Page 66 - Daniel

2:10–13 The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a
man on earth who can meet the king’s demand, for no great and
powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or
Chaldean. The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can
show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and commanded
that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. So the decree went out,
and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought Daniel and
his companions, to kill them.

Although the Chaldeans had confidently claimed to be able to
interpret the dream, they were baffled by the demand to tell the dream
itself. With a subtle attempt at flattery, they tried to tell Nebuchadnezzar

that his demand was unreasonable and that “no great and powerful
king” would expect such a revelation from his wise men. The king’s
demand was so “difficult” that only “the gods” could reveal it. This
statement, reflecting the bankruptcy of human wisdom, sets the stage for
Daniel’s divine revelation.

But the wise men’s humility and protests were of no avail. Their
reaction apparently confirmed the king’s suspicion that they were
incompetent and incapable of really helping him. It only made him more
angry, the word “furious” coming from a root similar to that of the

Hebrew word for the wrath of Pharaoh (Gen. 40:2; 41:10). The decree
13
to kill all the wise men of Babylon included not only the four classes that
were standing before Nebuchadnezzar at the moment, but all others
including Daniel and his companions. Although “Babylon” could refer to
the entire empire, it is probable that the decree was limited to the city of
Babylon (2:49; 3:1).

It is not entirely clear from verse 13 whether the executioners planned
to kill the wise men right where they were found, or went out to collect
them for a public execution. The latter is probably the case as

subsequent Scripture reveals that Daniel had the time to ask questions.
The fact that Daniel and his companions were included among the
condemned counselors has given rise to the false accusation that he had
become a part of the pagan religious system of Babylon. There is no
support whatever for this in Scripture. Daniel’s training did not make