Daniel 2.38-Daniel Tells Nebuchadnezzar That God Gave Him Sovereign Authority Over The Inhabitants Of The Earth And That He Is The Head Of Gold
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday April 18, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 2:38-Daniel Tells Nebuchadnezzar That God Gave Him Sovereign Authority Over The Inhabitants Of The Earth And That He Is The Head Of Gold
Lesson # 63
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 2:31.
Daniel 2:37 marked the beginning of Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.
In Daniel 2:31-35, Daniel told the king the content of his dream which fulfilled the demand that his occult priests, necromancers, witches and astrologers could not fulfill.
In Daniel 2:36, he told the king he had completed telling him the content of his dream and now would proceed to the dream’s interpretation.
In Daniel 2:37, Daniel begins to identify the head of gold as being Nebuchadnezzar.
First of all, he describes him in this verse as the “king ruling over kings.”
This description is followed by the relative pronoun clause “who the God ruling the heavens has given for your benefit sovereignty, military might, governmental authority as well as honor” which serves to explain how the previous statement “You O king are the king ruling over kings” came to be.
The statement “You O king are the king ruling over kings” denotes that the Nebuchadnezzar was superior to and in authority over the kings of the earth.
It indicates that he is sovereign over the kings of the earth as a result of the Father’s decree.
It indicates that the kings of the earth in Nebuchadnezzar’s day in the sixth century B.C. were under his dominion or subordinate to him because the Father decreed for this to take place.
This does not imply that he actually ruled every inch of the globe but rather that God had granted him dominion in whatever direction his ambition led him, which history tells us included Egypt, Nineveh, Arabia, Syria, Tyre, and its Phoenician colonies (Jeremiah 27:5–8).
This evening we will study Daniel 2:38, which records Daniel telling Nebuchadnezzar that wherever members of the human race, wild animals of the field or birds of the heavens live, God has given them into his power.
He then tells the king that his kingdom is represented by the golden head of the statue in his dream.
Daniel 2:31 “You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. 32 The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. 36 This was the dream; now we will tell its interpretation before the king. 37 “You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory. 38 And wherever the sons of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold.” (NASB95)
“And wherever the sons of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is followed by the preposition b- (בְּ־) (beth) which is accompanied by the singular construct form of the noun kōl (כֹּל) (kole) and then we have the particle dî (דִּי) (dee), which is followed by the peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active participle form of the verb dûr (דּוּר) (dure), “dwell” and then we have the masculine plural construct form of the noun bǎr (בַּר) (bar), “the sons of” which is followed by the masculine singular form of the noun ʾěnāš (אֱנָשׁ) (en-awsh´), “men” and then we have the feminine singular construct form of the noun ḥê∙wā(h) (חֵיוָה) (khay-vaw´), “the beasts of” which is modified by the masculine singular noun bǎr (בַּר) (bar), “the field” and then we have the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “or” which is followed by the masculine singular construct form of the noun ʿôp̄ (עֹוף) (ofe), “the birds of” which is modified by the masculine plural noun šemǎ∙yin (שְׁמַיִן) (shaw-mah´-yin), “the sky” which is followed by the third person masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active perfect form of the verb yehǎḇ (יְהַב) (yeh-hab´), “He has given” which is followed by the preposition b- (בְּ־) (beth) “into” and its object is the feminine singular noun yǎḏ (יַד) (yad), “hand” which is modified by the second person masculine singular pronomial suffix -ḵ (־ךְ), “your.”
The conjunction wa is a marker of result meaning that it is introducing a statement which presents the result of the previous statement in Daniel 2:37, which records Daniel telling Nebuchadnezzar that the God ruling the heavens has given him sovereignty, military might, governmental authority as well as honor.
The preposition b- means “in” since it functions as a marker of location which is accompanied by the noun kōl, which denotes totality of an object, which in our context is planet earth.
The word is used in a distributive sense meaning “each and every place” emphasizing with the reader that there is no place on earth in which the inhabitants whether men or animals, have not been given into Nebuchadnezzar’s hand.
The particle dî is employed with these two words and has the force of an indefinite relative pronoun meaning “where.”
Therefore, this prepositional phrase means “in each and every place where” or in other words it means “wherever.”
It emphasizes that there is no inhabitant on the face of the earth whether a human being or animal that has not been given into the power of Nebuchadnezzar by God.
The noun bǎr is in the plural and means “members” referring to the individual members of the human race both Jew and Gentile.
The noun ḥê∙wā(h) is in the plural and means “wild animals” in contrast to domesticated animals emphasizing the extent of Nebuchadnezzar’s dominion over the earth in that God has even subjugated the wild animals to the king.
It is in the construct state meaning that it is governing the proper noun bǎr, which means “field” referring to “uncultivated land” or “unpopulated areas.”
This noun follows ḥê∙wā(h) is expressing a genitive relationship indicating that these wild animals “belong to” the field.
The noun ʿôp̄ means “birds” referring to winged fowl of any kind.
The word is modified by the plural noun šemǎ∙yin, which means “heavens” referring to the earth’s atmosphere which birds inhabit.
This word refers to the expanse of space that contains oxygen and seems to be over the earth like a dome.
The verb dûr means “to live, dwell” and is used with the members of the human race as its subject indicating that wherever the members of the human race “dwell” or “live” God has given them into Nebuchadnezzar’s power.
The verb yehǎḇ means “to give” in the sense of imparting something to someone.
Here the word is used with God as its subject and denotes that God the Father gave members of the human race, the wild animals of the field and the birds of the heavens into Nebuchadnezzar’s power.
The noun yǎḏ means “power” which is modified by the second person masculine singular pronomial suffix -ḵ, “your” referring of course to Nebuchadnezzar.
This word means “power” in the sense of possession of control and authority over someone or something.
This indicates that wherever members of the human race, wild animals of the field, or birds of the heavens live, God has given them into Nebuchadnezzar’s power in the sense that they are under his control and authority.
The noun yǎḏ is the object of the preposition b-, which is a marker of a state or condition.
Here it denotes that the entire human race, the wild animals of the field and birds of the heavens were in the state or condition of being under Nebuchadnezzar’s control and authority.
“And has caused you to rule over them all” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is followed by the third person masculine singular hafʿel (Hebrew equivalent is the hiphil stem) active perfect form of the verb šelēṭ (שְׁלֵט) (shel-ate´), “has caused to rule” and then we have the second person masculine singular pronomial suffix -ḵ (־ךְ), “you” which is followed by the preposition b- (בְּ־) (beth) “over” and then we have the singular construct form of the noun kōl (כֹּל) (kole) “all” which is modifying the third person masculine plural pronomial suffix him∙mô (הִמֹּו) (him-mo´), “them.”
Once again the conjunction wa is a marker of result meaning that it is introducing a statement which presents the result of the previous result clause which records Daniel telling Nebuchadnezzar that wherever human beings, wild animals and birds of the sky live, God has given them into his power.
The verb šelēṭ means “to make or cause someone to be a ruler or to be in authority.”
It denotes that God had delegated authority to Nebuchadnezzar so that he exercised authority over members of the human race, the wild animals of the field and the birds of the heavens.
He delegated authority to Nebuchadnezzar to govern the affairs of mankind.
The hafʿel (Hebrew: hiphil) stem of the verb indicates that God caused Nebuchadnezzar to enter into the state of ruling over the human race, the wild animals of the field and the birds of the heavens.
At this point in Daniel 2:38, Daniel under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is employing the figure of “asyndeton” meaning that he is not using a connective word between his previous statement and the one to follow.
He does this in order to emphasize that Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian empire is represented by the golden head of the statue in his dream.
The Holy Spirit through Daniel uses this figure because He wants not only Nebuchadnezzar to dwell or meditate upon this statement but also the reader to do so as well in order to acknowledge that God is sovereign over the nations of the earth.
“You are the head of gold” is composed of the second person masculine singular form of the personal pronoun ʾǎnt (אַנְתְּ) (ant), “You” which is followed by the third person masculine singular pronoun hû(ʾ) (הוּא) (who), “are” and then we have the masculine singular noun rē(ʾ)š (רֵאשׁ) (raysh), “the head of” which is followed by the particle dî (דִּי) (dee), “of” and then we have the masculine singular noun dehǎḇ (דְּהַב) (deh-hab´), “gold.”
The personal pronoun ʾǎnt is an independent personal pronoun which means “you” referring of course to Nebuchadnezzar.
It functions as a nominative absolute, which serves to highlight or focus upon one element of the main clause emphasizing Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom being represented by the statue’s head of gold.
The noun rē(ʾ)š means “head” referring to the head of the statue, i.e. that part of the physical body containing the brain stem and other essential sensory input parts such as the eyes, mouth, nose and ears, which indicates that the statue had a human form.
The noun dehǎḇ means “gold” representing the quality and strength of the head of the statue and in a figurative sense the quality and strength of Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon, which Daniel identifies as represented by the head of gold of the statue in his dream.
Daniel 2:38 contains three statements.
The first emphasizes that there is no inhabitant on the face of the earth whether a human being or animal that has not been given into the power of Nebuchadnezzar by God.
It emphasizes the extent of Nebuchadnezzar’s dominion over the earth in that God has even subjugated the wild animals to the king.
This does not imply that he actually ruled every inch of the globe but rather that God had granted him dominion in whatever direction his ambition led him, which history tells us included Egypt, Nineveh, Arabia, Syria, Tyre, and its Phoenician colonies (Jeremiah 27:5–8).
The second denotes that God had delegated authority to Nebuchadnezzar so that he exercised authority over members of the human race, the wild animals of the field and the birds of the heavens.
He delegated authority to Nebuchadnezzar to govern the affairs of mankind.
The third statement emphasizes with Nebuchadnezzar that the golden head of the statue in his dream represented his Babylonian kingdom.
The Holy Spirit through Daniel wants not only Nebuchadnezzar to dwell or meditate upon this statement but also the reader to do so as well in order to acknowledge that God is sovereign over the nations of the earth.
Since the metals of the statue decrease in value but increase in strength, the gold head of the statue indicates that the character of the authority in rulership of this empire was superior to the second, third and fourth kingdoms.
However, its power or strength was inferior to Media-Persia, Alexander’s Greece and Rome.
This identification that Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon was represented by the head of gold indicates that the other body parts of the statue, which were composed of silver, bronze, iron and clay represent future world empires as well.
Dwight Pentecost writes “Nebuchadnezzar’s rule was viewed as a worldwide empire, in which he ruled over all mankind as well as over beasts and birds. At the time of Creation the right to rule over the earth was given man who was to have dominion over it and all the creatures in it (Gen. 1:26). Here Nebuchadnezzar by divine appointment was helping fulfill what God had planned for man.”
Thomas Constable writes “It took considerable courage for Daniel to tell the most powerful ruler of his time that he was responsible to God. God had given Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty (symbolized by the head of the statue), power (the head's weight), strength (the connotation of the head on a body), and glory (its value as gold). The head of gold aptly described Nebuchadnezzar. It also symbolized the kingdom over which he ruled. Nebuchadnezzar ruled about 45 years (605-560 B.C.), and his empire only lasted another 21 years. Nebuchadnezzar's father, Nabopolassar, founded the Neo-Babylon Empire in 627 B.C., and it fell to the Persians in 539 B.C. So it existed for only 88 years.” (Constable, Thomas L., Notes on Daniel-2007 Edition, page 29; copyright 2007; Published by Sonic Light: http://www.soniclight.com)
Daniel 2:38 teaches that God delegates authority to certain men to govern the affairs of certain members of the human race.
These men are servants of God according to Romans 13:1-7.