Daniel 2.5-Nebuchadnezzar Threatens His Wise Men With Death If They Do Not Make Known To Him Both The Dream And Its Interpretation
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday January 31, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 2:5-Nebuchadnezzar Threatens His Wise Men With Death If They Do Not Make Known To Him Both The Dream And Its Interpretation
Lesson # 29
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 2:1.
This evening we will study Daniel 2:5.
Daniel 2:1 Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him. 2 Then the king gave orders to call in the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. 3 The king said to them, “I had a dream and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream.” 4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic: “O king, live forever! Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” 5 The king replied to the Chaldeans, “The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap. (NASB95)
“The king replied to the Chaldeans” is composed of the masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew equivalent is the qal) active participle form of the verb ʿǎnā(h) (עֲנָה) (an-aw´), “replied” and this is followed by the masculine singular form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh´-lek), “O king” and then we have the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), which is not translated and followed by the masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew equivalent is the qal) active participle form of the verb ʾǎmǎr (אֲמַר) (am-ar´), which is not translated and this is followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), “to” and its object is the masculine plural form of the proper noun kǎś∙dîm (כַּשְׂדִּים) (kas-deem), “the Chaldeans”
The noun mě∙lěḵ means “king” and of course is used with reference to Nebuchadnezzar referring to the fact that he was governmental head of Babylon.
The verb ʿǎnā(h) means “to reply” since in context it describes a statement made in response to a situation rather than a direct question from someone.
Here the word is used of Nebuchadnezzar’s response to his wise men’s statement recorded in verse 4 in which they requested that he tell them the content of the dream in order that they might interpret this dream.
The verb ʾǎmǎr means “to say” in the sense of communicating something to someone and denotes Nebuchadnezzar “communicating” to his wise men that they must tell him the content of his dream as well as its interpretation.
The proper noun kǎś∙dîm refers to astrologers who are the spokesmen for the occult priests, necromancers, sorcerers in Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom.
“The command from me is firm” is composed of the feminine singular form of the noun mil∙lā(h) (מִלָּה) (mil-law´), “the command” which is followed by the preposition min (מִן) (min), “from” and its object is the first person singular pronomial suffix -î (־י) (ah-nee), “me” and then we have the masculine singular adjective ʾǎz∙dā(ʾ) (אַזְדָּא) (az-awd´), “firm.”
The noun mil∙lā(h) means “the command” since it refers to the command that follows it which requires that Nebuchadnezzar’s wise men communicate both the content of his dream to him as well as its interpretation otherwise they will be executed.
The adjective ʾǎz∙dā(ʾ) means “irrevocable” and denotes that this sentence of death could not be revoked if they did not meet the king of Babylon’s demands.
“If you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation” is composed of the conjunction hēn (הֵן) (hane), “if” and this is followed by the adverb lā(ʾ) (לָא) (law), “not” and then we have the second person masculine plural hafʿel (Hebrew equivalent is the hiphil stem) active imperfect form of the verb yeḏǎʿ (יְדַע) (yed-ah´), “you do make known” which is followed by the first person singular pronomial suffix –î (־י), “to me” and then we have the masculine singular form of the noun ḥē∙lěm (חֵלֶם) (khay´-lem), “the dream” and this is followed by the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is followed by the masculine singular construct form of the noun pešǎr (פְּשַׁר) (pesh-ar´), “interpretation” and then we have the third person masculine singular pronomial suffix hû(ʾ) (הוּא) (who), “its.”
The conjunction hēn means “if” and denotes the certainty that the wise men will be executed by Nebuchadnezzar if they don’t tell him both the content of his dream as well as its interpretation.
The verb yeḏǎʿ means “to communicate” and its meaning is negated by the negative particle lā(ʾ), which means “not” since it is marker of negation.
Together, these two words denote the wise men “not communicating” to the king of Babylon both the content of his dream and its interpretation.
The noun ḥē∙lěm refers to the content of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.
The noun pešǎr means “interpretation” referring to the wise men interpreting or explaining Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to him.
“You will be torn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap” is composed of the masculine plural form of the noun hǎd∙dām (הַדָּם) (had-dawm´), “limb from limb” which is followed by the third person masculine plural hitpeʿel passive imperfect form of the verb ʿǎḇǎḏ (עֲבַד) (ab-ad´), “you will be torn” and then we have the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is followed by the masculine plural construct form of the noun bǎ∙yiṯ (בַּיִת) (bah-yith), “houses” which is modified by the second person masculine plural pronomial suffix -ḵōm (־כֹם) (koem), “your” and then we have the feminine singular form of the noun newā∙lû (נְוָלוּ) (nev-aw-loo´), “a rubbish heap” which is followed by the third person masculine plural hithpael passive imperfect form of the verb śîm (שִׂים) (soom), “will be made.”
The verb ʿǎḇǎḏ is in the hitpeʿel stem which conveys a passive sense with some degree of intensive action and means “to be made.”
The word’s object is the noun hǎd∙dām, which is in the plural and means “limbs” referring to human body parts or limbs.
Therefore, these two words literally mean “to be made limbs” or idiomatically, it means “to be torn limb from limb” or “to be dismembered.”
When the Babylonians dismembered people, they would tie their arms and legs to four powerful trees, which would be temporarily roped together at the top.
When they cut these ropes, the victim would be torn apart into four pieces.
Some commentators argue that these two words indicate that the wise men would be hacked to death even though the act of cutting is never mentioned or is indicated by the verb.
However, the Babylonians would hack their victims to pieces.
The noun bǎ∙yiṯ is in the plural and construct form referring to the residences or the dwelling places or homes of Nebuchadnezzar’s wise men.
The verb śîm means “to be turned into” referring to the homes of the wise men being turned into a rubbish heap as a result of not complying with Nebuchadnezzar’s demands.
The noun newā∙lû refers to a garbage heap or public latrine or refuse area or a dung heap.
Therefore, the wise men not only will be dismembered but also will have their homes turned into a public latrine area if they don’t’ communicate to the king both the content of his dream and the interpretation of this dream.
Daniel 2:5 tells the reader that in response to the request of his wise men that he tell them the content of his dream in order for them to interpret it for him, Nebuchadnezzar demands that they not only tell him the content of his dream but also provide him with the interpretation of the dream, otherwise, he will execute them.
The wise men in verse 10 express to the king that his demands were quite unreasonable in that no sovereign would make such a demand since it would require omniscience which is an attribute of God.
The king’s unreasonable demand indicates that he questioned the ability of his wise men.
His reasoning must have been that if they are so wise and have the power to interpret someone else’s dream, then they should certainly be able to tell the contents of the dream.
Nebuchadnezzar feels that if they are so in touch with the gods, then the gods should be able to communicate the contents of his dream and not just give him the interpretation of it.
If he communicated the contents of his dream, then they could come up with any interpretation that fits their imagination.
Thus, he doesn’t trust them which is clearly indicated by his statement to them in verse 9 where calls them liars who will tell him something that is false.
So by demanding that they tell him what exactly he dreamed, Nebuchadnezzar could be sure that their interpretation of this dream is correct and the truth.
If they tell him the contents of the dream, he could be sure that he has received the correct interpretation of the dream in that the gods had in fact given them the interpretation of his dream and passed it along to him.
The king senses that this dream is significant and related somehow to his kingdom and its future.
Thus, he does not want speculation or the product of someone’s imagination but the truth and nothing but the truth since the future of his kingdom, he senses, is at stake.
Through this heathen king, God is demonstrating His sovereignty in that the king’s demands will expose these wise men for what they are, namely, frauds.
He also uses Nebuchadnezzar’s demands here as the means by which He can bring in Daniel to tell the king the content of his dream and to interpret it for him.
Then, Nebuchadnezzar and all of Babylon would know that Daniel’s God who is the God of Israel is sovereign over the nations including Babylon.
So this cruel demand of the king is going to be used by God to discredit the wise men who are servants of Satan and his kingdom and to cause Daniel to enter the picture to represent Him before the king of Babylon.
God wants to show Nebuchadnezzar that the dream he received was directly from Him.