Nebuchadnezzar, forgetting his dream, requireth it of the Chaldeans by promises and threatenings. They, acknowledging their inability, are adjudged to die. Daniel, obtaining some respite, findeth the dream: he blesseth God; stayeth the decree, and is brought to the king. The dream. The interpretation. Daniel's advancement.
Before Christ 603.
IN this chapter Nebuchadnezzar having dreamed, and been much affected thereby, is solicitous to know his dreams, and the meaning of them. He applies in vain to the wise men of his own country for information, and, being disgusted at their inability, orders them all to be slain. Daniel is sought after among the number, but on application to God he learns the dream and the interpretation, and arrests the execution of the sentence. He explains the dream to the king, as relating to the four great kingdoms of the earth, and the establishment of the kingdom of the Messiah under the fourth: whereupon the king admires his skill, acknowledges the power of his God, and advances Daniel and his friends to great honours and preferments.