Daniel 2.16-Daniel Requests That Nebuchadnezzar Give Him Time In Order That He Might Make Known The Interpretation Of His Dream
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday February 23, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 2:16-Daniel Requests That Nebuchadnezzar Give Him Time In Order That He Might Make Known The Interpretation Of His Dream
Lesson # 40
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 2:1.
This evening we will study Daniel 2:16, which records Daniel requesting that Nebuchadnezzar give him time in order that he might go to God and request that He reveal to him the content of the king’s dream as well as its interpretation.
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. 13 So the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they looked for Daniel and his friends to kill them. 14 Then Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to Arioch, the captain of the king’s bodyguard, who had gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon. 15 he said to Arioch, the king’s commander, “For what reason is the decree from the king so urgent?” Then Arioch informed Daniel about the matter. 16 So Daniel went in and requested of the king that he would give him time, in order that he might declare the interpretation to the king. (NASB95)
“So Daniel went in and requested of the king that he would give him time” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “so” and this is followed by the masculine singular proper noun dā∙niy∙yē(ʾ)l (דָּנִיֵּאל) (daw-nee-yale), “Daniel” and then we have the third person masculine peʿal (Hebrew equivalent is the qal stem) active perfect form of the verb ʿǎlǎl (עֲלַל) (al-al´), “went in” and then we have the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is followed by the peʿal (Hebrew: qal stem) active perfect form of the verb beʿā(h) (בְּעָה) (beh-aw´), “requested” and then we have the preposition min (מִן) (min), “of” and this is followed by the masculine singular form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh´-lek), “the king” and then we have the relative particle dî (דִּי) (dee), “that” which is followed by the masculine singular form of the noun zemǎn (זְמַן) (zem-awn´), “time” and then we have the third person masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew equivalent is the qal stem) active imperfect form of the verb neṯǎn (נְתַן) (neth-an´), “he would give” which is followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), which is not translated and its object is the third person masculine singular pronomial suffix hû(ʾ) (הוּא) (who), “him.”
The conjunction wa is a marker of result meaning that it is introducing a statement which presents the result of the previous statement in verse 15, which tells the reader that Arioch informed Daniel as to the reason why Nebuchadnezzar ordered him to execute each and every one of the city of Babylon’s wise men.
So the conjunction indicates that “as a result of” this order to execute the wise men, Daniel requested that the king give him time in order that he might go to God in prayer and request that God reveal to him both the content of the king’s dream as well as its interpretation.
The verb ʿǎlǎl means “to go in, to enter” and refers to Daniel being given access to the presence of Nebuchadnezzar.
The verb beʿā(h) means “to request” and is used of Daniel making a request of Nebuchadnezzar to give him time in which he will ask God in prayer to reveal to him the content of the king’s dream as well as its interpretation.
The verb neṯǎn means “to grant, give” in the sense of providing Daniel time to go to God in prayer so that he can request that God reveal to him the content of the king’s dream as well as its interpretation.
The noun zemǎn means “time” referring to an unspecified amount of time so that Daniel could ask God in prayer to reveal to him the content of the king’s dream as well as its interpretation.
This could have been no longer than a twenty four period.
This is indicated by the fact that Daniel 2:24 tells the reader that when Daniel told Arioch that he could make known to the king the content of his dream as well as its interpretation, the latter quickly brought him into the presence of the king.
Daniel 2:19 reveals that God revealed to Daniel in a night vision the content of the king’s dream as well as its interpretation.
So, more than likely the king would expect Daniel to make known the content of his dream and its interpretation the following morning.
“In order that he might declare the interpretation to the king” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “in order that” which is followed by the masculine singular form of the noun pešǎr (פְּשַׁר) (pesh-ar´), “interpretation” and then we have the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), which is not translated and its object is the hafʿel (Hebrew: hiphil) active infinitive construct form of the verb ḥǎwā(h) (חֲוָה) (khav-aw´), “declare” which is followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), “to” and its object is the masculine singular form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh´-lek), “king.”
The conjunction wa is a marker of purpose indicating that the word is introducing a clause that presents the purpose of Daniel requesting that Nebuchadnezzar grant him time to go to God in prayer to request that God reveal to him the content of his dream as well as its interpretation.
The verb ḥǎwā(h) means “to make known” and denotes Daniel making known the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s recurring dream.
Thus, the word refers to the act of explaining Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to him.
The noun pešǎr means “interpretation” referring to Daniel interpreting or explaining Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to him.
Daniel 2:16 makes clear that Daniel was granted an audience with Nebuchadnezzar in order to make a request for time so that God could reveal to him in prayer the content of the king’s dream as well as its interpretation.
Some like Leupold argue that Daniel would not have been permitted access to the king’s presence but rather that Arioch would have relayed to the king Daniel’s request for time in order to fulfill the king’s demand (Leupold, H.C. Exposition of Daniel; page 96; Baker Book House; Grand Rapids, Michigan; 1949; Reprinted 1969 by Baker Book House Company).
However, the text does not say this but rather that Daniel entered the king’s presence in order to request permission for some time in order that he could go to God in prayer and request that the Lord reveal to him the king’s dream as well as its interpretation.
We must remember that Daniel did not belong to the occult priests, necromancers, witches and astrologers and was not present when the king demanded of these four that they make known to him the content of his dream as well as its interpretation.
Furthermore, Nebuchadnezzar was suspicious of them and not Daniel since Daniel 1:19-20 tells the reader that the king found Daniel and his three friends superior in wisdom and knowledge than all occult priests and necromancers in his kingdom.
This clearly indicates that Nebuchadnezzar did not have a bad attitude toward Daniel and his friends since he held them in higher esteem than the occult priests, necromancers, witches and astrologers.
Therefore, Daniel would have been given access to the king who would have been in fact pleased to see him if anything since he was more impressed with Daniel than the occult priests, necromancers, witches and astrologers who he was suspicious of.
So the fact that Daniel was given access to the presence of Nebuchadnezzar is significant since it indicates that the king held him in high esteem.
Of course, Daniel would not have gone into Nebuchadnezzar unannounced but rather Arioch would tell the king of Daniel’s desire to speak with him in order to make a request with regards to his demand of the wise men to make known to him the content of his dream as well as its interpretation.
Daniel 2:16 also reveals Daniel’s great faith in the Lord that He could tell Daniel the content of the king’s dream as well as its interpretation.
In fact, his faith was so great in the Lord that he was totally confident that the Lord would reveal to him the king’s dream as well as its interpretation before he even went to God to ask him in prayer.
Daniel was well aware that God had given him the ability to discern each and every type of vision as well as dreams (cf. Daniel 1:17).
He would not have been so bold in making this request of the king unless he knew he was given this gift by God.
He would not have made this request if he wasn’t confident that God would reveal to him the content of the king’s dream as well as its interpretation.
Now, notice that Daniel 2:16 says that Daniel requested time in order to go to God and ask Him to reveal the interpretation of the king’s dream whereas the king demanded that his occult priests, necromancers, witches and astrologers make known to him both the content of the dream as well as its interpretation.
This does not imply that Daniel was not required to make known the content of the dream and only its interpretation since the writer, Daniel under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit leaves this out for the sake of brevity, which is the same reason why the text does not say that the king granted Daniel’s request.
The following verses make clear that the king did grant Daniel his request just as the rest of the chapter makes clear that Daniel made known to Nebuchadnezzar both the content of his dream as well as its interpretation.
Furthermore, if Daniel knew the interpretation of the dream he certainly knew the content of the dream.