Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
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Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
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Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
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Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Daniel 2:19 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Numbers 12:6 He said, “Now hear my words. If there is a prophet among you, I, Yahweh, will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak with him in a dream.
- Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord Yahweh will do nothing, unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets.
- Job 33:15-16 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, in slumbering on the bed; Then he opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction,
- Psalms 25:14 The friendship of Yahweh is with those who fear him. He will show them his covenant.
- Daniel 1:17 Now as for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
- Daniel 7:7 “After this I saw in the night visions, and, behold, there was a fourth animal, awesome and powerful, and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth. It devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet. It was different from all the animals that were before it. It had ten horns.
- 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 But as it is written, “Things which an eye didn’t see, and an ear didn’t hear, which didn’t enter into the heart of man, these God has prepared for those who love him.” But to us, God revealed them through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
- Job 4:13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
- Daniel 2:22 He reveals the deep and secret things. He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.
- 2 Kings 6:8-12 Now the king of Syria was at war against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying, “My camp will be in such and such a place.” The man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, “Beware that you not pass this place; for the Syrians are coming down there.” The king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of; and he saved himself there, not once or twice. The king of Syria’s heart was very troubled about this. He called his servants, and said to them, “Won’t you show me which of us is for the king of Israel?” One of his servants said, “No, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.”
- Daniel 2:27-29 Daniel answered before the king, and said, “The secret which the king has demanded can’t be shown to the king by wise men, enchanters, magicians, or soothsayers; but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head on your bed, are these: “As for you, O king, your thoughts came on your bed, what should happen hereafter; and he who reveals secrets has made known to you what will happen.
- Daniel 4:9 “Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and no secret troubles you, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and its interpretation.
- Matthew 2:12-13 Being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country another way. Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Here it may be gathered, that Daniel did not…
Here it may be gathered, that Daniel did not vacillate nor pray with his companions through any doubt upon his mind. For that sentence of James ought to come into our memory, namely, Those who hesitate, and tremble, and pray to God with difference, are unworthy of being heard. Let not such a one, says James, think he shall obtain anything from the Lord, if he is driven about variously like the waves of the sea. (James 1:6.) As God, therefore, shewed himself propitious to the prayers of Daniel, we conclude him to have prayed with true faith, and to be clearly persuaded that his life was in God’s hands; hence, also, he felt that God did not vainly harass the mind of King Nebuchadnezzar, but was preparing some signal and remarkable judgment for him. Because Daniel was imbued with this firm persuasion, he exercises a sure confidence, and prays to God as if he had already obtained his request. On the other hand, we perceive that God never closes his ears when rightly and cordially invoked, as also it is said in the Psalms, (Psalm 145:18,) He is near to all who pray to him in truth; for there cannot be truth when faith is wanting; but as Daniel brought faith and sincerity to his prayers, he was listened to, and the secret concerning the dream was made known to him in a vision by night. I cannot now proceed any further.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Dan 2:19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel…
Dan 2:19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
Ver. 19. 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; {Act 4:31} to show that heaven itseff was shaken, and God overcome by such batteries.
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In a night vision.] Vigiliae noctis; { a} as he watched in the night; for he watched as well as prayed. {Eph 6:18}
Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.] Who had "not turned away his prayer nor his mercy from him." {Psa 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.
{a} Alb. Mag.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain It is not improbably conjectured that Daniel spent the…
It is not improbably conjectured that Daniel spent the night in watching and prayer, for night vision is distinguished from dreams, Num 12:6; whether sleeping or waking, Daniel had the same thing revealed unto him which king Nebuchadnezzar had, with this difference, the king remembered not his dream, nor knew what it meant, but Daniel was able to tell his dream and give the meaning of it also.
Daniel blessed the God of heaven; he gave thanks and praise to the Father of lights, from whom all wisdom comes, who heard his prayer, and revealed this secret to him. Note, this was revealed to Daniel, and not to his companions, for he was chief, and by this is signified by what steps he rose up to the degree of a famous prophet. Again, he calls the true God the
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God of heaven, because he made heaven, his throne is there, and the magicians’ and heathen gods come not there, but were cast out thence, being devils of hell; but the God of Israel is the God of heaven.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a…
Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision,.... That is, after Daniel and his companions had importunately sought the Lord by prayer, the secret of the king's dream, and the interpretation of it, were made known to Daniel, and to him only; he being the person designed in Providence to be raised to great honour and dignity by means of it; this was done either the same night, or the night following, and, as some think, in a dream, and that he dreamed the same dream Nebuchadnezzar did, which he remembered, though the king forgot it; or, however, the same image was represented, to him, whether sleeping or waking, and the meaning of it given him:
then Daniel blessed the God of heaven: gave thanks to him, that he had heard his prayer, and indulged him in his request; which thanksgiving, blessing, or praise, is expressed in the following words:
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 19. Then was the secret revealed - in…
Verse 19. Then was the secret revealed - in a night vision.] Daniel either dreamed it, or it was represented to his mind by an immediate inspiration.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Dan 2:19-23. Then was the secret revealed — It…
Dan 2:19-23. Then was the secret revealed — It is generally thought that this secret was revealed to Daniel only, and that in sleep, by a dream, or, as it is here termed, a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven — He does not stay till he had told what had been revealed to him to the king, and seen whether he would own it to be his dream or not; but, being confident it was so, and that he had gained his point, he immediately turns his prayers into praises. As he had prayed in full assurance that God would do for him what he asked, so he gives thanks in full assurance that he had done it, and in both he has an eye to God as the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said — “In the latter part of this and the next three verses, Daniel celebrates the praises of the Almighty in a simple, but truly sublime and animated strain of warm and unaffected piety, makes especial mention of his wisdom and power, and illustrates the display of those attributes in several instances, apposite to the subject and occasion.” — Wintle. For wisdom and might are his — His wisdom appears in ordering the great affairs of the world, and his might, or power, in bringing them to pass. To the same purpose Jeremiah styles him, great in counsel, and mighty in work, Jer 32:19. And he changeth the times, &c. — The great changes of the world are brought to pass by removing kings and translating their dominions to others; by raising some empires, and pulling down others. Of this, Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, which was then revealed to Daniel, contains several signal instances, as it comprehends the succession of the four great monarchies of the world. He knoweth what is in the darkness, &c. — The most secret things are manifest to him; he discerns them while they yet lie hid in their causes, and discovers and brings them to light at the proper time. I praise thee, &c., who hast given, or, because thou hast given, me wisdom and might — Namely, the means and power of saving myself and others from the greatest danger.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Then was the secret revealed ... - To wit,…
Then was the secret revealed ... - To wit, the dream and the interpretation. The thing which had been “hidden” was disclosed. We may suppose that this occurred after a suitable time had been given to prayer.
In a night vision - A representation made to him at night, but whether when he was asleep or awake does not appear. Compare the notes at Dan 1:17; Isa 1:1; Job 4:13; Job 33:15.
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Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven - Nothing would be more natural than that he should burst forth in a song of grateful praise for disclosing a secret by means of which his life, and the lives of his companions, would be preserved, and by which such signal honor would redound to God himself, as alone able to reveal coming events.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Night, while he was probably asleep, (Calmet) or praying…
Night, while he was probably asleep, (Calmet) or praying with his companions. (Villet.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain revealed . . . in . . . night…
revealed . . . in . . . night vision-- (Job 33:15-16).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 19. in a vision of the night] For the…
19. in a vision of the night] For the expression, comp. Isa_29:7 (‘like a dream, a vision of the night’), Job_4:13; Job_7:14; Job_20:8; Job_33:15, Gen_46:2.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (19) Night vision.—Not in a dream, but literally in…
(19) Night vision.—Not in a dream, but literally in a vision; but that Daniel saw a repetition of the king’s dream cannot be inferred from the words. We know from Num_12:6 that God was pleased to reveal the truth both by dreams and by visions.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a…
Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. The Septuagint adds that the secret was revealed "that very night (ejn aujth th nukti)." This may be held to be implied in the Aramaic, but it is here explicitly stated. Further, the Septuagint speaks of the secret as "the, mystery of the king." At the end of the clause the LXX adds the word eujshmwv, "evidently." All these alterations imply additions to the text made by the translator. Theodotion, the Peshitta, and Jerome agree with the Massoretic text There has been considerable discussion as to whether this revelation was made to Daniel by a dream. Hitzig assumes that the night-vision to Daniel was a repetition of that which had appeared to Nebuchadnezzar, and then pro-coeds to brand this as a psychological impossibility. Keil, Kliefoth, Kraniehfeld, and Zockler all declare against the identification of a night-vision with a dream. Keil and Kliefoth say in the same words, "A vision of the night is simply a vision which any one receives during the night whilst he is awake." And Kranichfeld says, "Of a dream of Daniel, in our present case there is not one word." Zockler says, "Not a dream-vision, but an appearance (Gesicht) vision, which appeared during the night." They maintain that, though all dreams" may be called night-visions," all "night-visions" are not dreams. " It would be difficult to prove that this is the usage of Scripture. It is quite true that the distinction between a dream and a vision is that in the former the subject is asleep, while in the latter he is awake. It may, however, be doubted whether this distinction is always maintained by the Hebrew and Aramaic writers, even in regard to "visions" and "dreams" generally; and it seems to us impossible to prove it in regard to "visions of the night" and "dreams." In ver. 28 of the chapter before us, there seems no doubt that Daniel uses these words as equivalent to each other; "Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these." While we agree with Hitzig that the revelation was to Daniel in a dream, we do not admit the psychological impossibility, save only in the pedantic sense in which it is said that no two people, however close they may stand to each other, see the same rainbow Dreams are very generally the product of what the subject has experienced during his waking hours. Surely Hitzig never meant to assert that it was a psychological impossibility for two individuals to witness the same event. Certainly the improbability is very great that the sight of the same physical event should meet the eyes of two people in similar states of body, and produce on them precisely the some sort and degree of impression. That, however, is akin to the Hegelian pedantic statement, which asserts that we cannot go twice down the same street. Though it might even be admitted to be an impossibility in the only sense in which it can at all be admitted, yet still it is not self-contradictory. The self-contradictory is the only impossibility we can assert in the presence of the miraculous. Hitzig"s objection to this is really that it was a miracle, and all the parade of giving the statement a new face by calling it, not a miracle, but a psychological impossibility, is only throwing dust in the eyes of others, perhaps of himself. Ewald does not see any psychological impossibility, and declares that the author meant to represent this at all events. Up, then, before the mind of Daniel rose the gigantic statue of the monarch"s vision, and with the vision came also the divinely given certainty that this was what the king had seen. He needs, however, more than the vision: the interpretation of the vision is vouchsafed to him also. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. The LXX rendering here joins the first clause of ver. 20 to this, "Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven, and having cried aloud, said." Theodotion, the Peshitta, and Jerome agree with the Massoretic text. As we have said above, Daniel returned thanks to God for his great goodness to him and his friends. Our blessing God does not increase Divine felicity, but it expresses our sense of this felicity, and we recognize it all the more readily when, as in the case of these Jews, it is exhibited in making us partakers of it. Hence blessing God and giving God thanks become in such cases one and the mine thing.
Vers. 19-23.
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Divine might and Divine wisdom.
We have here a model of the highest form of worship a prayer which is wholly adoration and thanksgiving. The importance of this is emphasized by the circumstances. Daniel"s life is threatened; he has just received the Divine assistance by which he can give the king his dream and secure his own escape; yet he stays to utter a full expression of praise for the greatness and goodness of God, with the sentence of death still hanging over him. For the most part, if people find scant time for prayer, they have still less for praise. (Php_4:6) It is well to rise from the receipt of Divine mercies to the worship of the Divine excellences out of which they flow. Thus Daniel, having received a special Divine inspiration, at once contemplates and adores the might and wisdom of God which it reveals. Consider the manifestation of these two Divine attributes in the present instance.
I MIGHT. The earliest Semitic name for God was "the Strong One," and the idea of the might of God lies at the root of the scriptural conception of his nature. He is not only revealed as glorious in being and wonderful in thought, but he is always seen to be active, working, exercising power. He is not a Platonic supreme idea, nor an epicurean Divinity, far off and unconcerned about us, but a living energizing Presence. Here we see:
1. Divine might is manifested in human affairs. "He changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings" (ver. 21). God is spoken of in the present tense. He created the world in the past; (Psa_102:25) but his power is still manifested in maintaining the life of the. (Joh_5:17) His hand is seen in the fields of nature; (Ps 104) it is equally present in human life. God is the greatest factor in history.
1. Divine might is most apparent in times of change. "He changeth the times and the seasons." It is present at all times, but it is evident in the crises of history. The volume of water in the stream is the same while it flows quietly as when it breaks into a torrent; but the roar and flash of the torrent appeal to our senses with a vehemence of their own.
2. Divine might is strikingly evident in overruling the greatest human powers. "He removeth kings, and setteth up kings." The old pagan tyrants thought to set their will up as a god, but they were made to feel at times that there was a "King of kings" above them. The greater the powers that are made to bow before God, the more stubborn their self-will or the more blind their ignorance, the more fully is the power of God revealed in overruling them.
3. Divine might is especially revealed in overthrowing the evil to stablish the good. Creating power is greater than destructive power. If certain kings are removed, other and better kings are to be set up. Destruction is not the end of the exercise of God"s might; it only prepares the way for fruitful creative energies.
II WISDOM.
1. This is seen in the Divine actions first in the process, by the arrangement that makes "all things work together;" and then in the result which is aimed at, because it is seen to be the wisest end. Power without wisdom would be brutal, and therefore wisdom is needed, not to make up for the deficiency of power by its adaptations and contrivances, but to direct power to its best exercise.
2. This wisdom is seen in the Divine bestowal of it upon men. Daniel traces human wisdom up to the diving: "He giveth wisdom unto the wise" (Exo_28:3; Deu_24:9; Eph_1:17) In direct opposition to the godless magic of the Chaldeans (vers. 10, 11), he tells Nebuchadnezzar that "there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets" (ver. 28). We may learn from this that revelation is the result of inspiration; i.e. it is received through the gift of Divine wisdom; it is not flashed upon us apart from spiritual experience. It is the opening of the eyes to see truths which were in existence before, but which were unrecognized for want of a Divine wisdom to discern them.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a…
Dan_2:19
Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision.
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Daniels Preparation for Prophetic Work
A prophecy does not fall from Heaven in the form of a book written and sealed. Prophecy is given through the spirit of a man. It comes first into the living soul. He afterwards declares it, and then records it, in a form adapted to the needs of living souls around. The situation of the prophet, then, must be favourable to the full reception of the prophecy in all its significance. To qualify him for his work his historical position must be such that his whole situation may be, so to say, the human question to which revelation proclaims the Divine answer. Accordingly, Daniel was carefully placed by the hand of God so that the prophecies with which he was favoured should have for him the fullest meaning. When we say that his watch-tower was in the palace of Babylon, hard by the very throne, we indicate how exactly God prepared him to be the prophet of this crisis in the history, not of Israel merely, but of the whole world. For more than seventy years he lived at the Babylonian and Medo-Persian court. He was a member of the government, high in position. His political preparation for successive revelations was very favourable. He gained an insight into the secular organisations of the kingdoms of this world, and became thus fitted to receive what we may be allowed to call political revelations. His spiritual preparation, too, was wisely and graciously ordered. The moral victory over the temptations of his state of pupilage, rendered it possible for God to communicate with humanity through him. He was well versed in previous revelations. Daniel knew the contents of preceding prophecies (9:2). Besides this preparation of knowledge and self-conquest, the experience of life at Babylon was likely to make his soul very susceptible to Divine impressions. (H. T. Robjohns, B.A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain SECT. VI.—THE THANKSGIVING (Chap. Dan_2:19-23)
HOMILETICS
SECT. VI.—THE THANKSGIVING (Chap. Dan_2:19-23)
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The part of faith not only to pray but to look out for an answer. Daniel prayed in the firm expectation that, if for God’s glory, an answer would be granted. When the answer was given in the vision vouchsafed to him, he was in no doubt about its being such. The vision carried with it the proof of its divine origin. Revelations from God bear their evidence in their own bosom. No need for Daniel to wait till the king identifies his dream. Daniel therefore at once gives thanks and blesses the God of heaven. The text exhibits him at seventeen or eighteen years of age as a beautiful example of elevated piety and devotion, worthy of the mention made of him by the prophet Ezekiel some years afterwards.
In Daniel’s thanksgiving we have—
I. The Object of it. This is God, viewed under two aspects.
1. “The God of heaven” (Dan_2:19). All blessings received to be traced immediately to God. The title indicates
(1.) His unity. The one God in contrast with the “gods many “of the heathen. The only God known in heaven, though mysteriously subsisting in a Trinity of persons.
(2.) His supremacy. Heavenly powers and heavenly bodies worshipped by the heathen. Israel’s God the God of them all. All in heaven as well as on earth subject to Him as His creatures. Daniel’s God not the sun nor the firmament, but He that made both.
(3.) His majesty. Heaven His throne, the earth His footstool. Nations and their sovereigns as nothing before Him. This not to be forgotten in our approaches to Him. Prayer to be addressed to Him as “Our Father, who art in heaven.”
(4.) His holiness. Heaven conceived of as the place of purity, untainted by sin. The abode only of pure and holy beings. That holy heaven the place of God’s throne and special residence.
(5.) The source and centre of happiness. Heaven the place of blessedness. It is God that makes it such. The “God of heaven” makes heaven what it is. A heaven without God no heaven to holy creatures: “Whom have I in heaven but Thee?”
2. “The God of his fathers” (Dan_2:23). The God known, served, and trusted in by his fathers, from Abraham downwards. A special mercy when the “God of heaven” is also the God of our fathers. Daniel recognises the privilege of having godly, praying ancestors. Answers to prayer and blessings in general to be then viewed in connection with such ancestry. The prayers of godly parents often answered in the blessings bestowed upon their children after them. Children often blessed for the sake of godly forefathers. The prayers of the righteous their children’s best inheritance. A special reason as well as encouragement to pray to Him who has been the God of our fathers. “Our fathers trusted in Thee and were delivered,” a scriptural and powerful plea in prayer. The God of our fathers likely to be our God too. The promise that comforted Jacob’s sorrowful heart on his way to Padanaram (Gen_28:13-15). What God was to our fathers He will be to us, if we take Him and trust Him as our God. “I am the Lord; I change not.” The text a powerful argument with parents to make God in Christ their God, so as to hand down the blessing to their children and children’s children after them.
II. The Subject of the thanksgiving. The special subject is the answer to prayer vouchsafed. “Who hast given me wisdom,” &c. (Dan_2:23). The very thing that Daniel and his friends had asked had been granted—wisdom and power to interpret the king’s dream, and so to save the lives of others as well as themselves, as well as to relieve the king’s agitation. The thing granted in answer to prayer often the very thing asked. Examples, Eliezer, Hannah, Elijah, Nehemiah. Faith receives either the very thing asked or something better. With thanks for the special blessing vouchsafed, Daniel connects blessing and praise.
1. For what God is.
(1.) Wise. “Wisdom and might are His” (Dan_2:20). Divine wisdom seen in the manner in which all things have been created and in which all things are governed; in the plan of the universe and the means for carrying that plan out. Especially seen in the redemption of fallen mankind by the incarnation and mediatorial work of His own Son. God the only wise. His wisdom contrasted with the pretended wisdom of the wise men of Babylon. That wisdom revealed in part in the king’s dream.
(2.) Mighty. “Might” as well as wisdom His. Has power to execute what His wisdom plans. Power as well as wisdom necessary to the government as well as the creation of the universe, and of every, even the smallest portion of it. One object of the king’s dream to exhibit the power of God, in opposition to the gods of the heathen and the rulers of the world. Constant reference to this contrast in the descriptions of Jehovah in this book. “It is He, not as the Chaldean kings in their pride fondly imagined, human power, that bestows kingdoms, sets up kings and casts them down, and that changes times.” The author of those great changes in the kingdoms of the world which Daniel announced in the interpretation of the king’s dream.
(3.) Omniscient. “Knoweth what is in darkness,” &c. (Dan_2:22). Able to “reveal the deep and secret things,” which the wise men of Babylon, with all their pretension, were unable to do, or their gods to do for them. All things naked and open before Him. No darkness or shadow of death where men may hide themselves from His sight. Hell and the invisible world without a covering before Him. The future as the present within His ken. Sees the end from the beginning. “Known unto Him all His works from the beginning of the world.” All history, including the lives and doings of the humblest of His creatures, only the development of His plan formed before the foundation of the world. No mysteries with God. The web of the universe, with its endlessly varied pattern, all before His all-seeing and all-contriving mind from the beginning, and that without any prejudice to the free agency of His intelligent creatures.
DANIEL EXHIBITED IN THE TEXT AS AN EXAMPLE OF THANKSGIVING
“Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven” (Dan_2:19).
Mercies in general, and answers to prayer in particular, call for due acknowledgment. Favours demand returns. A thankless heart a graceless one. “Neither were they thankful,” among the marks of man’s apostasy from God. Of the ten cleansed lepers, only one “returned to give glory to God.” Not much prayer in the world, still less of thanksgiving. A gracious soul not only prays but praises, especially when prayer has been heard and answered. Thanksgiving for answers to prayer doubles the blessing. “More blessed to give than to receive.” Thanksgiving both God’s right and man’s happiness. The want of it a wrong both against God and ourselves. To give thanks not only right and “comely,” but “pleasant,”—pleasant both to God and man. The ungodly man prays at times in a way; the godly both prays and gives thanks. Prayer made in hell, though in vain; thanksgiving and praise the employment of heaven.
Daniel’s thanksgiving was—
(1.) Prompt. Followed immediately on the bestowment of the blessing. “Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.” Thanks delayed lose half their value. He gives twice who gives quickly. Christ gave thanks even before the answer to His prayer was actually given, though anticipated (Joh_11:41).
(2.) Hearty. Indicated by the language and enlargement on the subject. Heartless thanks not real ones. The thankful leper fell down on his face on giving thanks to Jesus, a thing more like a person asking for a favour than giving thanks for one. Daniel as hearty in his thanks as he had been in his prayers. “I thank thee, O God of my fathers.” So the Psalmist: “I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart; for great has been Thy mercy toward me” (Psa_86:12-13).
(3.) Full. Daniel copious in his thanksgiving, as in his prayer (ch. 9.). Anxious to omit nothing in describing the blessing received. When God is not stinted in His gifts, we should not be stinted in our thanksgiving.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 That night the mystery was revealed
That night the mystery was revealed
This can be stated in active form. AT: "That night God revealed the mystery" (See: Active or Passive)
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the mystery
This is referring to the king's dream and its meaning.
Praise the name of God
Here "name" refers to God himself. AT: "Praise God" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
reveal
Daniel
vision
praise
God
heaven
name
eternity
wise
power
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.