Nebuchadnezzar’s Anger at the Chaldeans

King Nebuchadnezzar is in a rage and is threatening to execute his entire palace staff. He was awakened by a troubling dream which both confused and frightened him. He then summoned his court magicians and wise men (“the Chaldeans”) to explain the meaning of what he had just dreamt. But the Chaldeans cannot recount the details of his dream, much less offer an interpretation. No help in relieving the king’s anxiety, and upon seeing the king’s anger at them, the Chaldeans seek to stall Nebuchadnezzar, hoping he will forget about the dream and move on to other things.

Meanwhile, the young Hebrew servant, Daniel, who has impressed the king from the moment he first appeared before the king in the royal court, offers the very thing the king’s magicians, sorcerers, and wise men cannot. Daniel will recount the details of the king’s dream, and then give him an interpretation. In the scene which plays out in chapter 2 of Daniel’s prophecy, we learn that YHWH has given his young servant Daniel the gift of wisdom, and revealed to the prophet both the content and the meaning of the king’s dream. In the contest between Daniel and the court magicians which follows, Daniel will easily win because the Babylonian “gods” are nothing but the figment of human imagination and superstition, while YHWH is the true and living God, who directs the course of history, who grants wisdom, who speaks, and who answers prayer.

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