Daniel 2:2 Commentary and Bible Study

Three of the terms used here have been used before – ‘Chaldeans’ in Daniel 1:4, and ‘magicians and astrologers’ in Daniel 1:20. It is the ‘Chaldeans’ who speak in verse 5 of this chapter, either because they are the most important party and speak for all, or because the term is a collective description of all, as Daniel 1:4 suggests to some. Often ‘Chaldean’ is used as synonym for soothsayers, clairvoyants, in touch with their gods. The magicians are thought to be scholars or writers but the word refers to divination, and so they were scholars with occult knowledge. The astrologers were enchanters, the priests of Chaldea, and the sorcerers practiced witchcraft.The king called them to show him his dreams, so they came and stood before him. Nebuchadnezzar knew they were largely phonies. He would trust in them as far as necessary in line with the national culture, but he suspected they had no real answers. He was infuriated that he should now be forced to come to them for very real help and consult their supposed expertise. He normally solved all his own problems. In verse 3 he confesses that he has dreamed a dream, and his spirit is troubled to know the dream. He goes further as the chapter continues, and it is quite something for the king to be so affected that he frankly opens his heart and tells people the terror, the fear, that this dream, this vision, has given him. He is shaken, and turns to those who had the reputation of being able to handle dark and mysterious things. He is afraid because the dream has given him a sense of the divine presence, but he is not so overwhelmed that he forgets his power over these occult practitioners and places himself entirely in their hands. His awe arising from the dream, his inclination to resort to the standard source of help in such matters, and his suspicion that these men are phonies are all mixed together.