Daniel 2.14-Daniel Speaks To Arioch Captain Of The King's Bodyguard With Wisdom And Tact
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday February 21, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 2:14-Daniel Speaks To Arioch Captain Of The King’s Bodyguard With Wisdom And Tact
Lesson # 38
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 2:1.
This evening we will study of Daniel 2:14.
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. (NASB95)
“Then Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to Arioch, the captain of the king’s bodyguard” is composed of the preposition b- (בְּ־) (beth), which is followed by the temporal adverb ʾěḏǎ∙yin (אֱדַיִן) (ed-ah´-yin), “then” and then we have the masculine singular proper noun dā∙niy∙yē(ʾ)l (דָּנִיֵּאל) (daw-nee-yale), “Daniel” which is followed by the third person masculine singular hafel (Hebrew equivalent is the hiphil stem) active perfect form of the verb tûḇ (תּוּב) (toob), “replied” and then we have the feminine singular noun ʿē∙ṭā(h) (עֵטָה) (ay-taw´), “with discretion” and this is followed by the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is followed by the masculine singular noun ṭeʿēm (טְעֵם) (teh-ame´), “discernment” and then we have the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), “to” and its object is the masculine singular proper noun ʾǎr∙yôḵ (אַרְיֹוךְ) (ar-yoke´), “Arioch” which is followed by the masculine singular construct form of the noun rǎḇ (רַב) (rab), “the captain of” and then we have the masculine plural form of the noun ṭǎb∙bāḥ (טַבָּח) (tab-bawkh´), “the bodyguard” which is followed by the relative particle dî (דִּי) (dee), “that” and then we have the masculine singular form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh´-lek), “king’s.”
The preposition b- is prefixed to the temporal adverb ʾěḏǎ∙yin to mark an emphatic transition in the narrative meaning that it is introducing a statement that marks an emphatic transition from the previous statements in verses 12 and 13.
Therefore, the emphatic transition in the narrative is between the inevitability of the wise men being executed by Arioch and Daniel speaking to Arioch with wisdom and tact which ultimately resulted in preventing their execution.
It prevented their execution because God revealed to Daniel the content of Nebuchadnezzar’s recurring dream and its interpretation.
The preposition b- and the temporal adverb ʾěḏǎ∙yin emphasize a contrast between the certain death of Daniel, his friends and the city of Babylon’s wise men and Daniel intervening in the matter, which resulted in him and his friends going to God in prayer which was answered so as to spare the lives of everyone.
The noun ʿē∙ṭā(h) means “wisdom” and describes the manner in which Daniel spoke with Arioch when the latter came to arrest him to take him to death row.
The word means “wisdom” in the sense of inquiring in a careful and guarded way so as to not offend and thus, it denotes that Daniel spoke with Arioch in a careful and guarded way so as to not offend Arioch but still extract information from him.
The word speaks of the fact that Daniel spoke with Arioch with wisdom in the sense that he used good judgment when speaking to him.
The noun ṭeʿēm means “tact” and further describes the manner in which Daniel spoke with Arioch when the latter came to arrest him.
The word refers to the ability to understand relationships and situations with a view to practical action.
Tact is a keen sense of what to say or do to avoid giving offense and is the skill in dealing with difficult or delicate situations.
Thus, the word denotes that Daniel understood the situation he was in so that he could take the best practical action under the circumstances.
This noun refers to the faculty to discern, discriminate, and have acuteness of judgment and understanding in any given situation.
Thus, it denotes that Daniel possessed the faculty to discern the situation and had acuteness of judgment when addressing Arioch and understood the seriousness of the situation he was in.
The noun rǎḇ describes Arioch as an individual who possessed supreme authority over Nebuchadnezzar’s bodyguards who were his royal police and bodyguard who carried out executions of those who were enemies of the state.
Thus, this word describes Arioch as the “chief” of police or the “commander” of the king’s executioners.
The noun ṭǎb∙bāḥ is in the plural and refers to Nebuchadnezzar’s police and bodyguard who not only protected him but also carried out executions of those individuals who were considered by the king as enemies of the state.
“Who had gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon” is composed of the relative particle dî (דִּי) (dee), “who” and then we have the third person masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew equivalent is the qal stem) active perfect form of the verb nep̄ǎq (נְפַק) (nef-ak´), “had gone forth” which is followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), “to” and its object is the paʿʿel (Hebrew equivalent is the piel) active infinitive construct form of the verb qeṭǎl (קְטַל) (ket-al´), “to slay” and then we have again the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), which is not translated and its object is the masculine plural form of the noun ḥǎk∙kîm (חַכִּים) (khak-keem´), “wise men” which is followed by the feminine singular proper noun bā∙ḇěl (בָּבֶל) (baw-bel´), “Babylon.”
As was the case in Daniel 2:12 and 13, the noun ḥǎk∙kîm in Daniel 2:14 means “wise men.”
It is not only a reference to the four groups mentioned in Daniel 2:2, namely, the 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.
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 proper noun bā∙ḇěl refers to the city of Babylon and not the province or the empire as a whole.
This is 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.
As we noted in our study of verse 13, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah are facing the third great crisis of their lives.
They are being unjustly condemned to death by Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel and his three companions were not involved in the practices of the occult priests, necromancers, witches or astrologers since the Mosaic Law outlawed their practices.
The Bible teaches that God uses undeserved suffering to advance His children to greater spiritual growth.
The believer must experience undeserved suffering since it is through undeserved suffering that the believer is conformed to the image of Christ.
The power of God in our lives is never more noticeable or conspicuous as when we are suffering, going through adversities and even going through the process of dying.
Here we have Daniel and his friends suffering undeservedly so that the power of God can be manifested in their lives by God delivering them by giving Daniel the content of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream as well as its interpretation.
Daniel and his friends are experiencing the principle taught by Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, which teaches that God’s omnipotence is manifested in human weakness and that when we are weak then we are strong.
Tribulation and undeserved suffering will be the lot of God’s people while living in enemy territory.
The problems, difficulties and adversities which take place in a believer’s life were already decreed by God the Father in eternity past to occur and are now controlled in time by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, the believer should have confidence and comfort in the midst of these things.
Daniel and his friends knew this, thus they were not anxious nor did they panic but rather they rested their minds upon the knowledge of this fact.
God’s will, purpose and plan will be accomplished regardless of a believer’s difficult circumstances or seemingly insurmountable problems because God ordained them to take place in eternity past under the divine decree.
Therefore, He has already provided a solution for every problem, difficulty and adversity in life through the appropriation by faith of the promises in the Word of God.
Here in Daniel 2:13-14, we see Daniel and his friends facing a seemingly impossible situation.
However they knew that God had ordained for them to undergo this trial and that God had a solution to this problem.
So in Daniel 2:13-14, we see Daniel and his three friends suffering undeservedly and unjustly.
However, God will use this situation to insert Daniel into the picture to solve Nebuchadnezzar’s problem.
The Lord is going to use this order to execute all the wise men in the city of Babylon as an opportunity to use Daniel to tell the king the content of his dream as well as its interpretation.
Consequently, the Lord is going to use this order to bring glory to Himself and reveal Himself to this heathen king and his court as well as all of Babylon since it is the Lord who gives Daniel the ability to tell the king the content of his dream as well as its interpretation.
Thus, we see Daniel displaying great courage in the face of adversity and seemingly impossible odds.
This was the result of his great faith in the Lord.
Faith produces courage whereas unbelief produces cowardice and so we see that Daniel’s faith has produced courage in his soul.
Daniel is demonstrating his faith by his calm mental attitude and wisdom and tact with Arioch in the face of a life threatening situation.
The Lord will test the believer’s faith after conversion in order to produce endurance in them (James 1:2-3).
The Lord rewards the believer after his faith has been tested (James 1:12).
After conversion the believer is to walk by means of faith in the Word of God (2 Corinthians 5:7; Galatians 2:20; Romans 1:16-17; Hebrews 10:37-38).
Just as the Christian received the Lord Jesus as his Savior by exercising faith in Him for eternal salvation, so after conversion he is to live by the same principle of faith (Compare Ephesians 2:8-9 with Colossians 2:5-7).
Hebrews 11:1-3 gives a definition of faith and also a description of the nature of faith or in other words, what faith does and how it works.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the men of old gained approval. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. (NASB95)
The principle of faith operates quite simply: (1) God speaks and we hear His Word. (2) We trust His Word and act on it no matter what the circumstances are or what the consequences may be.
The circumstances may be impossible, and the consequences frightening and unknown but we obey God’s Word just the same and believe Him to do what is right and what is best.