Daniel 2.46-Nebuchadnezzar Honors Daniel In Response To Daniel Telling Him The Content And Interpretation Of His Dream
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday May 15, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 2:46-Nebuchadnezzar Honors Daniel In Response To Daniel Telling Him The Content And Interpretation Of His Dream
Lesson # 73
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 2:46.
This evening we will note Daniel 2:46, which records Nebuchadnezzar honoring Daniel in response to Daniel telling him the content and interpretation of his dream.
Daniel 2:46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and did homage to Daniel, and gave orders to present to him an offering and fragrant incense. (NASB95)
“Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face” is composed of the preposition bĕ (בְּ) (beth), which is not translated and is followed by the temporal adverb ʾěḏǎ∙yin (אֱדַיִן) (ed-ah´-yin), “then” and then we have the masculine singular form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh´-lek), “king” which is followed by the masculine singular form of the proper name neḇû∙ḵǎḏ∙ně(ʾ)ṣ∙ṣǎr (נְבוּכַדְנֶאצַּר) (neb-oo-kad-nets-tsar), “Nebuchadnezzar” and then we have third person masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active perfect form of the verb nep̄ǎl (נְפַל) (nef-al´), “fell” which is followed by the preposition ʿǎl (עַל) (al), “on” and its object is the masculine dual construct form of the noun ʾǎnǎp̄ (אֲנַף) (an-af´), “face” which is modified by the third person masculine singular pronominal suffix hû(ʾ) (הוּא) (who), “his.”
The preposition bĕ means “by” since it functions as a marker of means indicating the means by which Nebuchadnezzar paid homage or honored Daniel.
Here it indicates that “by” King Nebuchadnezzar bowing down to Daniel, he paid homage or honored him.
The temporal adverb ʾěḏǎ∙yin is a temporal coordinator and means “then” since it shows consecutive events in the narrative.
Here it introduces a statement that tells the reader the next event that took place after Daniel completed communicating to Nebuchadnezzar the content and interpretation of his dream.
The word introduces a statement that tells the reader that Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and paid homage to Daniel.
This temporal adverb thus indicates that this statement took place after Daniel completed communicating to Nebuchadnezzar the content and interpretation of his dream.
The noun mě∙lěḵ means “king” and of course is used with reference to Nebuchadnezzar referring to the fact that he was governmental head of Babylon.
The proper name neḇû∙ḵǎḏ∙ně(ʾ)ṣ∙ṣǎr, “Nebuchadnezzar” refers to the second ruler of the Chaldean dynasty of Babylon.
The verb nep̄ǎl means “to fall down, to be prostrate oneself before someone” in order to express one’s humble thanks and submission to that person and to honor them and show them respect.
Here it refers to the act of Nebuchadnezzar prostrating himself before Daniel in order to express his humble thanks and submission to Daniel’s interpretation and to honor him and to show him respect.
In the ancient world, lying prostrate before someone also was an expression of fear.
Undoubtedly, Nebuchadnezzar prostrated himself before Daniel out of fear of his God who could read his mind and tell him the future which is unknown to men.
When Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar the content of his dream, this was equivalent to reading his mind since only the king and God knew the vision which he saw in a dream.
The noun ʾǎnǎp̄ means “face,” i.e. the part of the head of the body which has ears, eyes, nose and mouth and is modified by the third person masculine singular pronomial suffix hû(ʾ), which means “his” since it functions as a possessive pronoun referring of course to Nebuchadnezzar.
It is also the object of the preposition ʿǎl which functions as a marker upon the surface of an object indicating that the king fell down “upon” his face in order to pay homage to Daniel.
“And did homage to Daniel” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and,” which is followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (leh), “to” and its object is the masculine singular proper noun dā∙niy∙yē(ʾ)l (דָּנִיֵּאל) (daw-nee-yale), “Daniel” and then we have the third person masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active perfect form of the verb seḡiḏ (סְגִד) (seg-eed´), “did homage.”
The conjunction wa means “thus” since the word functions as a marker of result meaning that it is introducing a statement which presents the result of Nebuchadnezzar falling on his face before Daniel.
The conjunction is introducing a statement which says that the king of Babylon paid homage to Daniel.
Therefore, this word indicates that by king Nebuchadnezzar falling on his face, he “thus” paid homage to Daniel.
The verb seḡiḏ means “to honor, to show respect to someone, to pay homage to someone as an expression of high regard” indicating that Nebuchadnezzar paid homage to Daniel or honored him as a result of Daniel communicating to him the content and interpretation of his dream.
“And gave orders to present to him an offering and fragrant incense” is an emphatic clause since the conjunction wa, “and” is introducing a statement that is advancing upon the previous statement in the sense that it presents to the reader another tangible means by which Nebuchadnezzar honored Daniel.
The statement also intensifies the previous statement in the sense that Nebuchadnezzar orders would be shocking since he is honoring Daniel, a captive of his and his servant and the God of the Israelites whom he conquered.
“Gave orders” is the third person masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active perfect form of the verb ʾā∙mǎr (אָמַר) (aw-mar), which means “to issue an order” since the statement to follow records that Nebuchadnezzar issued an order to offer sacrifice and incense to Daniel.
“To present to him” is composed of the preposition lĕ (לְ) (leh), “to” and its object is the paʿʿel (Hebrew: piel) active infinitive construct form of the verb nesǎḵ (נְסַךְ) (nes-ak´), “present” and then once again we have the preposition lĕ (לְ) (leh), “to” and its object is the third person masculine singular pronominal suffix hû(ʾ) (הוּא) (who), “him.”
The verb nesǎḵ means “to present, to offer” a sacrificial offering and indicates that Nebuchadnezzar gave orders to present an offering and incense to Daniel after he communicated the content and interpretation of his dream.
“An offering and fragrant incense” is composed of the feminine singular noun min∙ḥā(h) (מִנְחָה) (min-khaw´), “an offering” and then once again we have the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and,” which is followed by the masculine plural noun nî∙ḥôaḥ (נִיחֹוחַ) (nee-kho´-akh), “fragrant incense.”
The noun min∙ḥā(h) means “a gift, offering,” which is given with the intent of pleasing a higher power and refers to an “offering” presented by Nebuchadnezzar to Daniel with the intent of pleasing Daniel’s God.
It speaks of an “offering” presented to Daniel but in gratitude to Daniel’s God as indicated by the king’s statement in Daniel 2:47.
The noun nî∙ḥôaḥ means “fragrant incense” which refers to a fragrance which soothes and pleases or is a pleasant smell.
Incense was an expensive resin from southern Arabia and emitting a fragrant aroma when offered in a worship ritual and it is also called frankincense.
Daniel 2:46 Then by king Nebuchadnezzar falling down upon his face, he thus paid homage to Daniel. In fact, he issued an order to present an offering as well as fragrant incense to him. (Interpretative translation)
Daniel 2:46 does not record Nebuchadnezzar worshipping Daniel but rather the king was paying homage to God through His servant Daniel, which is indicated by the king’s statement in Daniel 2:47.
This verse records him acknowledging that Daniel’s God is a God ruling gods and Lord ruling kings, a revealer of mysteries since Daniel was able to tell him the content of his dream and its interpretation.
When Nebuchadnezzar says this, he is stating that Daniel’s God is superior to the gods the heathen worshipped throughout the world and in his kingdom, Babylon.
Therefore, Nebuchadnezzar understood that Daniel was God’s representative and ambassador and was emphatically not worshipping Daniel as if he was God.
In Daniel 2:26-30, Daniel made clear to the king that his God had revealed to him the content and interpretation of the king’s dream.
Furthermore, if Daniel thought that the king was worshipping him, we would have expected him rejecting the king presenting offerings and incense to him.
The fact that Nebuchadnezzar prostrated himself before Daniel in order to pay homage to him demonstrated the king’s submission to and acceptance of Daniel’s interpretation.
Daniel 2:46 demonstrates that Nebuchadnezzar was a man of his word since in Daniel 2:6 he promises to reward one of the necromancers, witches, astrologers and occult priests if they can tell him the content of his recurring dream.
Further indicating that Nebuchadnezzar was a man of his word is that in Daniel 2:48, he promoted Daniel and gave him many gifts and made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of the city of Babylon.
It is striking that Nebuchadnezzar honors Daniel and his God since Daniel’s interpretation revealed to the king that his God, the God of Israel will reign upon the earth and bring an end to his kingdom and the ones to follow his are all doomed to destruction.
However, based upon the actions of Nebuchadnezzar recorded in chapter three, we can infer that the king became full of himself and arrogant as a result of Daniel telling him that he was the head of gold in the statue.
Evidently, he focused on the fact that he was the gold head of the impressive statue rather than the fact that his kingdom would be destroyed and that Daniel’s God would rule the earth through His Son.