Daniel 2.47-Nebuchadnezzar Acknowledges To Daniel That His God Is The God Of Gods, Lord Of Kings And A Revealer Of Mysteries Because He Was Able To Reveal The Mystery
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday May 16, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 2:47-Nebuchadnezzar Acknowledges To Daniel That His God Is The God Of Gods, Lord Of Kings And A Revealer Of Mysteries Because Daniel Was Able To Reveal The Mystery
Lesson # 74
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 2:47.
This evening we will study Daniel 2:47, which records Nebuchadnezzar acknowledging to Daniel that his God is the God ruling over the gods, the Lord ruling over the king’s of the earth.
He also describes Daniel’s God as a revealer of mysteries because Daniel was able to reveal the content and interpretation of his dream which the king’s describes as a mystery.
Daniel 2:47 The king answered Daniel and said, “Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery.” (NASB95)
“The king answered Daniel and said” is composed of the masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew equivalent is the qal) active participle form of the verb ʿǎnā(h) (עֲנָה) (an-aw´), “answered” and this is followed by the masculine singular form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh´-lek), “the king” and then we have the preposition lĕ (לְ) (leh), which is not translated and its object the masculine singular proper noun dā∙niy∙yē(ʾ)l (דָּנִיֵּאל) (daw-nee-yale), “Daniel” and this is followed by the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is followed by the masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew equivalent is the qal) active participle form of the verb ʾǎmǎr (אֲמַר) (am-ar´), “said.”
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 verb ʿǎnā(h) means “to reply” since in context it describes a statement made by Nebuchadnezzar in response to Daniel telling him both the content of his recurring dream as well as its interpretation.
The proper noun dā∙niy∙yē(ʾ)l refers of course to the author of this book that bears his name and which book testifies to the fact that he was a Jewish captive, of noble descent, who was carried off to Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar’s first conquest of Jerusalem in 605 B.C., which was the third year of Jehoiakim’s rule, after the Babylonians defeated the Egyptians.
Daniel 1:7 records that Ashpenaz gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar.
The verb ʾǎmǎr means “to say” in the sense of communicating something to someone and here it denotes Nebuchadnezzar “communicating” to Daniel that his God is the God of gods, Lord of kings and revealer of mysteries because Daniel was able to reveal the mystery of the king’s dream.
“Surely your God is a God of gods” is composed of the preposition min (מִן) (min), which is not translated and its object is the masculine singular noun qešōṭ (קְשֹׁט) (kesh-ote´), “surely” which is followed by the particle dî (דִּי) (dee), which is not translated and followed by the masculine singular construct form of the noun ʾělāh (אֱלָהּ) (el-aw´), “the God of” which is modified by the second person masculine plural pronominal suffix -ḵōm (־כֹם) (koem), “your” which is followed by the third person masculine singular pronominal suffix hû(ʾ) (הוּא) (who), “is” and then we have the masculine singular construct form of the noun ʾělāh (אֱלָהּ) (el-aw´), “a God of” which is followed by the masculine plural form of the noun ʾělāh (אֱלָהּ) (el-aw´), “gods.”
The noun qešōṭ means “truth” with emphasis upon certainty or affirmation.
The word means “truth” in the sense of something that has been proven or affirmed to be true so that it is certain.
Here, the word is describing Daniel’s God as the God of gods, Lord of kings and revealer of mysteries because Daniel was able to reveal the mystery of the king’s dream.
So this word says that this description of Daniel’s God has been proven or affirmed to be true so that this is certain.
The word is the object of the preposition min, which functions as a marker of accompaniment indicating that Nebuchadnezzar knew “with” certainty that Daniel’s God is the God of gods, Lord of kings and revealer of mysteries because Daniel was able to reveal the mystery of his dream.
This prepositional phrase can be translated as an adverb “certainly” or literally as “with certainty.”
The noun ʾělāh appears three times in Daniel 2:47.
The first time, we have the masculine singular construct form of the noun ʾělāh, which means “God” and is a reference to the God of Israel without reference to a member of the Trinity since Nebuchadnezzar has no knowledge of the Trinity as an unregenerate person.
This first instance of the noun ʾělāh functions as the subject of the third person masculine singular pronominal suffix hû which is functioning as a copula joining the masculine singular construct form of the noun ʾělāh (אֱלָהּ) (el-aw´), “the God of” and the masculine singular construct form of the noun ʾělāh (אֱלָהּ) (el-aw´), “a God of.”
This first occurrence of ʾělāh in verse 47 is modified by the second person masculine plural pronominal suffix -ḵōm, which means “your” referring to Daniel and functions as a possessive personal pronoun.
The second time that the noun ʾělāh appears it functions as a predicate nominative and also means “God” but is used in a comparison with the heathen gods that Nebuchadnezzar worshipped along with other unregenerate members of the human race.
It is used here to emphasize the superiority of Daniel’s God in comparison to the heathen gods in the sense that Daniel’s God is superior and rules over these heathen gods according to Nebuchadnezzar’s perspective.
As a predicate nominative, the word is making the assertion that Daniel’s God is the God ruling over the gods.
The third time that the noun ʾělāh appears, it is found in the masculine plural form and means “gods” referring to the heathen gods, which Nebuchadnezzar worshipped along with the other unregenerate members of the human race.
This third appearance of the word is modifying the masculine singular construct form of the noun ʾělāh, “a God of” which is functioning as a predicate nominative.
This third instance of the word is functioning as a genitive of subordination meaning that the word specifies that which is subordinated to or under the dominion of the head noun, which is the masculine singular construct form of the noun ʾělāh, “a God of” which is functioning as a predicate nominative.
This indicates that Nebuchadnezzar is asserting that Daniel’s God is the God “ruling over” the gods of the heathen.
The third person masculine singular pronominal suffix hû means “is” since it is functioning as a copula.
This means that it is joining the masculine singular construct form of the noun ʾělāh (אֱלָהּ) (el-aw´), “the God of” and the masculine singular construct form of the noun ʾělāh (אֱלָהּ) (el-aw´), “a God of” which is followed by the masculine plural form of the noun ʾělāh (אֱלָהּ) (el-aw´), “gods.”
“And a Lord of kings” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is followed by the masculine singular construct form of the noun mā∙rē(ʾ) (מָרֵא) (maw-ray´), “a Lord of” and this is followed by the masculine plural form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh´-lek), “kings.”
The conjunction wa is adjunctive meaning that it is introducing a clause which presents a description of Daniel’s God by Nebuchadnezzar, which is “in addition to” the description that the God of Israel is the God ruling over the heathen gods.
The noun mā∙rē(ʾ) means “lord” in the sense of one who has authority to rule over others and here the word is used by Nebuchadnezzar to describe Daniel’s God, the God of Israel as one who has authority over the kings of the earth.
The noun mě∙lěḵ is in the plural and means “kings” referring to the governmental heads of the nations of the earth-past, present and future.
The word is functioning as a genitive of subordination meaning that the word specifies that which is subordinated to or under the dominion of the head noun, which in our context, is the noun mā∙rē(ʾ), “Lord” which is functioning as a subject.
This indicates that Nebuchadnezzar is asserting that Daniel’s God is the Lord “ruling over” the kings of the earth.
“And a revealer of mysteries” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is followed by the masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew equivalent is the qal) active participle form of the verb gelā(h) (גְּלָה) (ghel-aw´), “a revealer” which is followed by the masculine plural form of the noun rāz (רָז) (rawz), “mysteries.”
The conjunction wa is once again used in an adjunctive sense meaning that it is introducing a description of Daniel’s God, which is “in addition to” the previous one presented by Nebuchadnezzar.
The verb gelā(h) means “to reveal” and is used with the God of Israel as the subject and its object is the masculine plural form of the noun rāz, “mysteries.”
This indicates that Nebuchadnezzar is describing Daniel’s God as one “who reveals” mysteries in the sense that He reveals events, which are hidden meaning He reveals the future to humans like Daniel which would otherwise be unknown.
The noun rāz is in the plural and means “mysteries” and has no specific referent but rather is used in a generic sense to describe Daniel’s God as one who reveals what cannot be fully understood by human reason.
He reveals that which resists or defies explanation and describes Him as one who can reveal a truth to men that cannot be fully understood or known unless He reveals it.
“Since you have been able to reveal this mystery” is a causal clause since the conjunction dî, “since” is a marker of cause meaning that it is introducing a statement which presents the reason why Nebuchadnezzar describes Daniel’s God as one who reveals mysteries.
“You have been able to reveal” is composed of the the second person masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active perfect form of the verb yeḵil (יְכִל) (yek-ale´), “you have been able” and then we have the preposition lĕ (לְ) (leh), “to” and its object is the peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active infinitive construct form of the verb gelā(h) (גְּלָה) (ghel-aw´), “reveal.”
The verb yeḵil means “to be able” and is used with Daniel as its subject and the noun rāz, “mystery” is its object and denotes that Daniel “was able” or “had the ability to” reveal the mystery, which is the content and interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.
Once again, the verb gelā(h) means “to reveal” and is used again with Daniel as its subject and the singular form of the noun rāz, “mystery” which describes the content and interpretation of the king’s dream.
Thus, Nebuchadnezzar is telling Daniel that he acknowledges that Daniel’s God is a revealer of mysteries because Daniel was able “to reveal” the content and interpretation of the king’s dream, which was a mystery.
The preposition lĕ is prefixed to the infinitive construct form of this verb gelā(h) and governs it and together, they are used in a complementary sense meaning that they complete the meaning of the verb translate yeḵil, “you were able” which would make no sense by itself.
“This mystery” is composed of the masculine singular noun rāz (רָז) (rawz), “mystery” which is modified by the demonstrative pronoun denā(h) (דְּנָה) (dane-awe), “this.”
The noun rāz is in the singular and means “mystery” describing both the content and interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.
The former was a mystery to Nebuchadnezzar’s occult priests, witches, necromancers and astrologers since the king refused to tell them the dream itself.
The latter was a mystery to the king since he did not know what the dream meant.
This noun is modified by the demonstrative pronoun denā(h) which means “this” since it is pointing out the noun rāz, which describes the content of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream as well as its interpretation.
This demonstrative pronoun is used in an anaphoric sense, which means that the noun rāz is describing the content of the king’s dream which Daniel communicated to Nebuchadnezzar as recorded in Daniel 2:31-35.
It also means that the noun rāz is describing the interpretation of the king’s dream, which Daniel communicated to Nebuchadnezzar as recorded in Daniel 2:37-45.
Daniel 2:46 recorded Nebuchadnezzar paying homage to Daniel by falling down upon his face and then issuing an order to present an offering as well as fragrant incense to him.
Now here in Daniel 2:47, we have Nebuchadnezzar finally addressing Daniel.
In this verse, Nebuchadnezzar presents a three-fold description of the God of Israel.
In this verse, we have the king addressing Daniel and acknowledging that Daniel’s God is the God ruling over the gods as well as the Lord ruling over kings and in addition one who reveals mysteries because Daniel was able to reveal this mystery.
Notice that Nebuchadnezzar describes God as Daniel’s God and not his God which reveals that at this point in the narrative, the king has not trusted in Yahweh but has made progress in doing so.