Daniel 2 Commentary

“Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.”

Syriac. It was originally the same as the Chaldean. Daniel understood this language, as well as Hebrew and writes in it what concerned the Chaldeans, to Chap. viii. This shews his accuracy, as he makes his speakers use their own tongue. Spinosa ignorantly asserts, that all the seven first chapters are in Chaldean and taken from the records of that nation by Judas Maccabeus. How then did Matthathias become acquainted with the contents?

“The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill. cut: Cald. made pieces”

Put. Chaldean, “torn to pieces, and your house become infamous places;” (Calmet) Protestant, “a dunghill” (Haydock) — Such cruel punishments were not uncommon. (1 Esdras vi. 11.) (Calmet) — Bessus was torn in pieces by the relations of Darius; (Diod. xvii.) and the Persians generally cut off some member of criminals. (Brisson ii.)

“The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me. gain: Cald. buy”

Gain. Literally, “redeem” (Haydock) — St. Paul uses a similar expression, exhorting us to save our souls even at the expense of our temporal interest. (Calmet) — The diviners wished to give the king’s fury time to abate, (Haydock) and to save their lives; (Calmet) or delay punishment, at least, as much as possible. (Haydock)

“But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof.”

Thereof. It is indeed more easy to discover what dream a person has had, than to explain it; since the devil might disclose the former, but he can only guess at what will happen, and herein his agents are often deceived. (See Genesis xl.) (Worthington) — It is not even certain that the devil can know the dreams which we have not divulged, as it is the privilege of God to discern the secrets of the heart. (Haydock)

“And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

Men. They acknowledged greater and less gods. (Stanley, p. 13. Chap. i.) — They pretend not to have any communication with the superior ones, (Calmet) and by their answer unguardedly bear testimony to the excellence of the God whom Daniel served. (St. Jerome)

“And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.”

Slain. Literally, “were slaughtering;” interficiebantur. (Haydock) — Many think that some had already suffered. (Geier.; Menochius) — They had been perhaps jealous of Daniel, and had not informed him of the matter. (St. Jerome)

“Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon: answered: Cald. returned captain: or, chief marshal: Cald. chief of the executioners, or, slaughtermen”

General. He occupied the same office as Putiphar, in Egypt. (Genesis xxxix. 1.) It was no disgrace for such a one to execute himself the king’s order, as Banaias slew the brother of Solomon. (3 Kings ii.)

“He answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.”

Cruel. Chaldean also, “precipitate.” (Calmet)

“Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation.”

Declare the dream. (Haydock) — The Chaldeans had promised only to explain it, and the king knew the superior merit of Daniel. (Chap. i. 19.) (Calmet)

“That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. of the God: Cald. from before God that Daniel: or, that they should not destroy Daniel, etc”

Secret. Literally, “sacrament.” Greek, “mystery,” which seems to be derived from (Calmet) mosthor, “a secret.” (Haydock)

“Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.”

Night, while he was probably asleep, (Calmet) or praying with his companions. (Villet.)

“Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever : for wisdom and might are his:”

His. He grants them to whom he pleases, and disposes of kingdoms (Calmet) without control. (ver. 21.)

“Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;”

Soothsayers. Chaldean Gazerin, (Haydock) who inspect entrails, (Ezechiel xxi. 21. St. Jerome) or tell fortunes by sticks. (Chap. iii. 3.)

“But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; maketh: Cald. hath made known”

Times. In the Old Testament, this commonly signifies when Christ shall appear; but in the New, it refers to the end of the world. (Calmet)

“As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter : and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. came: Cald. came up”

Begin. By thus telling what thoughts the king had entertained before his dream, he would be heard with greater confidence. (Worthington)

“Thou, O king, sawest , and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. sawest: Cald. wast seeing”

Terrible, or unusual. (Calmet) — The statue denoted the four great empires of the Chaldeans, Persians, Greeks and Romans. The metals did not mean that the empire of gold was greater than the rest, as that signified by the iron was far more powerful; but only that the empire of the Chaldeans was then the greatest, and that the Persians would acquire still more power and be surpassed by the Greeks, as they were by the Romans, till the kingdom of Christ should be spread over all the earth. (Worthington)

“Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.”

Of kings. This title was used by the Persians. Nabuchodonosor was at that time the most potent monarch on earth. He conquered many nations, and greatly embellished the city of Babylon, surrounding it with three walls in fifteen days, and building hanging gardens, which were the wonder of the world. See Eusebius, pręp. ix. 41. and x. 42. &c. (Calmet)

“And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.”

Another kingdom; viz. that of the Medes and Persians. (Challoner) — Inferior; later, of less duration and extent. (Calmet) — Third, &c. That of Alexander the Great. (Challoner) — World. Alexander received ambassadors at Babylon, from the most distant nations, testifying their submission. He conquered beyond the river Indus, &c. (Diod. A. 1. Olym. 14.[year 1 of the 14th Olympiad.?]) (Calmet)

“And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.”

The fourth kingdom, &c. Some understand this of the successors of Alexander, the kings of Syria and Egypt: others, of the Roman empire and its civil wars. (Challoner) — The former supposition seems best, though the latter is almost universally received, and will be explained hereafter. (Calmet) — The Roman empire did not immediately rise out of Alexander’s, and had no relation to the Jews, &c. (Grotius, L’Empereus.) — But it surely swallowed up all that he had left to his generals, and proved the greatest scourge to the Jewish nation; which has been ever since scattered, while the kingdom of Christ gains ground, and will flourish till that of Rome shall be no more. Antichrist will then appear to cast a cloud over, but not destroy it for three years and a half. It is the opinion of many Fathers, &c. that the Roman empire will subsist till that event take place; (see 2 Thessalonians ii. 3, 7.) and thus it may be said, that the fourth empire shall not be given to another people. For antichrist will not strive to exalt a particular nation, but to rule over all. Yet his dominion will be short, and will end in the general dissolution of nature; so that the Roman empire may be deemed to last for a long time, or even for ever. (ver. 44.) Those who adopt the former system, allow (Haydock) that the stone designates both the Roman empire and that of Christ; so that some parts of the prediction may refer to one and some to the other. The origin and progress of the Roman empire, might be a figure of the spiritual power of the Church. It is certain that the successors of Alexander owed their dominion to their valour, and established it by the slaughter of many great generals. The kings who followed Seleucus and Ptolemy were remarkable for a mixture of good and bad qualities. Their efforts to preserve their power by intermarriages, proved abortive. The prophet seems also to have had them in view, chap. vii. 7., and viii. 22. (Calmet)

“And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.”

Clay. The iron was in a rude state, mixed with earth. The Roman power was at last partly exercised by consuls and partly by emperors. (Menochius) — Florus (1.) compares it to the four states of a man, infancy, childhood, youth, and old age. Its youth may be dated from the conquest of all Italy to Tiberius; afterwards it fell to decay, while the eternal kingdom of Christ was forming, ver. 44.

“And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. one: Cald. this with this”

Man. Pompey and Cęsar, Anthony and Augustus, married each other’s relations; but they soon quarrelled, and the race of the Cęsars was extinct in Nero. But this is better understood of the kings of Syria and of Egypt. (Calmet)

“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. the days: Cald. their days the kingdom: Cald the kingdom thereof”

Kingdom of Christ, in the Catholic Church, which cannot be destroyed. (Challoner) — This alone cannot be destroyed. (Worthington) — All other empires change. The Catholic Church has stood for seventeen centuries in the midst of persecutions, which gives us an assurance that she will continue for ever. (Calmet) — “Then,” says Munster, “was the kingdom of Christ set up, not by arms,…but by the divine power.” This interpretation arises from the improper version, without hands; whereas the sequel shews that the empire here spoken of, is attended with the like violence as the four others, which it destroys. The Roman empire was in no degree connected with others by marriage. In the following verse, Munster improperly turns to the second coming of our Saviour. Grotius here asserts that the stone alludes to the Roman armies, prefiguring the Son of man, whose gospel is indicated by the progress of the Roman empire, as both sprung from small beginnings. But who informed him that there were such figures in that empire as in the Old Testament? All empires begin in that manner, and types should have some greater resemblance with the reality. The Church meddles not with the temporal powers. It is therefore plain that the prophet speaks of empires which shall succeed each other. (Houbigant. perf. Prop. 340.) — Kingdoms. That of Rome comprised all the former. The persecuting emperors are forced to yield, and the colossal power of infidelity and vice falls before the gospel. Christ’s dominion is spiritual, exercised against wickedness; (Calmet) is heavenly and eternal. (Haydock) — The blood of martyrs was more efficacious in the establishing of Christianity, than fire and sword had been in forming other empires. (Menochius)

“Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter : and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. without: or, which was not in hands hereafter: Cald. after this”

Hands. Protestant marg.: “mountain, which was not in hand.” (Haydock) — Christ was born of a virgin; and his kingdom was not established by ambition, like others. Yet it presently became a mountain, and filled the earth. (St. Justin, dial.; St. Augustine, tr. 9. in Jo.) — God himself sets up this kingdom. (Calmet)

“Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him.”

Daniel, taking him for a little god, under the great one, ver. 17. (Worthington) — Victims. Chaldean mincha, (Haydock) of flour, &c. But the prophet had already declared his sentiments on this head, (ver. 28.) and abhorred such honours, like St. Paul, (Acts xiv. 10.; Calmet) though this is not here recorded. (Menochius)

“The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.”

Of gods, above all those of the country for explaining hidden things: yet he did not acknowledge him to be the only true God. (Calmet) — He afterwards erected an idol to represent his own greatness. (Worthington)

“Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.”

Provinces, or that of Babylonia, which was the first. — Wise men. This would not engage him in any idolatrous practices.

“Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.”

Works of agriculture, (Calmet) which the ancient kings of Persia encouraged with great attention, appointing officers to reward or punish according as their land was cultivated. (Xenophon, Cyr. 8. & Œcon.) — St. Jerome thinks they were appointed judges, (Calmet) or assistants of Daniel. (Grotius) — Palace. Literally, “gates,” (Haydock) as receiver of the taxes, particularly at Susa. (Chap. viii. 2.) (Marsham Egypt. sęc. 18.)