Daniel 2: The King's Dream
1 Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him. 2 Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. 3 And the king said to them, “I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.”
Nebuchadnezzar had dreams... "Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams.... All was but one dream, but of many and weighty matters. Wherewith his spirit was troubled... God can easily trouble the troublers of his Israel, and make the ringleader of their bondage the trumpeter of their trophy, even nomen illud prolixum et terrificum, Nebuchadnezzar." (Trapp)
Nebuchadnezzar desired to understand the dream. He wanted the prospective interpreters to tell him the dream to eliminate all of the false professors at the beginning. Being suspect of them, he called the Chaldeans first. “The term referring to them, 'magicians,' is a loanword from Egyptian. It figures prominently in the story of Joseph (Gen. 41) and in the narrative of the ten plagued (Exod. 7–10). The presence of Egyptian magician's in Mesopotamia has been confirmed by extra biblical sources, some of which speak of magicians as prisoners of war. (Oppenheim) This gives a cosmopolitan emphasis of the events to the story… and the astrologers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans,… Since the term here [Chaldeans] is preceded by three other terms that all describe professional groups at the palace, the conjunction that comes before it may be considered explicative, as saying 'the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, that is, the Chaldeans.’” (Daniel- Wisdom to the Wise by Zdravko Stefanovic)
4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.”
Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic… "The word Aramaic in this verse marks the beginning of the section of Daniel written in Biblical (or Imperial) Aramaic, which stretches to the end of chapter 7 and constitutes along this portion of the Bible written in Aramaic." (Zdravko Stefanovic) “God is about to reveal facts connected with the Gentile world, and therefore a Gentile language is used as the vehicle of the revelation…” (Ellicott’s Commentary)
O king, live forever!… "These kinds of compliments are still in use in the East Indies… A poor man, going into the presence of a king to solicit a favor, uses the same kind of address: O father, thou art the support of the destitute; mayest thou live to old age! - Ward's Customs.” (Clarke)— YEA, MY LORD THE KING, LIVE FOREVER! “In the story here , this type of greeting is 'a particularly clever irony given the fact that the dream will soon reveal that Nebuchadnezzar will certainly not live forever and neither will his regime.' The ones speaking this greeting – the Chaldeans – had no clue of what was needed to live forever.” (Stefanovic)
5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “My decision is firm: if you do not make known the dream to me, and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made an ash heap. 6 However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor. Therefore tell me the dream and its interpretation.”
"The aramaic word for 'firmly decided,' is a noun that means 'verdict'..." (Stefanovic) “Gesenius translates, ‘The decree is gone forth from me,’ irrevocable (compare Isa 45:23); namely, that you shall be executed, if you do not tell both the dream and the interpretation….” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown) The penalty is "as follows '... ye shall be made an example of, and your goods shall be escheat to the royal treasury.' Theodotion renders the last portion of the verse, 'ye shall be destroyed (εἰς ἀπώλειαν ἔσεσθε), and your houses shall be plundered (διαρπαγήσονται).'" (Pulpit Commentary)… and burned, being made an ash heap. This was “was a usual punishment in those parts of the world” (Poole’s Commentary) for enemies of nations, upon defeat. And thus the king would account these home boys as enemies of the state.
“On the one hand, he threatens them with mass execution and total destruction of their property. On the other hand, he promises sumptuous gifts and rewards. The combination of promises and threats, reminders of blessing and curses, formed an integral part of ancient covenant treaties…” (Zdravko Stefanovic), even in Israel. Yet it was to be revealed that Nebuchadnezzar was the ‘basest of men’; Jer 39:5, 6;52:9-11…” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown)— self occupied, doing whatever it took for himself to flourish, both personally and politically.
7 They answered again and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will give its interpretation.” 8 The king answered and said, “I know for certain that you would gain time, because you see that my decision is firm: 9 if you do not make known the dream to me, there is only one decree for you! For you have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the time has changed. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can give me its interpretation.”
Let the king tell his servants the dream… “On our hypothesis that the king had not forgotten his dream, but was testing their powers, it was not only in the highest degree hazardous, but it was certain of failure.” (Pulpit Commentary) “They state the truth that their art only enabled them to discover the interpretation of a dream... And all this, as I have said, was governed by God’s secret counsel, that Daniel’s explanation might be more noticed...” (Calvin’s Commentary)- and his God more highly exalted among so-called gods.
The king's “reasoning must be allowed to be very just and right; for if the astrologers could obtain from their gods the knowledge of future events by the explication of a dream, certainly the same gods could have made known to them what the dream was.” (Coke’s Commentary)
10 The Chaldeans answered the king, and said, “There is not a man on earth who can tell the king’s matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean. 11 It is a difficult thing that the king requests, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”
“The more the wisemen go out of their way in trying to please him and keep him calm, the more agitated he becomes because he finds their answers to be seductive but also evasive. In the end, he accuses them of a lack of loyalty and even conspiracy. He will believe that their interpretation is correct only if they can tell him the dream... In their despair, the wisemen admit their impotence. They declare that this situation is unparalleled in the history of the world and that the King’s demand is simply unreasonable. The solution to the King’s puzzle certainly lies with the gods, yet the wisemen are only human beings, and they consider communication with the higher world impossible... Scholars have rightly called this moment the lowest point in Babylon's history in that it demonstrated the bankruptcy of its astrological system.”(Stefanovic)
AS FAR AS THEIR RELIGION, they revealed a false belief that the gods “cohabit not with men, that we might converse and confer with them… They deny God’s providence, as did also the Epicures, who held that the gods did nothing out of themselves. The Peripatetics also held that they had nothing to do with things below the moon; yea, the Platonists and Stoics placed the gods in heaven only, and other spirits good and bad in the air, which conversed with men… Thus these famous philosophers became altogether ‘vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.’ [Romans 1:21] … They seem to affirm that man can know nothing of God,... ‘But we have the mind of Christ,’ [1 Corinthians 2:16] and ‘the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him’; [Psalms 25:14] this is a paradox to the natural man. [1 Corinthians 2:14] Lastly, they deny the incarnation of Christ, that great ‘mystery of godliness, God manifested in the flesh.’ [1 Timothy 3:16 John 1:14]” (Trapp’s Commentary)
12 For this reason the king was angry and very furious, and gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13 So the decree went out, and they began killing the wise men; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them. 14 Then with counsel and wisdom Daniel answered Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon; 15 he answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, “Why is the decree from the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the decision known to Daniel.
“Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom,.... In a discreet manner, using soft words and gentle language, humbly and modestly inquiring what should be the meaning of all this. The Vulgate Latin version is, ‘he inquired of the law and decree’; what was the reason of the king's orders, which this officer had in commission to execute; “ (Gill's Exposition)
Daniel answered… Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard… “Aben Ezra says the words in the Arabic language so signifies: or, as it may be rendered, ‘the chief of the slaughterers’; the executioners of malefactors, so Jarchi; he was the king's chief executioner, with which agrees the business he was now charged with: the Vulgate Latin version calls him the prince of the militia; and others the king's provost marshal: which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon; who by the king's order went forth from the court into the city, to slay all in Babylon who went under the character of wise men; they were not among those that could not answer the king's demand, since they declared none could do it; and therefore he ordered them all to be slain, as a set of useless men in his kingdom.” (Gill's Exposition)
16 So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation.
Time— a stay of execution, “that he might seek unto [Yahweh] God [of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob] for a revelation of the thing. The Chaldeans dared not even to promise this; they would only pledge themselves for the interpretation, provided the king would furnish the dream. Daniel engages both to find the lost dream, and to give the proper interpretation.” (Clarke Commentary)
17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, 18 that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
“In relation to the Babylonian authorities, Daniel stands alone. In relation to the people of God, however, he stands in fellowship with his three friends.” (Goldingay) It seems by the translation that they prayed only for themselves— that they “might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.” But "The word 'rest,' is the Aramaic equivalent of a Hebrew word used for 'remnant.' The reader may think that Daniel and his friends prayed that only that lives would be spared. But from verse 24 we learned that they were also concerned for the lives of all the Babylon wise man... While the other wisemen relied on their wisdom, Daniel and his friends relied on prayer to God, the true Source of wisdom." (Stefanovic)
19 Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
“Then was the secret revealed… Oh the power of joint prayer! It seldom or never miscarrieth. While the apostles were praying together, the house where they prayed shook; [Acts 4:31] to show that heaven itself was shaken, and God overcome by such batteries.
In a night vision…. Vigiliae noctis; as he watched in the night; for he watched as well as prayed. [Ephesians 6:18]
Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven…. Who had ‘not turned away his prayer nor his mercy from him.’ [Psalms 66:20] They that pray heartily shall never want matter of praise, and such shall be ever driving a holy trade between heaven and earth, till they cease to pray; but praise God throughout all eternity.” (Trapp’s Concise Commentary) Do you believe that He reveals mysteries? How did you come to a knowledge of the mystery of the Person of Messiah? Watch, then, in a night vision for His coming again to set up His Kingdom, which endures forever.
20 Daniel answered and said: "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. 21 And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. 22 He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness,and light dwells with Him. 23 I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of You, for You have made known to us the king’s demand.”
"Following the hymn of praise, which, most likely, was the central part of the young men's thanksgiving worship, the narrative reverts back to Daniel, and now goes in the action." (Daniel- Wisdom to the Wise by Zdravko Stefanovic)
24 Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; take me before the king, and I will tell the king the interpretation.” 25 Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king, and said thus to him, “I have found a man of the captives of Judah, who will make known to the king the interpretation.” 26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation?” 27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, “The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. 28 BUT THERE IS A GOD IN HEAVEN who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these:
But there is a God in heaven Who reveals secrets… “To distinguish him from those idols, the works of men's hands; and from the false gods in which the Chaldeans trusted.” (Clarke’s Commentary) … and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be “in the latter days.” “A phrase which, in the prophets, generally means the times of the Messiah. God is about to show what shall take place from this time to the latest ages of the world. And the vision most certainly contains a very extensive and consecutive prophecy...” (Adam Clarke's Commentary)
29 As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be. 30 But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart. 31 You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. 32 This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Thoughts came to Nebuchadnezzar while on his bed about the future, and he was given a history extending to the time of the end— “a phrase which, in the prophets, generally means the times of the Messiah. God is about to show what shall take place from this time to the latest ages of the world.” (Clarke’s Commentary) “This image represented the kingdoms of the earth, that should successively rule the nations, and influence the affairs of the Jewish church.” (Henry’s Concise Commentary) Lastly a stone cut without hands came and obliterated all of the the kingdoms of this world. A stone cut without hands-- “An expression always emphasizing the absence of all human instrumentality and the act of God alone. See Daniel 2:45; Daniel 8:25. Job 34:20. Lamentations 4:6. Compare Acts 7:48; Acts 17:24, Acts 17:25; Acts 19:26. 2 Corinthians 5:1. Ephesians 2:11. Colossians 2:11. Hebrews 9:11, Hebrews 9:21.” (E.W. Bullinger) "The fifth monarchy; the spiritual kingdom of the Lord Jesus, which is to last for ever, and diffuse itself over the whole earth.” (Clarke Commentary)
36 “This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. 37 You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; 38 and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all—you are this head of gold.
You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; “The literal meaning of the first nouns malkuta, is ‘the kingdom.’ The statement is a leitmotif in the book, affirming the fact that kingship and dominion come from God... 'He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all.’ These words are a fulfillment of the prophecy in Jeremiah 27:6 (cf. Jeremiah 28:14), which says ‘I will handle all your countries over to my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; I will make even the wild animals subject to him.’ Daniel 2:38 speaks of a universal dominion of the king over all creation, classified here in three categories: human beings, animal world, and birds. The Greek text adds ‘and the fish of the sea.’ King Nebuchadnezzar's dominion echoes Adams, being described in the language of creation (Genesis 1:26).” (Daniel- Wisdom to the Wise”- Zdravko Stefanovic)
You are the head of gold— the strongest of all of the elements mentions, “alluding to the riches of Babylon, hence called ‘the golden city’ (Isa 14:4; Jer 51:7; Re 18:16…” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown) with a wall for your palace that is impenetrable.
39 But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.
“As Daniel proceeds with the interpretation of the dream, he rushes over the next two kingdoms. They receive more attention in a later vision, where their historical application is clearly stated (See Daniel 8).” (Stefanovic) Another kingdom- "That of the Persians, fitly set forth by silver (Daniel 2:32), for their exceeding great wealth mentioned by many heathen authors. The two silver arms are the Medes and Persians, meeting both in Cyrus, as the two arms do in the breast; Cyrus also, by his great strength and much bodily labour all his life long, got this other empire." (Trapp’s Commentary) “And it seems impossible that a more appropriate representative of this dual authority could have been devised than the breasts and arms of the great image.” (Coffman) Inferior to yours- “signified by the breasts and arms of silver, an inferior metal to gold..” (Gill’s Exposition) "Politically, which is the main point of view here, the power of the central government, in which the nobles shared with the king, being weakened by the growing independence of the provinces, was inferior to that of Nebuchadnezzar, whose sole word was law throughout his empire." (Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown)
And a third kingdom of brass, "representing the Grecian monarchy under Alexander the great, “celebrated for the brazen armor of their warriors.” (Jamison- Fausett-Brown) “Alexander marched even to the Indies, and was said to conquer the world." (Wesley Notes) And he “commanded that he should be called 'king of all the world' (Justinus, 12:, sec. 16. 9. Arrian, 'Expeditio Alexandri,' 7:, sec. 15).” (Jamison-Fausett-Brown)
“There is yet another identification mark of this third world power; and it was pointed out by Thomson. 'The word translated 'belly' (Dan. 2: 32) is plural; and it expresses along with the two thighs the idea of four-foldness!'… This points squarely to the Alexandrian Empire, because, upon the death of Alexander, the empire was promptly divided among the four generals of Alexander's army. 'Not only that, the four parts eventually were only two: Syria and Egypt. These are the two thighs of the statue.’” (Coffman Commentary)
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. 41 Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. 43 As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.
“The iron-like nature of the Roman power to break in pieces and crash all nations is known to every student of history." (Coffman Commentary ) “Rome defeated the last vestige of the Greek Empire in 31 B.C. and ruled for hundreds of years-until A.D. 476 in the Western Roman Empire, and until A.D. 1453 in the Eastern Roman Empire." (Constable Notes) BUT “This is the kingdom of the Romans, and was to last not only to Christ's first coming, but… to his second coming.” (Wesley Notes)
"The fourth kingdom, arising after Greece (and though changing form), extends its influence to the end of the world (Dan. 2:33, 34, 40-44). This fact helps identify it, for only one world power arising after Greece extends its influence to the end of time—Rome.” (Goldstein) “But what about the feet of iron and clay? Most people just accept that this is divided Europe. But is there more to it than that? Can we find a more specific truth to the feet of iron and clay if we dig a little deeper? Yes we can! …First of all, let us look at the Biblical meaning of iron and clay. What does iron denote in the Bible? Well, if you look at Psalm 2:9 and Revelation 2:27, you will see that iron is a symbol of a ruling power. So in terms of the world, iron would denote a civil ruling world power. And what about the clay? If you read Isaiah 64:8 and Jeremiah 18:1-6, you will see that clay in the Bible denotes the people of God, with the Lord Himself being the Potter.
IRON = World Ruling Power; CLAY = The Professed Church …. So what is God telling us…? He is telling us that in the last days there would be a mingling of civil power with the church. But we are not just talking about any church. God gives us even more detail if we look closely. Take a look at the type of clay that is in the feet. It is called ‘miry clay’ in the verses above. Meaning the clay is dirty, muddy clay. So what does that tell us? It tells us that the church represented by the clay in the feet is a corrupt, apostate church.
The beginning of the feet with regards to history comes into play when the kingdom of Rome splits up and the Papal Church of Rome gains supremacy and rules the nations through influencing the different civil governments and using them for her own corrupt ways. So the ‘strength’ of the iron (civil power) remains, but it is now ‘mixed’ with ‘dirty clay’…
What about the toes? Some believe these to be the ten kingdoms that emerged after the fall of the Roman Empire. But this cannot be so, because those ten original kingdoms, represented by the ten horns on the fourth beast in Daniel 7 became only 7 kingdoms, as 3 were ‘plucked up’ and destroyed by the Papacy. And yet the ten toes remain until the second coming of Christ Jesus (the Rock). So who are the ten toes? The book of Revelation gives us the answer.
Daniel and Revelation are ‘one’ prophetic book so to speak. With the first part given to Daniel by Jesus and the second part given to John by Jesus. We cannot separate these two amazing books. They have to be read together in order to understand end time prophecy more fully. Now look at what Revelation 17 says: ...'And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.' (Revelation 17:12-13 )
The ten toes correspond with the ten horns on the beast of Revelation 17. The beast is the Papal Church of Rome and the ten horns are the ‘kings’ (kingdoms) which give their power to the Papacy in the last days. This is what God is showing us through the feet and toes on the image in Daniel 2 and the horns on the beast in Revelation 13 & 17. There will be a confederacy of ruling civil powers in the last days with the strength of iron, who will give their power to the Roman Catholic beast, which is symbolized by the mixing of iron and ‘dirty’ clay.
Catholicism is that corrupt, apostate religion with which the kings of the earth have united with in the past Vaticanto form an abominable alliance. And in the last days we will also see Protestant churches that have become apostate unite with Rome and other religions in this global confederacy with the civil powers. A cry of unity is being spread all around the world today and that cry will get louder and louder until the Papal Church receives it's power from the ‘kings of the earth’. Then we will see the enforcement of the mark of the beast… The Roman empire was the last world civil power to rule the world. Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome were all world ruling empires. But God revealed in the feet of Nebuchadnezzar's image that there would never be another single civil power ruling the world. The feet shows us that from the division of Rome the world would remain partly broken until the second coming. But what we will see, as Revelation 17 points out is the kings of the earth giving their civil power to a church, which will usher in another 'dark ages' where 'religious' laws (mark of the beast) will be enforced under penalty of death." http://www.end-times-prophecy.org/end-time-kingdom.html
“The ‘mingling with the seed of men’ seems to refer to Ge 6:2, where the marriages of the seed of godly Seth with the daughters of ungodly Cain are described in similar words. The reference, therefore, seems to be to the blending of the Christianized Roman empire with the pagan nations, a deterioration being the result. Efforts have been often made to reunite the parts into one great empire, as by Charlemagne and Napoleon, but in vain. Christ alone shall effect that.” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown)
44 And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. 45 Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.”
“The good news is that this allegiance will only last a short time as Revelation 17 reveals. And there is only ONE KINGDOM that will last and that is the Kingdom of God, represented by the rock that comes down from heaven to smash all the worldly kingdoms to pieces. Then the saints will reign and live forever with our Lord Jesus Christ. Are you ready to enter that kingdom? Galatians 3:29 says ...'If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.' Do you have a daily relationship with Christ Jesus, the coming King? Do you love His character? Are you walking in His footsteps and by His grace obeying His teachings and commandments? If not, then you need to take heed of the warning Jesus gave in Luke 19:27 ...'But those Mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before Me.’ Please give your all to Jesus Christ today! (Mark 12:30)" http://www.end-times-prophecy.org/end-time-kingdom.html
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face… and worshipped Daniel. “He was about to do it, but that Daniel utterly and earnestly refused it, directing him to God, the sole object of divine adoration, as appeareth by the next verse. And indeed it had been better for Daniel a thousand times to have been put to death than to have suffered an oblation and sweet odours to have been offered unto him. He had said enough before to prevent such a mischief. [Daniel 2:28-30] See here how Satan tempteth the saints by extremes. Daniel, who before was destined to death, is now deified; and this was the more dangerous temptation of the two. Be not ‘ignorant of his wiles.’” (Trapp's Commentary) Yet even so: “It was a sign of both piety and modesty, when he prostrated himself before God and his Prophet. We know the fierceness and pride of kings; nay, we see them act like madmen, because they do not reckon themselves among mortals, and become blinded with the splendor of their greatness.” (Calvin’s Commentary)
47 The king answered Daniel, and said, “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.”
“The word ‘answered’ (Da 2:47) implies that Daniel had objected to these honors; and in compliance with his objection, ‘the king answered, 'Of a truth, your God is a God of gods.'; Daniel had disclaimed all personal merit in Da 2:30, giving God all the glory (cf. Da 2:45).” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown)
48 Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.
"The king honoured his promises of rewards, and gave him many great gifts and a position of great authority. We do not know exactly what it was, and fortunately for him, for he was young, he would have advisers, but it possibly made him supreme governor of the province of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar would want him always within reach. He was also made ‘Rab signin’ (chief overseer) over the wise men of Babylon.” (Pett's Commentary on the Bible)
49 Also Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.
Daniel did not forget his friends. "He did not do this for their personal profit, but that the whole Church, which was then there in affliction, might have some release and ease by this benefit.” (Geneva Study Bible) “Daniel... knew that he would need them, and he requested that they be appointed to positions were they could assist him, a favour which was immediately granted. So they too had positions of authority. But Daniel himself had his place in the royal entourage and the palace offices (‘the gate of the king’). He was close to the king, with ready access to him. However, the overall importance of the incident as far as the readers were concerned was that it revealed that Yahweh was supreme over all. He alone had been able to do what the servants of the gods of Babylon had said was impossible.” (Pett)
“It is our business to direct attention to the Lord, as the Author and Giver of every good gift. Many have thoughts of the Divine power and majesty, who do not think of serving God themselves. But all should strive [like Daniel], that God may be glorified, and the best interests of mankind furthered.” (Matthew Henry) How much more should we ascribe to ourselves mortality, having seen the fulfillment of a large part of these prophesies, even the rise and fall of many nations at the voice of Majesty. God alone is immortal!!! (1 Tim 6:16) Let us bow down and worship the King of kings and Lord of lords— the Lord Jesus Christ.