Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
Between the vision of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2:1-49, and that of Daniel 7:1-28, four narratives of Daniel's and his friends' personal history are introduced. As Daniel 2:1-49; Daniel 7:1-28 go together, so Daniel 3:1-30; Daniel 6:1-28 (the deliverance from the lions' den), Daniel 4:1-37; Daniel 5:1-31; of these last two pairs, the former shows God's nearness to save His saints when faithful to Him, at the very time they seem to be crushed by the world power. The second pair shows, in the case of the two kings of the first monarchy, how God can suddenly humble the world-power in the height of its insolence. The latter advances from mere self-glorification, in the fourth chapter, to open opposition to God in the fifth. Nebuchadnezzar demands homage to be paid to his image (Daniel 3:1-30), and boasts of his power, (Daniel 4:1-37.)
But Belshazzar goes further, blaspheming God by polluting His holy vessels. There is a similar progression in the conduct of God's people. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego refuse positive homage to the image of the world-power (Daniel 3:1-30); Daniel will not yield it even a negative homage, by omitting for a time the worship of God, (Daniel 6:1-28) Yahweh's power, manifested for the saints against the world in individual histories (Daniel 3:1-30; Daniel 4:1-37; Daniel 5:1-31; Daniel 6:1-28), is exhibited, in Daniel 2:1-49; Daniel 7:1-28, in world-wide prophetic pictures; the former heightening the effect of the latter. The miracles performed in behalf of Daniel and his friends were a manifestation before the Babylonian king, who deemed himself almighty, of God's glory in Daniel's person, as the representative of the theocracy, at a time when God could not manifest it in his people as a body. They tended also to secure, by their impressive character, that respect for the covenant-people, on the part of the pagan powers, which issued in Cyrus' decree, not only restoring the Jews, but ascribing honour to the God of heaven, and commanding the building of the temple (Ezra 1:1-4). (Auberlen.)
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image - Nebuchadnezzar's confession of God did not prevent him being a worshipper of idols besides. Ancient idolators thought that each nation had its own gods, and that, in addition to these, foreign gods might be worshipped. The Jewish religion was the only exclusive one that claimed all homage for Yahweh as the only true God. Men will in times of trouble confess God, if they are allowed to retain their favourite heart-idols. The image was that of Bel, the Babylonian tutelary god; or, rather, Nebuchadnezzar himself, the personification and representative of the Babylonian empire, as suggested to him by the dream (Daniel 2:38), "Thou art this head of gold." The interval between the dream and the event here was about nineteen years. Nebuchadnezzar had just returned from finishing the Jewish and Syrian wars, the spoils of which would furnish the means of rearing such a colossal statue (Prideaux). The colossal size makes it likely that the frame was wood, overlaid with gold.
Whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits. The "height," 60 cubits, is so out of proportion with the "breadth," exceeding it ten times, that it seems best to suppose the thickness from breast to back to be intended, which is exactly the right proportion of a well-formed man (Augustine, 'Civitas Dei,' 15: 26). Prideaux thinks the 60 cubits to refer to the image and pedestal together, the image being 27 cubits high, or 40 1/2 feet, the pedestal 33 cubits, or 50 feet. Herodotus (1: 183) confirms this by mentioning a similar image, 40 feet high, in the temple of Belus at Babylon. It was not the same image, because the one here was on the plain of Dura, not in the city.