Daniel 2.4-The Wise Men Confidently Assert That When Nebuchadnezzar Tells Them The Dream That They Will Interpret It
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday January 26, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 2:4-The Wise Men Confidently Assert That When Nebuchadnezzar Tells Them The Dream That That They Will Interpret It
Lesson # 28
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 2:1.
This evening we will study Daniel 2:4.
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.” (NASB95)
“Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “then” which is followed by the third person masculine plural piel active imperfect form of the verb dā∙ḇǎr (דָּבַר) (daw-bar), “spoke” and then we have the articular the masculine plural form of the proper noun kǎś∙dîm (כַּשְׂדִּים) (kas-deem), “the Chaldeans” which is followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), “to” and its object is the articular masculine singular form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh-lek), “the king” and then we have the feminine singular construct form of the ethnic noun ʾǎrā∙mî ( אֲרָמִי) (ar-aw-meeth´), “Aramaic.”
The conjunction wa is introducing a clause that marks the next sequential event that took place after Nebuchadnezzar informed the occult priests, necromancers, sorcerers and astrologers that he had a revelation in a dream so that his heart was anxious to understand this revelation in a dream.
The proper noun kǎś∙dîm refers to astrologers who are representing the occult priests, necromancers, sorcerers before Nebuchadnezzar.
In other words, the astrologers are the spokesmen for the occult priests, necromancers, sorcerers.
Together, all 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 verb dā∙ḇǎr means “to respond” since the statement to follow is a response to Nebuchadnezzar’s statement that he dreamed a revelation in a dream that caused his heart to be anxious to understand this revelation in a dream.
The ethnic noun ʾǎrā∙mî means “Aramaic” pertaining to the Aramaic language indicating that the astrologers had the following conversation with Nebuchadnezzar in this language.
This does not indicate that they were speaking in some other language with the king of Babylon.
However, they could have very well been speaking to him in Neo-Babylonian Akkadian as Archer points out (Page 40).
The fact that they are said to speak Aramaic with the king emphasizes that the exact words of the astrologers are given in the Aramaic language, which they habitually employed as Archer also points out (ibid.)
As we noted in the introduction, in the sixth century B.C., Aramaic was the lingua franca of the day and was the most convenient language and was used in international business and diplomacy.
So beginning here in Daniel 2:4 and continuing to Daniel 7:28, the book of Daniel is written in Aramaic.
The book of Daniel was written in two languages.
Daniel 1:1-2:4a and chapters 8-12 are written in Hebrew.
Daniel 2:4b-7:28 is written in Aramaic, which was also called “Chaldee” or “Syriac.”
This use of the two languages appears in Ezra 4:8-6:18, 7:12-26 and Jeremiah 10:11.
The reason for this unusual feature is that Daniel was writing for two different audiences.
Therefore, Daniel 2:4b-7:28 was written for the Gentile world in Daniel’s day and Daniel 1:1-2:4a and 8-12 was written for the Israelites.
Daniel 2:4 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.” (NASB95)
“O king, live forever!” is a formal greeting by the wise men to give respect and good wishes to the king of Babylon.
It is hyperbole since they don’t expect him to live forever.
It simply denotes that the wise men wish that Nebuchadnezzar would live a long life.
“Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation” is composed of the second person masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew equivalent is the qal) active imperative form of the verb ʾǎmǎr (אֲמַר) (am-ar´), “tell” which is followed by the masculine singular form of the noun ḥē∙lěm (חֵלֶם) (khay´-lem), “the dream” and then we have the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), “to” and its object is masculine plural construct form of the noun ʿǎḇēḏ (עֲבֵד) (ab-ad´), “servants” which is modified by the second person masculine singular form of the pronomial suffix -ḵ (־ךְ), “your” and then we have the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is followed by the masculine singular form of the noun pešǎr (פְּשַׁר) (pesh-ar´), “interpretation” and then lastly we have the first person plural paʿʿel (Hebrew equivalent is the piel) active imperfect form of the verb ḥǎwā(h) (חֲוָה) (khav-aw´), “we will declare.”
The verb ʾǎmǎr means “to tell” in the sense of communicating something to someone.
Here it denotes Nebuchadnezzar “telling” or “communicating” to his wise men the content of the dream or in other words, what it entailed.
The imperative mood of the verb is used as an imperative of request indicating that the wise men are requesting that Nebuchadnezzar communicate to them the contents of his dream in order for them to interpret this dream for him.
The noun ḥē∙lěm is the Aramaic equivalent of the Hebrew noun ḥǎlôm.
It is in the singular and means “dream” and of course refers to the revelation Nebuchadnezzar received from God in a dream.
This is indicated by the fact that Daniel’s interpretation of this dream as recorded in Daniel 2:24-45a reveals that this dream was just that, a revelation from God concerning future world empires and the times of the Gentiles.
The noun ʿǎḇēḏ means “servant” and describes the relationship between the wise men and the king of Babylon.
It refers to those who were ruling or governmental officials in the Babylonian Empire and were subordinate to Nebuchadnezzar and were accountable to him.
Thus, the word does not denote menial or forced service since these men possessed royal, administrative authority and were in fact advisers to Nebuchadnezzar.
The conjunction wa is employed with the jussive mood of the verb ḥǎwā(h) in order to form a purpose clause.
They mark the purpose of the wise men in having Nebuchadnezzar communicate his dream to them.
The verb ḥǎwā(h) means “to make known” and denotes that the wise men are requesting that Nebuchadnezzar tell them his dream in order that they can “make known” this dream in the sense of explaining or interpreting this dream for him.
Thus, the word refers to the act of explaining Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to him.
The noun pešǎr means “interpretation” referring to the wise men interpreting or explaining Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to him.
The wise men want the king to communicate the content of the dream in order that they can interpret it.
Verse 5 tells the reader that the king wanted these wise men to not only give him the interpretation of the dream but also tell him the contents of the dream.
Now, as is clear in verse 10 the king’s 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.