The Interpretation of the Dream. According to Daniel's interpretation the colossal statue is a pictorial representation of the course of history. Four empires succeed each other and are finally destroyed by a fifth which is of Divine origin (not made with hands), and ultimately dominates the world. We can identify these empires with practical certainty, and the identification proves that the statue depicts the history of 450 years, roughly speaking from 600 to 150 B.C. It will be observed that, according to the figure, history degenerates through this period. The gold becomes silver, the silver brass, and the brass iron. The golden empire is undoubtedly the Babylonian. Nothing could exceed the unstinted praise which the writer lavishes upon Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2:37 f.). The silver kingdom is that of the Medes, which the Book of Daniel interposes between the Babylonian and Persian Empires. The brass kingdom is that of the Persians, which was established by Cyrus in 538. The iron kingdom is the Greek, which was set up by Alexander the Great in 331 B.C. The two feet represent the two divisions of the Greek kingdom, i.e. the kingdom of the Seleucidæ over Syria and Babylon, and the kingdom of the Ptolemies over Egypt, which date from the beginning of the fourth century. The author of Daniel, writing about 168, looks forward to a speedy advent of a fifth or Messianic kingdom, which is to destroy the other kingdoms and sift them like chaff on the summer threshing floors. Four of the kingdoms, therefore, belong to the past, the fifth is the ideal kingdom of the future. It will be observed that the nearer the writer comes to his own day, the more specific are the details which are introduced into the picture.
Daniel 2:37. Note the description of the glories of Nebuchadnezzar's reign. He is described as king of kings, and (Daniel 2:38) his rule extends over the whole of the habitable world.
Daniel 2:39. another kingdom: the Median. third kingdom: the Persian.
Daniel 2:40. fourth kingdom: Macedonian or Greek. Charles thinks that this verse is corrupt and suggests that it ought to run, And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: for as iron breaketh in pieces and shattereth all things, so shall it break in pieces and crush the whole earth.
Daniel 2:41. a divided kingdom, i.e. the Seleucidæ and the Ptolemies, who divided Alexander's empire between them, the former representing the iron, the latter the clay.
Daniel 2:44 f. The description of the ideal or Messianic kingdom, the advent of which in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes is to overthrow the other empires and control the destiny of the world.
Daniel 2:46. worshipped Daniel. Neither the English word worship nor the Heb. original in this passage necessarily implies the payment of Divine honours, though both are used with that connotation. Yet the mention of the oblation and sweet odours seems to imply that the writer intended the word to be taken in that sense. If it were not for Daniel 2:46 b we should be justified in assuming that the term worship meant no more then than it does in the formula of the Prayer Book, with my body I thee worship.
Daniel 2:47 suggests that the homage paid to Daniel was in reality paid to God.
Daniel 2:48. chief governor: most scholars suppose that each class of the wise men had its own head, and that the title here used implies that Daniel was made governor or prefect of them all.
Daniel 2:49. in the gate of the king: remained attached to the court of the king.