It becomes obvious from the text Daniel's final published work is a selective collection of things he wrote, or perhaps dictated to a scribe. Referring to himself in the third person was hardly inconsistent with literary practices of those times. At the point in verse 4 where Daniel mentions the Chaldeans speaking in the official court language of Aramaic, our copies of this text shift from Hebrew to Aramaic writing. It continues until the end of the historical accounts, and shifts back to Hebrew in the second half of this book for the visions and prophecies. It's hard to know exactly why, but an obvious guess would be the Aramaic portion was composed first, then the prophecies, then Daniel collected all the material together in a single volume, adding the introductory material in Hebrew.
The point of this chapter is primarily for Daniel to confess his complete and utter reliance in faith on Jehovah. It also indicates how Daniel and his friends rose from their low starting positions in the court hierarchy to prominence within the empire. Daniel is clearly one of the few figures in Hebrew history to rise above mere obedience to the Law of Moses to the higher calling of faith and trust in a God who was Himself far above such things. Where the Law had an obvious application, Daniel obeyed because of His faith. Where mere observance of ritual requirements could not answer the need of the moment, Daniel's faith made it possible to see in wisdom what God had intended.
Some have supposed Nebuchadnezzar forget this troubling dream. While possible, it makes little sense in the story from an Eastern viewpoint. Rather, we should gather from the scant clues here a picture of Nebuchadnezzar pondering deep and puzzling issues. While Daniel in chapter 1 referred to him as "King of Babylon" at the time of the conquest of Jerusalem, it seems that was simply noting his eventual ascension to the throne some years later. Many ancient cultures called for the heir to a throne to win his respect by leading the battles for his reigning father. In this case, Nabopolassar was the original ruler of Babylon in rising up against his former master, Assyria. He dispatched his son, Nebuchadnezzar, as general of forces on other fronts while mopping up the old Assyrian Empire. One of those campaigns netted Daniel and his friends, among a large retinue of royal Judean hostages. At some point, Nabopolassar died, and his son spent some time consolidating his position. There was a period of co-regency, a very common practice, and perhaps Daniel prefers to date things from the actual official solitary rule of his master. At any rate, the Emperor was clearly a man of tremendous intellect himself, and the scant historical evidence supports this. Now ruling alone, he ponders things of great importance to himself and his empire. He no doubt recognizes many of his court counselors are charlatans and "yes-men." How can he hope to rule with such advisers? A test of their supposed divine powers was in order. Thus, he demanded they tell him his dream.
A very troubling dream it was, indeed. It addressed things pertaining to his ruminations about the affairs of men and empires. It's quite possible he recognized the meaning himself, to some degree, but the whole experience was quite disturbing. Calling his large and varied staff of counselors, magicians, soothsayers, etc. -- the terms are not meant to be taken too precisely -- he presented his demand. Normally they would listen, the compare the story with a large collection of clay tablets with lists of omens and symbols. Quite likely its the sort of detailed digging Daniel and his friends would be assigned as neophytes to the craft. They were dumbfounded when Nebuchadnezzar demanded they tell him the dream, too. His accusation is based on an understanding of astrology, a key element in religious matters since at least the time of Nimrod many thousands of years earlier in that area. If they delayed long enough, the astrological signs would change, and the meaning of the dream would be lost. His threat would seem to have been a part of his plan all along. When the matter was ended, the captain of the Imperial Bodyguard began organizing the task. This was no small matter, for they all had to found and it would take several days. Whatever it was Nebuchadnezzar understood from his dream seemed to call for some truly dramatic changes in the way he ruled.
Obviously, none of these advisers were executed before they got to Daniel, but it was close. With all the composure of a man who valued faith above his own life, he asked the captain why the decree was so urgent. Executions normally were not summary with this class of people, but allowed adequate time for the settlement of a man's personal affairs, probably a week or more. The reply was something Daniel knew his God could handle. Daniel's service in the Imperial Court was predicted rather precisely by Isaiah (2 Kings 20:18), several generations before Daniel was born. We aren't told how he persuaded the Emperor to wait, and this could also be part of the ruler's plan, though Daniel seems not to know of it. Either way, it was certainly God's plan. Returning to their quarters, Daniel shared his convictions with his friends, and they sought the Lord's face together. If the Lord intended to use them, He would find a way to spare them.
Daniel receive a replay of the dream in his own, as well as what to him was the obvious meaning. His hymn of praise deserves its own book, but he clearly contrasts Jehovah as the real God in the context of confused Chaldean flummery and guesswork. Being a generous man serving a generous God, Daniel made it the first order of business that morning to save the wise men with whom he had many and profound differences, along with saving himself and his friends. The captain immediately brought him before the Emperor, taking advantage of his position to solve a major crisis. To the Emperor's query, Daniel was careful to establish he operated from a different basis than the other wise men, and relied on none of their tricks to keep others in the dark. Instead, he was open and honest, deflecting glory from himself, pointing it to his God instead.
The vision of the statue revealed more to Daniel than it did to Nebuchadnezzar. While the Emperor was absorbed in issues of this world on a large scale, Daniel saw a dramatic change in things for his nation, and for the Covenant. While the man of men, king of earthly kings, received a more or less plain description of succeeding empires -- his the head of gold, the Medo-Persians the upper body of silver, the bronze of Alexander's Macedonian conquest, and the iron of Rome -- he was unable to give much detail about the final, ultimate Kingdom established without human hands, a Kingdom built by God. However, the Hebrew reader who knew the Word would immediately see what Daniel left cloaked from those without God. We lack sufficient archaeological details to fill out the picture. However, we know Daniel's own assessment of his master was honestly high. He states Nebuchadnezzar was justly ruler of all known kingdoms; Daniel was courtly, but did not engage in flattery. The next empire would be stronger, but somehow less noble, and the next even more so. Finally, Rome's rule would be the strongest ever, yet with little real intrinsic value. In the end, that would allow for common folks to gain the authority, though they could never have the intrinsic greatness of any ruler before them. To this day, we see the result of commoners ruling in the feet of hard iron power mixed with a complete lack of any noble character. This is not about royal or noble blood compared to peasant DNA, but about the character and wisdom of those who rule. Tragic though this loss has been, it meant for Daniel and his nation they no longer had any real significance in God's plan as a free and independent people. They would never be truly free again.
However, God Himself would displace this with a Kingdom which did not rely on humanity. It would crush the entire history of noble human rule by raising a far higher standard, an impossible, inhuman standard of holiness. This new Kingdom would make all the rest insignificant. It was heartening to see God would not let things rest with the mongrelized rule of democracy, a rule of force without any redeeming graces; it was saddening for Daniel to see nothing in this vision of his people, only His God. We aren't told how Daniel responded to the worship directly from the man on the throne, but we know it vaulted him to the forefront of imperial politics. Yet he never forgot the veiled meaning of the parabolic warning of future things, as more visions were added to it later in his career.
Meanwhile, he was promoted to governor of the royal district, the personal domain of the Imperial family. Daniel in turn asked for his friends to be deputized to oversee daily affairs while Daniel remained on duty in the court. The image of "sitting at the gate" was a way of indicating Daniel was a chief counsel, for the gates were the meeting place where judges heard disputes and other legal business was formalized. In modern terms, Daniel literally stood near the throne, a trusted and close confidant. He was also promoted to the head of all the wise men. This was galling to men much older and more established, and their conniving ways later prove they were lesser men than their savior, but not able to foil God's plans.
I must add one note at this point: The writers of ancient times, such as Daniel, assume a what would be common knowledge for their readers. The secular historical information of this period is highly confusing and spotty. It's possible we really don't have a clue, and some of the historical background is mistaken. This does not really change the story itself. Assuming the worst, we would find only that we had misidentified characters peripheral to the narrative. We can be sure Nebuchadnezzar lead a Babylonian army to Jerusalem more than once, and Daniel calls him king. There are great and many questions whether he was the first or second to wear that name, and whether he was actually the son of Nabopolassar, but not the father of Nabonidus, nor grandfather of Belshazzar. These questions do not affect the events of Daniel's life, nor their meaning to our faith.
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Ed Hurst
07 November 2007
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