Daniel 2.12-Nebuchadnezzar Is Furious With His Wise Men And Orders Their Execution
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday February 15, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 2:12-Nebuchadnezzar Is Furious With His Wise Men And Orders Their Execution
Lesson # 36
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 2:1.
This evening we will study of Daniel 2:12.
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. 11 Moreover, the thing which the king demands is difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it to the king except gods, whose dwelling place is not with mortal flesh.” 12 Because of this the king became indignant and very furious and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. (NASB95)
“Because of this the king became indignant and very furious” is composed of the preposition k- (כְּ־) (kee) and this is followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed) and then we have the preposition qǒḇēl (קֳבֵל) (kob-ale´) and then we have the demonstrative pronoun denā(h) (דְּנָה) (dane-awe), “this” 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) active perfect form of the verb benǎs (בְּנַס) (ben-as´), “became indignant” which is followed by the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is followed by the third person masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active perfect form of the verb qeṣǎp̄ (קְצַף) (kets-af´), “furious” which is modified by the masculine singular adjective śǎg∙gî(ʾ) (שַׂגִּיא) (sag-ghee´), “very.”
The preposition k- is employed with the prepositions lĕ and qǒḇēl to form a conjunctive clause which means “because of.”
These three words are employed with the demonstrative pronoun denā(h), which means “this” and refers to the astrologers’ response to Nebuchadnezzar’s demand which is recorded in verses 10 and 11.
Verse 12 records Nebuchadnezzar becoming furious with the wise men as a result of their response and gave orders for their execution.
Therefore, here in verse 12, the preposition k- and the prepositions lĕ and qǒḇēl and the demonstrative pronoun denā(h) indicate that this response to Nebuchadnezzar’s demand by the wise men is the reason why the king became furious ordered their execution.
The verb benǎs means “to become angry, furious, enraged” and is used of Nebuchadnezzar’s anger which was in response to his wise men’s response recorded in verses 10 and 11 to his demand that they make known to him the content of his dream as well as its interpretation.
The verb qeṣǎp̄ means “to become furious, be enraged” implying anger to a very great degree and is used of Nebuchadnezzar becoming furious or enraged with the response of his wise men to his demand and implies that this anger was severe toward them.
The adjective śǎg∙gî(ʾ) is modifying the verb qeṣǎp̄ and means “extremely, very” referring to a very great degree on a scale and here it describes Nebuchadnezzar as becoming “extremely” furious with his wise men.
The conjunction wa is used this time to join the verbs benǎs and qeṣǎp̄ in order to communicate one idea, which is called “hendiadys.”
Therefore, these two verbs express one idea, namely that Nebuchadnezzar became enraged, yes, he became extremely furious with his wise men’s response to his demand that they make known to him the content of his dream as well as its interpretation.
So this figure of hendiadys emphasizes the intensity of Nebuchadnezzar’s anger with his wise men.
“And gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is followed by the third person masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active perfect form of the verb ʾǎmǎr (אֲמַר) (am-ar´), “gave orders” and this is followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed) “to” and its object is the hafʿel (Hebrew: hiphil) active infinitive construct form of the verb ʾǎḇǎḏ (אֲבַד) (ab-ad´), “destroy” and then we have the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed) and it is followed by the singular construct form of the noun kōl (כֹּל) (kole), “all” which is modifying the masculine plural construct form of the noun ḥǎk∙kîm (חַכִּים) (khak-keem´), “the wise men of” and then we have the feminine singular proper noun bā∙ḇěl (בָּבֶל) (baw-bel´), “Babylon.”
This time the conjunction wa is introducing a statement that presents the result of Nebuchadnezzar becoming angry with his wise men, yes in fact he was extremely furious with them.
The word introduces a statement that tells the reader that the king of Babylon ordered the execution of his wise men.
Thus, the word denotes that “as a result of” Nebuchadnezzar becoming extremely furious with his wise men that he ordered their execution.
The verb ʾā∙mǎr means “to issue an order” indicating that Nebuchadnezzar issued an order to execute all the occult priests, necromancers, witches, i.e. sorcerers and astrologers in his kingdom as a result of their response to his demand that they make known to him the content of his recurring dream as well as its interpretation.
The verb ʾǎḇǎḏ means “to execute, to kill” and is used of capital punishment referring to the execution of Nebuchadnezzar’s wise men.
The noun ḥǎk∙kîm means “wise men” is not only a reference to the four groups mentioned in Daniel 2:2, namely, occult priests (ḥǎr∙ṭōm), necromancers (ʾǎš∙šāp̄), witches (kā∙šǎp̄) and astrologers (kǎś∙dîm) but also it is a reference to all the other dignitaries or diplomats in Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom.
This is indicated by the fact that Daniel 2:13 records Arioch, the executioner looking for Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah who did not belong to these four groups.
The adjective kōl is modifying the noun ḥǎk∙kîm and denotes totality but is used in a distributive sense meaning “each and every.”
Here it refers to the totality of Nebuchadnezzar’s wise men in his kingdom indicating that each and every one of the Babylonian wise men was ordered to be executed by Nebuchadnezzar with no exceptions.
The proper noun bā∙ḇěl refers to the city of Babylon and not the province or the empire as a whole.
This indicated by the fact that Daniel 2:14 tells the reader that Arioch, the captain of Nebuchadnezzar’s bodyguard was sent by the king to execute the wise of men Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar would not send only one man to execute the wise men of a province or an entire empire but he would for an entire city.
Daniel 2:12 records Nebuchadnezzar issuing an order to execute each and every one of the city of Babylon’s wise men.
He gave this order because his occult priests, necromancers, witches and astrologers told him that his demand that they tell him the content of his recurring dream as well as its interpretation was impossible to fulfill and unreasonable.
He had good reason to be angry with them.
If you recall, Daniel 2:10 records the response of the wise men with regards to Nebuchadnezzar’s demand that they tell him the content of his recurring dream.
The astrologers acknowledge their inability to tell the king of Babylon the content of his dream.
They argue that there is no one on the face of the earth with the ability to meet the king’s demand.
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, which 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, 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, which 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 are admitting 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.
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.
Daniel 2:11 intensifies and advances upon the astrologers’ statement recorded in Daniel 2:12 in the sense that the wise men go from telling Nebuchadnezzar that there is not a human being on the face of the earth who could meet his demand to telling him flat out that it was humanly impossible it.
The wise men then go on to tell the king the reason why it was humanly impossible, namely because only the gods could reveal the content of the king’s dream to him and they did not live among members of the human race.
The implication of their statement is that they could not provide supernatural information which they claimed to provide the king, thus, affirming that which he suspected of them.
Another implication is that this admission revealed that they were not in contact with the gods which they also claimed for themselves.
Nebuchadnezzar did not tell his wise men the content of his dream because he 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.
Now, in Daniel 2:11, they admit to not being in contact with the gods, thus, they admit indirectly to deceiving the king.
They wanted the king to give them the content of the dream so as to interpret it and this interpretation would be from the gods so they claimed.
Thus, Nebuchadnezzar can see quite clearly that they have been lying to him which results in his issuing a decree that they would be put to death as recorded in verse 12.
Therefore, all the predictions of the wise men, all their astrological forecasts, all their fortune telling, was nothing but figments of their imaginations.
They were admitting that their mythology which claimed that their gods came among members of the human race was false and without any evidence.
So the wise men have been exposed, which leads to Nebuchadnezzar becoming furious with them and issuing the decree to execute all of them.
Therefore, we have Daniel 2:12 recording the city of Babylon’s wise men experiencing the wrath of the king of Babylon.
Proverbs 19:12 describes the wrath of a king as being like the roaring of a lion.
The king’s decree to execute the city of Babylon’s wise men was unfair since it included executing Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah who did not belong to the occult priests, necromancers, witches or astrologers but were diplomats or dignitaries working in various areas of the king of Babylon’s government.
Thus, this decree was unfair to the other diplomats or dignitaries working in the government who did not belong to the occult priests, necromancers, witches or astrologers.
However, the king’s decree is fair in relation to the occult priests, necromancers, witches or astrologers for two reasons.
First of all, they were deceiving the king that they were in contact with the gods and were lying to him as we have already pointed out in detail.
Also, the activities of these four groups were an abomination in the judgment of the Lord and worthy of the death penalty in Israel (cf. Deuteronomy 18:9-12; Leviticus 20:27).