Him is superior to all worldly learning without God.
The King's Accusation
The verse belongs to the account of Nebuchadnezzar's remarkable dream, which troubled his spirit after waking so that he could not recall its details. The specifics had gone from his mind while the troubling impression remained, and both the dream and its meaning had departed from him. By providence the details were forgotten while the impression remained, and an angel of God would later reveal the dream to Daniel so he could tell it to the people.
The king demanded that the exalted magicians, astrologers, sorcerers and Chaldeans on whom he depended to reveal mysteries tell him the forgotten dream itself, and not merely offer an interpretation. He made telling the dream the test and proof that they could truly show its trustworthy interpretation, believing they could not give a truthful interpretation unless they could also reveal the dream. He accepted the telling of the dream as proof of their claims as magicians and astrologers.
The wise men stood in terror with no light on the dream and asked the king to tell it first. They declared in fear and trembling that the request was unreasonable and a test beyond what had ever been required of any man. Seeing that the thing was gone from him, the king discerned they were trying to gain time because they could not tell the dream. He charged that they had prepared lying, deceitful and corrupt words to speak before him till the time be changed, waiting until circumstances changed.
He warned that if they would not make the dream known there was but one fixed decree for them, meaning death and punishment if they failed. In fury he decreed that all of them should be put to death, and Daniel and his companions, though numbered with the wise men, were to share their fate and faced death under the decree. This shows how men in high authority controlled by unholy passion act with great power and uncontrollable fury. Daniel then asked the king to grant time so he could reveal the dream and its interpretation.
Exposure and Divine Revelation
By providence the details of the dream were taken from the king while its troubling impression remained, so that the wise men could not invent a false interpretation and claim to understand mysteries. Their inability to recover what was gone was used to expose their false claims and keep them from imposing a counterfeit meaning upon it.
Their failure laid bare the limits of their exalted wisdom and power and their inability to reveal mysteries. It showed divine wisdom to be superior, with the meaning made known not through Babylonian learning but through Hebrew captives who depended on God. Daniel and his companions, though numbered with the wise men, came under the same decree and faced death with those marked for execution. Daniel asked the king to grant time, then sought the God of heaven in prayer with his companions, and God by an angel revealed both the forgotten dream and its interpretation, so that those facing execution were spared.
That failure stands for learned people who lack wisdom and knowledge from God and therefore cannot understand prophecy. Mere learning in worldly matters does not enable anyone to grasp God's word without listening to it and receiving it in the heart. The prophecy of this chapter was fulfilled with remarkable exactness, as recorded by historians, and that fulfillment is evidence that Scripture is inspired.