Daniel 4:19 Commentary and Bible Study

‘Then Daniel … was astonied [stunned and amazed] for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him.’ Why? Surely, not because he didn't understand the dream. Surely not because he was waiting for God's revelation and the interpretation. No, he was stunned that this was going to happen to Nebuchadnezzar. Why was he stunned? Obviously not because he was attached to the man in any way. The king was a tyrant, a man of great evil, a man of staggering pride, a man of such obstinacy. He would not learn any lessons; he would not change his ways; he was unreachable, untouchable, immovable. Daniel's deepest sympathies were not with him. But in spite of knowing the viciousness of Nebuchadnezzar, he had a spiritual sympathy for him. He was moved at the idea that he would be cut down. He had no doubt prayed for and looked for the salvation of this man, but from a human point of view there was no possibility this tyrant would change. Daniel was stunned because he could see the position this put him in. He knew the interpretation of the dream; he must explain it to the king, and he must give him counsel, and he must reprove him. He must stand before the king, give him the meaning, and then give him the message, the application, and that was terrifying. Would he survive? Would this lead to turmoil for the Jewish people? Would this lead to worse problems? When the dream was exacted upon Nebuchadnezzar, what would happen then? Would others take over who were worse tyrants? We mustn’t forget the Jews were under protection, because Nebuchadnezzar had made this earlier decree that they should be safe. Of course they were ill-treated to an extent, but he had decreed that nobody should dispossess them, execute them, or hurt them. Would that now be cancelled if Nebuchadnezzar lost his kingdom and his rule through this? Daniel didn't have everything revealed to him. He was shown the meaning of the dream and his duty, and he was stunned in amazement and wonder that this untouchable emperor was going to be humbled and dealt with by God, and yet have his kingdom restored as a kind of last warning. Daniel was silent for an hour. The king is getting agitated. It is necessary for him to try to encourage Daniel and eventually he proceeds. Possibly he thought Daniel was afraid to tell it. At the end of verse 19 in our translation he says a very curious thing: ‘My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies.’ The word ‘be’ is in italics. In other words it isn't in the original. It has been inserted by the translator to help us get the meaning. What the passage means without the ‘be’ is a little different: ‘My lord, the dream is to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies. This is what your enemies would like to see. This dream will please them.’ That rubs a little salt in the wound, but that's the truth. Oh, the ways of God! Something no one could ever imagine would be accomplished, when an enemy even greater than the Babylonians who would come and attack them, and give the Jews a more favourable lot, but that wasn't yet on the horizon. The Medes and the Persians were gathering strength, but that was not part of this vision. There was no prospect of any change in the landscape politically, and Daniel would have been astonished. God is going to do it. He is going to give this man a period of insanity for some months or years, and that is going to have a deep and a profound effect.