If a man cannot remember the dream he saw (it means): his (personal) god is angry with him. Old Babylonian Omen Text (VAT 7525)
In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. The implication here is that this is a repeated dream, one that is obvious to Nebuchadnezzar to be a ‘vision’, and one that deprives him of his rest. He cannot rest until he has the answer for this dream. The word “troubled” comes from the root פעם (pa’am), the same word used in Genesis 41:8 for the troubled sleep of Pharaoh.
Babylonian king Nabu-apla-iddina (888-855 BC). Tablet of Shamash, British Library room 55
Dreams in Babylon were considered significant, especially in the Neo-Babylonian empire. For example, during Ashurbanipal’s reign, a “professional dreamer” saw a warning written on the moon that those that fight against Ashurbanipal are doomed. S. R. Driver gives a number of examples of gods appearing to kings in dreams (Daniel, 17-18).
Nebuchadnezzar decides that he will call together his wisest advisors to obtain an interpretation of the vision. As with the qualifications of the young men in chapter 1, these four “categories” are virtually synonymous, they are all advisors to the king who are charged with giving him advice on what the gods would have him do.
- Magicians (חַרְטֹם). HALOT suggests this is an Egyptian loan word for an interpreter of dreams. It is used for the dream-interpreters who failed to interpret Pharaoh’s as well as the magicians in Exodus 7:11.
- Enchanters (אַשָּׁף). The word is only used in Daniel 1:20 and this verse. It refers to a conjuror, or an “incantation priest” (probably an Akkadian loanword according to HALOT). These people would use incantations and curses to bring about some change.
- Sorcerers (a piel participle of the verb כשׁף ). This refers to people who practice magic and witchcraft. It is the word used in the Hebrew Bible for a witch (Deut 18:10; Isa 47:9; 12; Jer 27:9; Mal. 3:5).
- Astrologers (כַּשְׂדִּים). This is an ethnic term, the Chaldeans. By the time Daniel was written, the word referred to astrologers, fortune-tellers, magicians (HALOT). These were advisors to the king who sued the stars or other means to predict the future.
Nebuchadnezzar tells these advisors he has had a significant dream and he demands they interpret it. But he is not going to tell them the contents of the dream. Does he not remember the dream? Or is he withholding the information on purpose? The noun in 2:5 is the Aramaic אזד. The NIV and other translations have taken this as a Persian loan word, meaning “be firm.” HALOT suggests “the word (matter) is irrevocable,” suggesting a parallel to the law of the Medes and Persian in 6:8. Hartman and Di Lella suggest the word should be translated as “public knowledge” implying a public announcement of the king’s decision (cf. NRSV, “this is a public decree,” Daniel, 138).
Nebuchadnezzar knows that if he tells the dream to the wise men will consult their dream texts and be able to come up with some kind of interpretation, whether it is true or not. He wants the real interpretation, so he forces reveal the dream as well as the interpretation.
The king makes a matter of public record the penalty that they are going to face if they fail: “I will have you cut into pieces”, literally torn limb from limb. One of the particularly terrifying aspects of the Assyrian empire was the “parting up” of captured peoples (Montgomery, Daniel, 146). “Your houses turned into piles of rubble.” Literally this is a dung hill or a dump. There is evidence of houses and temples being turned into public toilets. In Ezra 6:11 Darius makes the same command for those that defy his decree. The reward, however, is great, but only hinted at it the text with a single word, “rewards.” Perhaps Nebuchadnezzar does not have to specify, since a gift from the king would be of fantastic worth whatever it was.
The wise men rightly complain this situation is unfair and plead to know the dream. They say there is “no one on earth” who can possibly know the dream, only a god could interpret the dream. This foreshadows Daniel’s response to the king in 2:28, “there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.” It is God who has given Nebuchadnezzar this dream and only God will reveal the contents of the mystery of the dream and its interpretation.
From the verbiage that Nebuchadnezzar uses, it would appear that he wants great confirmation that what he dreamt is true and is rightly interpreted. I don’t believe that he simply “forgot” the dream. He is looking for definite confirmation and wisdom. Just as we do, in our modern day, we tend to look for further confirmation in the places where it will never be provided. Obviously, we aren’t as strict as Nebuchadnezzar was; as stated in Daniel 2:4, the interpreters would be “torn limb from limb” if they could not provide the accurate interpretation of his dream. Although we are not that desperate, we often do as God for serious confirmation, and we even may try to “make deals” with God or make some kind of threat or promise in the process of seeking confirmation.
Nebuchadnezzar was so deeply seeking this interpretation, and God provided the answers in Daniel, even though the Chaldeans, in verse ten, said that no one would be able to provide the information of both the dream and its interpretation. Nebuchadnezzar began looking for the confirmation in all the wrong places: the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers. He tried every avenue that he thought would be able to bring him the answers that he so desired. We often do this, too. We look for the answers in people, situations, substances, media, and every other avenue that will never bring true answers. Fortunately, Nebuchadnezzar was still provided his answers through a vessel—Daniel—just as God can bring confirmation in our lives through the trusted, godly ones around us.
I find it very interesting that Nebuchadnezzar was having the same dream over and over and he knew that his dream was a vision that he could not interpret. Since he noticed that he had the same dream, he thought that his most wise men would be able to interpret his dream. He was wrong. When he called all his wise men, none of them was able to interpret his dream He told them to interpret the dream and if one of them fails to interpret the dream, that person would be brutally killed. As soon his wise men heard this, they were afraid that they would not be able to interpret the dream and they even said that only a god would be able to interpret the dream.
This passage is very interesting because I can clearly see that the only reason why his wise men were not able to interpret the dream was because God did not allow them to do so. God already had a plan, and He already knew that He would give the opportunity to Daniel to interpret the kings dreams and this was a way for the king to know that the God that Daniel had was the most powerful God. I completely believe that God did not allow the king’s wise men to interpret the dream because this would be the beginning of Nebuchadnezzar to start noticing that even though he has many wise men, they could not compare to God’s power and His goodness.
In the book of Daniel Chapter 2 in regards to Nebuchadnezzar dream, it was a form of communication Daniel God was going to use to show the rest of the Kingdom/s that there is no other gods who is able to give dreams and bring revelation of interpretations into reality. Meaning, God is all-knowing, ever-present, all powerful who is able to control time, space, and matter and the history itself. Though, Nebuchadnezzar expected his own interpreters or staff of specialists in dream interpretations to revealed without any leverage of information given and for them to have some sort of supernatural connection with their own gods to bring forth of his demand for clarity and answers, which none were able. Only Daniel, God’s instrument, faithful and a servant, had the qualifications to explain the vision/dream in depth of details. I’m trying to remember if this dream/vision came during the time of Daniel and his friends training for service? If so, would it be possible the fasting and praying increase the vibration of insight? seer? Such as having the spirit, soul, and body align with God’s divine purpose plan?
King Nebuchadnezzar wants no messing around when it comes to the interpretation of his dream. Understanding that dreams were really important to Babylonian culture helps explain the urgency that the king was displaying. If it was believed that dreams were a way of having the future revealed to them, then a disturbing dream would indeed be in want of a true interpretation, especially for a ruler. While the punishment may seem extreme for failure to interpret a dream, it makes it clear that Nebuchadnezzar takes the meaning behind his dream very seriously. With this being what the people in that culture believed, it would make sense that God would give Nebuchadnezzar a dream to communicate to him as this is something that he would pay attention too. However, in the process, God uses it as a means to show Nebuchadnezzar and everyone at the court the power that He has and that He is the only one who can truly translate the meaning behind dreams. Daniel recognizes this and also gives the glory to God, taking none of the credit for himself as seen in Daniel 2:27-28. God was using Daniel to show his power and Daniel was blessed in the process as well. However, we learn later that it takes several miraculous encounters with God before King Nebuchadnezzar fully understood who God really is and gives him a true act of worship. The dream was only the beginning of God’s work in him.
The fact that king Nebuchadnezzer withheld the contents and description of his dreams from his favored fortune tellers and magicians would indicate that he did not trust them, or at the very least, he was suspicious of their so called “gift” or “ability” to interpret and reveal dreams. In Daniel 2:4, it says that the Chaldeans solicit Nebuchadnezzer to “tell your servants the dream”. The magicians no doubt simply expected the king to immediately tell them his vision, accompanied by numerous details and explanations. Instead, he replies that if they do not tell him what he wants to know about his vision, he will “tear their limbs” and “bring their houses to ruin”. Another hypothetical question to ask oneself is: was Nebuchadnezzer, by intentionally withholding the details of dream to his magicians, searching for evidence of the true God, Yahweh, and not the false gods that the Babylonians worshiped, such as bel (Jeremiah 51:44), merodach (Jeremiah 50:2), kiyyun (Amos 5:26), etc. If this is true, it can be an important lesson and reminder to us today. How many men and women today sin in their day to day lives, carelessly disregarding God and His will for them to be saved and live in fellowship with Him? The magicians, at risk of further aggravating the king, admit this is impossible. This series of events allows God to showcase his power and omnipotence through his servant Daniel. Daniel not only interprets kings dream, but he saves the lives of Nebuchadnezzer’s magicans by appealing to the king’s official Arioch to spare their lives (Daniel 2:24).
Dreams seem to be very important to human beings. There are still people today that are extremely spiritual but not religious that take dreams very seriously. Paganism does not seem to change much within the progression of humanity. I can truly understand why dreams may seem very significant. Sometimes they feel real and are extremely vivid. For Nebuchadnezzar, it was extremely important that he find the correct interpretation. Why? These dreams must have clearly been more important than any other dream he had. Was this his first reoccurring dream? Maybe that is why this dream had much importance? He knew in his gut that he needed the correct interpretation and would not settle for less. Thus, queue the degenerates from the isle of misfit spirituals. None of these bad Jacksons, from your descriptions, had anything to do with dreams aside from the loose description of the Magicians. These kids knew that there was no way for them to read Nebuchadnezzar’s mind. If he would not tell them his dream then they would not even know where to begin (Daniel 2:10-11). Such a request from the king warranted great destress for the spirituals. They knew the punishment of a wrong interpretation. Now there was an added bonus to the table. They had to explain the dream that they had with no hints of clues. No reward was worth the risk (death). Clearly these people were out of luck. To make matters even more exciting, because they could not provide what the king wanted, the king was going to kill all the spiritual people in all the land. Whoa. Thankfully Daniel saves the day through the power of the Most High God (Daniel 2:31-45).
These types of spiritual things like dreams can be extremely hard to explain or reason with. The Lord is the only person who can give this knowledge. When asked in faith the Lord provides (James 1:5-6).
I find it interesting that Nebuchadnezzar took a while to try to interpret the dream. It seemed like he kept ignoring that he was having the same dream and was not sleeping well. I would start to worry after the second night of having the same dream, because it is unlikely that you would have the same dream twice in a row. It is so cool though that dreams(visions) were a way God communicated back then and it has always got me thinking what if he is still doing that today? It would be amazing if he talked to us through dreams whenever we are asking him for help. I think it was a smart idea to see if the magicians and wise men can tell him his dream to see if what they really said is the correct interpretation. The thing that always amazes me is how God can do anything. He was able to tell Daniel what the dream was and how to interpret it so that he can tell Nebuchadnezzar what it means. What I love is that Daniel always says that it is because of his God that he is able to be there to tell Nebuchadnezzar. “Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven” (Daniel 2:19). He always praises and honors God and puts Him before himself. Nebuchadnezzar realizes how important Daniel’s God is and so he wants everyone to follow Daniel’s God.
I think this story is a good example of a way that Daniel was able to use the high status that he gained in the king’s court to tell about the greatness of the God of Israel. Nebuchadnezzar already found Daniel “10 times better than than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom” (Daniel 1:20), so when the other magicians and Chaldeans were not able to interpret his dream, the king knew who he needed. The king took this dream very seriously and announced strict consequences for those that might try to give him a false answer, making the stakes incredibly high for the magicians in the kingdom. This was Daniel’s chance to show the king that only the Most High God had the power to give him the dream and reveal its meaning. When Daniel receives the vision from God, the very first thing he does is praise Him (2:20-23). This is another example of Daniel’s strong faith. After glorifying God, Daniel continues on to interpret the king’s dream. When Nebuchadnezzar hears this, he does acknowledge that Daniel’s God is the “God of the gods” (2:47). While this is a step in the right direction, I would by no means consider this a “conversion” or consider Nebuchadnezzar to be following the God of Israel. After this, Nebuchadnezzar promotes Daniel by making him a ruler over the entire province of Babylon, and at Daniel’s request promotes the three other young Jewish men as well. It is these positions that later allow these four men to have more interactions with the king and demonstrate the strength of God and their faith in Him.
Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream
From what we can see through the chapter of Nebuchadnezzar’s determination to get his dream interpreted, I highly doubt that he forgot what his dream was. This was a repeated dream that Nebuchadnezzar continued to have and also lost sleep over. With this severity that the chapter describes this with, it is hard for me to believe that he forgot the dream. If anything, it points more to the fact that he really wanted the legit interpretation and meaning of this dream, not just the made-up answer from dream text that his advisors could consult. By withholding the contents of his dream, it makes the interpreter more credible and legit for being able to interpret it on their own, with the power from their god, or in Daniel’s case, God.
After Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s dream he once again gives the credit to God who gave him the ability and interpretation of the dream. Nebuchadnezzar gives credit to Daniel’s God as the “God of gods” but he does not deny his own gods and start to follow Daniel’s God. This is not a conversion, but it is a positive moment in Nebuchadnezzar’s life. He was able to notice and admit that Daniel’s God is superior, but he does not give up beliefs in his own gods.
The story of Daniel 2, where King Nebuchadnezzar withholds the contents of his dream, requires the various groups of sorcerers, astrologers, magicians, and enchanters to tell him the dream and its meaning is a rather unique and eccentric story. It reads as if King Nebuchadnezzar woke up from troubling dreams and thus decided to test the validity of his magicians and other dream interpreters, deciding to see if they could achieve something that appeared impossible for these groups to accomplish. In its Ancient Near Eastern context, this request was simply unprecedented, as it was common practice for the king to recite his dream to his interpreters, who would then consult manuals that would inform them of what the narrative and symbols of the dream represented (Long, 21). This unparalleled request was accompanied by the threat that if these dream interpreters could not tell Nebuchadnezzar his dream that all the wise men in the land of Babylon shall be cut to pieces and their houses destroyed (Dan 2:5). Of course, Daniel being a part of this group of wise men, is pursued so that he may be killed also (Dan 2:13). Yet, Daniel, after hearing this decree, prays with Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, leading to the vision of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to be revealed to him. Following this, he goes with Arioch to the king and explains the dream, explaining how each portion of the image represents the succession of four earthly kingdoms that will eventually be replaced by a heavenly kingdom (Long, 24). The most significant part of this story is that the wise men had previously declared that no one except the gods could answer such a request (Dan 2:11). Thus, Yahweh proves superior and above all the Babylonian gods in this story, as He provides Daniel the necessary information to succeed in this endeavor and brings glory to Yahweh. This story would have been encouraging to Jews, whether in exile or during the Second Temple period, as it would reassure them that Yahweh is superior to the other gods and that He will provide them with the resources and abilities to succeed despite their oppression. They can live with the confidence that despite fo their current suffering, a future day will come when the kingdoms of Earth will succumb to the apocalyptic inauguration of Yahweh’s heavenly kingdom.
Nebuchadnezzar is one of the most interesting people that I found in the Old Testament. When I look at his life, the way things are happy is really interesting. For example, he talks about his dream and how he lost his mind seven years ago and eats grass and becomes like an animal and eat like an animal. When the king calls all of his wisest advisors to obtain an interpretation of the vision, it is kind of selfish because he is the one who has that dream, and he himself can’t even remember how that wisest advisor would interpret his dream. It makes me think a lot and ask questions. Imagine yourself in Daniel’s shoes. A normal boy who was captured and was in an unfamiliar place. He was not a native Babylonian, but he was told to interpret a dream that the king had, but the one who dreamed forgot what it was about. Of course, we all would be helpless as we are just human beings. Looking at himself and his fellow, they can do nothing in that situation. Fearing their own lives, they placed their trust in God and asked God for the wisdom they needed upon expressing their gratitude to God.
I definitely believe that Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was a divine intervention; it appears that God guided Nebuchadnezzar in order to disclose the human history up to the end of time. God made it known that Jesus will be in charge of the entire planet. God chose Nebuchadnezzar to record in the Bible the futile attempts of man to create a stable government. This is a great example that wisdom only come from God. Proverbs 2 explains that only trust in God produces truth and wisdom, “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding… Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul” (Proverbs 2:6, 9–10). This truth plays a role in Daniel’s story and how he deals with the trials he faces and how he deals with Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams. In Daniel 2:1 Nebuchadnezzar states that he had dreams and that his mind was troubled; he couldn’t sleep. Nebuchadnezzar consults his wise men to help him understand his dream. Daniel informs the king that only God, as he was the one who sent the dream, only He could interpret it. When we dream as humans, we often assume it is an expression of our imagination and ask God to show us the significance of the dream. As Longman (2020) says, “True wisdom comes from God, and those who, like Daniel and his three friends, fear God and turn to him will be wise themselves.” (p.65).
Nebuchadnezzars dream is one that gives us a way into some of the theology of the book of Daniel and the way in which God is sovereign overall and knows all things. Nebuchadnezzar wants a real answer not one that comes from human understanding. The fact that it says that he was so troubled (Daniel 2:1) and what we know of the significance of dreams in Babylonian culture, is enough for this type of attitude with no revealing his dream. Now it could be that he could not remember but the fact of his sleeplessness seems to tell another story. Much to like you pointed at the end of the blog, Daniel does not credit himself with the revelation of the dreams but God himself (Daniel 2:28). He makes it very clear to Nebuchadnezzar that it was not in Daniels own power (Daniel 2:27) but that it was in fact the God of Israel. I would say that to go even farther along into Daniel we see even more how the dream of Nebuchadnezzar shows us who the God of Israel is. In Daniel 2:28, it says that God is the revealer of mysteries. This is a consistent Biblical truth that is found in the Bible and a timely reminder of who God is for the people in the time of exile. In a class discussion on the book of Daniel it was mentioned that this declaration rings like that of Isaiah 44:25-26 where it talks of how God determines the future, whereas the gods of their lands cannot even predict it (class notes, 2024). The God of the people of Israel is still the God who not only knows the future but is the one who created it. The dream was a great place in which we see the sovereignty of God is displayed. In that moment it showed that Daniels God was more powerful than anything in the kings’ disposal. For us, it is a timeless showing of God and the comfort we can have that our God is the one and only, full of power and love for his people.
I see so many echoes of this story and the story of Joseph. Both of them are “strangers in a strange land.” While Daniel is not a slave the same as Joseph, he is forced to serve in a foreign government and is able, through interpreting dreams, to rise to a prominent position in the Babylonian court. Genesis 41:16, Joseph credits God as revleaning, and in Daniel 2:20-23, Daniel also starts by praising and crediting God with the interpretation. Where the deviation occurs is God not only reveals the interpretation, but the dream itself! The task that was thought all but impossible by those in the Babylonian Court shows how much more superior the God of Israel is when compared to Babylonian wisdom (Longman III 66). This is a direct contrast towards not only the wisdom of the Babylonians, but also that of our culture we live in today. The fear of the Lord is where real wisdom comes from (Proverbs 1:17). While we live in a more humanist culture now and mankind is elevated as “gods” we as Christians must continue to live in faith that God will provide all we need, not our leaders, politicians, or governments.
I’ve always thought how intriguing dreams were during the ages of the Bible stories because the dreams actually meant something and carried meaning behind them. Nowadays, our dreams are still cool, but boring in the sense that they don’t carry any secret or cool meanings behind them. In some ways, we think that life would be easier if only God told us His plan and Will through our dreams. Now, in this current dispensation, dreams don’t foretell certain events or anything.
What intrigues me about this story of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, is that he seems to already know, in his heart that these wise men cannot interpret his dream. He’s extremely frustrated because he knows these recurring dreams carry weight in their meaning. In one of our lectures in class, we discussed how certain wise men would have a book that obtained definitions and would explain certain images that appeared in dreams. Nebuchadnezzar didn’t desire interpretations from this book but wanted a raw, real, and authentic interpretation. That’s one of the main reasons why he didn’t reveal what he dreamt about as well, as this article mentions. I always like to think about what were the magicians and wise men thinking during this moment. I believe that their continual dishonesty in dream interpretation caught up to them and they hopefully felt conviction when they were exposed by Nebuchadnezzar and then finally, Daniel’s true interpretation of the dream. I love to see the power of God and His glory in this particular story of Daniel.
Your post of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2:1-13 offers great insights. You go into the importance of dreams in ancient Babylonian society. By going over the cultural and historical events you provide a great understanding of Nebuchadnezzar’s dilemma. Your overview effectively shows the interesting parts of the story giving readers a clear perspective on the story’s significance in both its historical context and its biblical depth.
I love these types of stories. I have always been interested in visions and dreams. Throughout the Bible, God spoke to his people and his people in so many different ways. Honestly, my favorite ways are dreams and visions. I like them not only becuase they are always so unique and different, but they were not limited to “special people”. There are many times in the Bible that non-Godly people get visions. This story about Nebuchadnezzar is one of those stories. He was an unGodly king who denied God’s existence and worshiped fake and dead gods along with himself. Then God used him to pass on revelation about the future. God not only showed his power by putting that type of dream into his brain but he also showed his power with Daniel. King Nebuchadnezzar gave the wise men an impossible task. The task to not only to read his mind but interpret the dream in his mind. I think on Nebuchadnezzar’s part it was smart to let them reveal the dreams. Because even someone like me can come up with something about a crazy dream if my life depended on it. I can’t imagine how these wise men felt. I think they knew that they were going to die becuase they knew it was impossible, but then a random guy named Daniel came along and did it with ease. I think it’s also important to note how seriously King Nebuchadnezzar took dreams, which makes me conclude that this was a pretty common thing to happen. For some reason though I think Nebuchadnezzar felt that this dream was different so he raised the stakes for the wise men. God is sovereign knows all and is willing to do the craziest things possible to save his people. The book of Daniel and so many other books show this message and it echoes all the way to the end in Revelation.
I really like the explanation of what the different types of people were involved in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream situation. These types of people show up all through the Bible, and it was helpful to understand what role means what when considering this situation. What has always been interesting to me about this narrative is that Nebuchadnezzar refuses to tell them what his dream consisted of. This was always comical to me because I figured that he would want them to tell him what his dream was about. At first, it does seem that Nebuchadnezzar simply woke up and could not remember the entirety of the contents of the dream. To save embarrassment, he then could have the people tell him what his dream was about. This could make sense, however, Nebuchadnezzar states in verse 9, “you have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the times change” (ESV). This implies that because they were willing to lie to him now, maybe they have done it in the past. This would make sense then, why he would make such an impossible task. However, this task was not impossible for God.
Whenever there are dreams in the Bible I am always interested. It seems that there are many similarities between Joseph and Daniel. Both of them are strangers in a land they are not used to. They also both give credit God for the interpretive abilities they have. This is interesting to me because in both situations God is given the glory, and in some amount, the king gives Yahweh glory for the interpretation of the dream as well. It just goes to prove that God works in mysterious ways that we will never fully understand. This is something to glorify Him all the more for.