Daniel 2.10-Nebuchadnezzar's Wise Men Tell Him His Demand To Make Known The Content Of His Dream Is Unreasonable
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday February 9, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 2:10-Nebuchadnezzar’s Wise Men Tell Him His Demand To Make Known The Content Of His Dream Is Unreasonable
Lesson # 34
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 2:1.
This evening we will study of Daniel 2:10.
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. 6 But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation.” 7 They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” 8 The king replied, “I know for certain that you are bargaining for time, inasmuch as you have seen that the command from me is firm 9 that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only one decree for you. For you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt words before me until the situation is changed; therefore tell me the dream, that I may know that you can declare to me its interpretation.” 10 The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who could declare the matter for the king, inasmuch as no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any magician, conjurer or Chaldean. (NASB95)
“The Chaldeans answered the king and said” is composed of the third person masculine plural peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active perfect form of the verb ʿǎnā(h) (עֲנָה) (an-aw´), “answered” and this is followed by the masculine plural form of the noun kǎś∙dāy (כַּשְׂדָּי) (kas-day), “the Chaldeans” which is followed by the preposition qǒḏām (קֳדָם) (kod-awm´), “before” and its object is the masculine singular form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh´-lek), “the king” and then we have the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is not translated and followed by the masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active participle form of the verb ʾǎmǎr (אֲמַר) (am-ar´), “said.”
The noun kǎś∙dāy refers to the astrologers who are the spokesmen for the occult priests, necromancers, sorcerers in Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom.
Together, these four groups help to constitute the king’s “wise men” along with those who were dignitaries who did not belong to these four groups.
The astrologers studied the magnitudes, movements and constitutions of the heavenly bodies.
They are interested in the effect of these celestial phenomena on human life.
They supposedly can foretell events by the positions of the planets and stars.
The Babylonians developed sophisticated methods of reading the stars to determine proper times for action.
The Bible does not seek to describe the skills, tactics, or methods of these individuals engaged in various practices to determine the opportune time.
Rather the Bible mocks such practices and shows that God’s word to the prophets and the wise of Israel far surpasses any of their skills.
“There is not a man on earth who could declare the matter for the king” is composed of the negative particle lā(ʾ) (לָא) (law), “not” which is negating the meaning of the particle of existence ʾî∙ṯǎy (אִיתַי) (ee-thah´ee), “there is” and then we have the masculine singular form of the noun ʾěnāš (אֱנָשׁ) (en-awsh´), “a man” which is followed by the preposition ʿǎl (עַל) (al), “on” and its object is the feminine singular form of the noun yǎb∙bešā(h) (יַבְּשָׁה) (yab-beh´-sheth), “earth” which is followed by the relative particle dî (דִּי) (dee), “who” and then we have the feminine singular construct form of the noun mil∙lā(h) (מִלָּה) (mil-law´), “the matter” which is followed by the masculine singular form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh´-lek), “the king” and then we have the third person masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) passive imperfect form of the verb yeḵil (יְכִל) (yek-ale´), “could” which is followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed) and its object is the hafʿel (Hebrew: hiphil) infinitive construct form the verb ḥǎwā(h) (חֲוָה) (khav-aw´), “declare.”
The particle ʾî∙ṯǎy indicates the existence of something and is negated by the negative particle lā(ʾ), which expresses negation.
Together, they deny the existence of something. Here they deny the existence of a human being on the earth who could tell Nebuchadnezzar the content of his recurring dream.
The noun ʾěnāš means “person’ without reference to gender, thus the astrologers are telling Nebuchadnezzar that there is not a “person” or “human being” on the earth who could meet his demands.
The noun yǎb∙bešā(h) means “earth” referring to the dry land part of the world rather than including bodies of water and is the object of the preposition ʿǎl, which functions as a marker of location which marks the surface of an object.
This indicates that the astrologers are telling Nebuchadnezzar that there is not a person “upon the face” of the earth who could meet his demands.
The verb yeḵil means “to be able” and here it is used of the inability of any member of the human race to tell Nebuchadnezzar the content of his dream.
It refers to the human race’s inability to meet such a demand.
Only God who is omniscient could fulfill such a request and he will fulfill it through His servant Daniel.
The word speaks of man’s impotence to tell a person the content of his or her dream.
The verb ḥǎwā(h) means “to reveal” and denotes the inability of anyone in the human race who has the ability to reveal Nebuchadnezzar’s secret, which is the content of his dream.
Thus, the word refers to the act of revealing the content of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to him.
The noun mil∙lā(h) means “secret” since the word is referring to the content of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream which the king won’t reveal.
“Inasmuch as no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any magician, conjurer or Chaldean” is composed of the preposition k- (כְּ־) (kee), “inasmuch” and this is followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed) and then we have the preposition qǒḇēl (קֳבֵל) (kob-ale´) and this is followed by the relative particle dî (דִּי) (dee), and then we have the adjective kōl (כֹּל) (kole), “anything” which is followed by the masculine singular form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh´-lek), “the king” which is modified by the adjective rǎḇ (רַב) (rab), “great” and then we have the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “for” which is followed by the masculine singular form of the noun šǎl∙lîṭ (שַׁלִּיט) (shal-leet´), “ruler” and then we have the feminine singular form of the noun mil∙lā(h) (מִלָּה) (mil-law´), “anything” which is followed by the preposition k- (כְּ־) (kee), “like” and its object is the demonstrative pronoun denā(h) (דְּנָה) (dane-awe), “this” which is followed by the negative particle lā(ʾ) (לָא) (law), “not” which is negating the meaning of the third person masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active perfect form of the verb šeʾēl (שְׁאֵל) (sheh-ale´), “has asked” and then we have the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), “of” and its object is the construct form of the singular noun kōl (כֹּל) (kole), “any” which is followed by the masculine plural form of the noun ḥǎr∙ṭōm (חַרְטֹם) (khar-tome), “magician” which is followed by the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), which is not translated and followed by the masculine singular form of the noun ʾǎš∙šāp̄ (אַשָּׁף) (ash-shawf), “conjurer” and then we have the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “or,” which is followed by the masculine plural form of the noun kǎś∙dāy (כַּשְׂדָּי) (kas-day), “Chaldean.”
The preposition k- is employed with the prepositions lĕ and qǒḇēl and the relative particle dî to form a conjunctive clause which expresses result and thus means “therefore, consequently, as a result.”
These four words are introducing a statement that presents the result of the fact presented by the astrologers to Nebuchadnezzar.
Therefore, the astrologers said to the king that there is not a person on the face of the earth who is able to reveal the content of the king’s dream, “therefore” or “as a result, consequently” no great king in history has ever demanded from an occult priest, necromancer or astrologer that which he has demanded of them.
The adjective kōl is modifying the noun mě∙lěḵ and denotes totality referring to the totality of great kings and rulers throughout human history up to the time of Nebuchadnezzar.
The noun mě∙lěḵ means “king” and is used with reference to the kings of human history up to Nebuchadnezzar.
The noun mě∙lěḵ is modified by the adjective rǎḇ, which means “great” in the sense of being preeminent over others and having a larger impact than others.
Here it denotes a king who is preeminent over other kings and has had a larger impact on human history than the majority of kings in history.
The noun šǎl∙lîṭ means “sovereign, ruler” and functions as an alternative to the noun mě∙lěḵ.
The verb šeʾēl means “to exact” in the sense of calling for something forcibly since the word denotes a request with a strong implication that a positive response must be given or serious consequences will follow.
Here it refers to the act of Nebuchadnezzar exacting a demand of his wise men to make known the content of his recurring dream in order to escape being executed by him.
The negative particle lā(ʾ) is negating the meaning of this verb and means “never” since it is emphatically denying that any ruler or king in history ever exacted such a demand as Nebuchadnezzar’s from his occult priest, necromancers or witches.
This time the noun mil∙lā(h) means “demand” and refers to Nebuchadnezzar demanding that his wise men tell him the content of his recurring dream in order to avoid execution.
The demonstrative pronoun denā(h) means “this” and is pointing out the noun mil∙lā(h) emphasizing the outrageousness and the unreasonableness of Nebuchadnezzar’s demand.
The word is the object of the preposition k-, which means “like” since it functions as a marker of comparison.
It is thus marking a comparison between the demands great kings or rulers have made of their necromancers, occult priests and witches throughout history and the demand Nebuchadnezzar has exacted of his necromancers, occult priests and witches.
As was the case in Daniel 1:20 and 2:10, the noun ḥǎr∙ṭōm in Daniel 2:10 refers to the “occultists” in Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom who were a class of intelligent and clever priests involved with the occult, which is driven by demons.
These occult priests occupied themselves with the arts and sciences of the Babylonians, which involves astrology, the interpretation of dreams, the foretelling of events, as well as magic and channeling.
They were regarded as the possessors of secret arts.
As was the case in Daniel 1:20 and 2:2, this noun ʾǎš∙šāp̄ in Daniel 2:10 refers to a necromancer who was an individual who attempted to contact the dead for the purpose of magically revealing the future or influencing the course of events.
Of course, they could not communicate with the dead but only demons.
As was the case earlier in the verse, the noun kǎś∙dāy refers to an astrologer who studies the magnitudes, movements and constitutions of the heavenly bodies.
They are interested in the effect of these celestial phenomena on human life.
They supposedly can foretell events by the positions of the planets and stars.
For the first time Nebuchadnezzar’s wise men are speaking the truth.
In Daniel 2:4, they respond to the king of Babylon by arrogantly requesting that he tell the content of his dream so that they can interpret it for him.
This is a lie since they cannot interpret dreams.
In Daniel 2:7, they repeat their request of the king so that they are again lying to him.
However, here in Daniel 2:10, they speak the truth.
First of all, they argue that there is no human being on the face of the earth who has the ability to tell Nebuchadnezzar the content of his dream.
This is true since no human being could do such a thing unless God has given him the ability to do so.
Secondly, they argue that consequently no great king or ruler in history has ever made such an unreasonable request of an occult priest, necromancer or astrologer.
Therefore, in Daniel 2:10 the wise men admitted their impotence and inability to tell the king the content of his dream.
They also state in a polite and respectful manner that this request is unreasonable.
It is polite and respectful because they say no “great” king or ruler has ever made such a request of his wise men.
By saying this they are implying that Nebuchadnezzar is a great king or ruler and thus his demand is unbecoming of his status.
A great ruler or king would never make such an unreasonable request.