Daniel 2:3-4

The Pulpit Commentary - Daniel 2:4

Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation. The versions do not imply any important difference Then … the Chaldeans. This does not mean merely that cue class of soothsayers—a class the existence of which is doubtful—nor that the whole baud of soothsayers bore the name "Chaldeans." The name is simply the name of the nation, but is here used of this small portion of it that were soothsayers, in the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Daniel 2:3

And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream - That is, clearly, to know all about it; to recollect distinctly what it was, and to understand what it meant. He was agitated by so remarkable a dream; he probably had, as Jerome remarks, a shadowy and floating impression of what the dream was - such as we often have of a dream that has agitated out minds, but of which we cannot recal the distinct and full image; and he desired to recal that... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Daniel 2:4

Then spake the Chaldeans to the king - The meaning is, either that the Chaldeans spoke in the name of the entire company of the soothsayers and magicians (see the notes, Daniel 1:20; Daniel 2:2), because they were the most prominent among them, or the name is used to denote the collective body of soothsayers, meaning that this request was made by the entire company.In Syriac - In the original - ארמית 'ărâmı̂yt - in “Aramean.” Greek, Συριστὶ Suristi - “in Syriac.” So the Vulgate. The Syriac... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Daniel 2:4

Daniel 2:4. Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriac The ancient Chaldee and the Syrian language were the same: see Gen 31:47 ; 2 Kings 18:26; Ezra 4:7. This language is found in its greatest purity in the books of Daniel and Ezra. The following part of the chapter, from this verse, is written in Chaldee, and so on to the end of the seventh chapter: the reason of which seems to be, that what is said from hence to the end of that chapter, relates chiefly to the Chaldeans, or the... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Daniel 2:1-23

Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (2:1-23)Soon after completing their early training, Daniel and his friends were faced with a severe test. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and wanted his wise men to tell him its meaning. However, he would not, or could not, tell them the dream. He insisted that they first describe the dream to him accurately, and then he could be sure that their interpretation also was accurate (2:1-6). The wise men replied that the king’s demand was unreasonable. No person anywhere had such... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Daniel 2:3

I have dreamed . Contrast this with Daniel's vision, in the Structure on p. 1178; and note the other recorded dreams (Genesis 20:3 ). was = is. read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Daniel 2:4

in Syriack . Hebrew. 'aramith = Aramaic. The insertion of this word here is to call our attention to the fact that what follows is written not in Hebrew, but in Aramaic, as far as the end of Daniel 7:0 . See note on the Structure, p. 1178; and note the other Aramaic portions (Ezra 4:8 Ezra 6:18 with Ezra 7:12-26 ; also Jeremiah 10:11 . The Syriac and Chaldee are properly Western and Eastern Aramaic. O king . This is the first Aramaic word so written. Compare Daniel 3:9 ; Daniel 5:10 ; Daniel... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Daniel 2:3

3. troubled to know the dream—He awoke in alarm, remembering that something solemn had been presented to him in a dream, without being able to recall the form in which it had clothed itself. His thoughts on the unprecedented greatness to which his power had attained ( :-) made him anxious to know what the issue of all this should be. God meets this wish in the way most calculated to impress him. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Daniel 2:4

4. Here begins the Chaldee portion of Daniel, which continues to the end of the seventh chapter. In it the course, character, and crisis of the Gentile power are treated; whereas, in the other parts, which are in Hebrew, the things treated apply more particularly to the Jews and Jerusalem. Syriac—the Aramean Chaldee, the vernacular tongue of the king and his court; the prophet, by mentioning it here, hints at the reason of his own adoption of it from this point. live for ever—a formula in... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Daniel 2:1-3

1. The king’s dream 2:1-3 read more

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