Dan 2:29-45 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Dan 2:29-30: 2:29-30 God had shown the king the long march of future history. Nebuchadnezzar was keenly interested in history, pursuing knowledge of the past and seeking to make a place for himself as history went forward. God wanted Nebuchadnezzar to understand the course of history, perhaps to impress upon him that Israel’s God, the God of heaven, is the God of all history.

Summary for Dan 2:29-30: 2:29-30 ^a God had shown the king the long march of future history. Nebuchadnezzar was keenly interested in history, pursuing knowledge of the past and seeking to make a place for himself as history went forward. God wanted Nebuchadnezzar to understand the course of history, perhaps to impress upon him that Israel’s God, the God of heaven, is the God of all history.
Summary for Dan 2:31-33: 2:31-33 ^b The progression downward is one of value: from the most valuable, gold (2:32 ^c), to the least valuable, iron and baked clay (2:33 ^d).
Summary for Dan 2:32-33: 2:32-33 ^e There were gradations of gold; fine gold was the highest quality.

• thighs: Above the knees.

• legs: Below the knees.
2:34 ^f The phrase from a mountain is implied (cp. 2:35 ^g) but is not in the Aramaic text.
2:35 ^h covered (literally filled) the whole earth: Cp. Gen 1:28 ⁱ; Exod 1:7 ^j; Matt 28:18-20 ^k. This new kingdom would replace all other kingdoms.
Summary for Dan 2:36-38: 2:36-38 ^l you are the greatest of kings (literally king of kings): Nebuchadnezzar had attained kingship over all other empires and their kings. He was the appointed ruler for that time in history (Jer 25:8-9 ^m).
2:39 ⁿ inferior to yours: Silver was inferior in value to gold, as the chest is lower than the head. Nebuchadnezzar was an extremely stable ruler who held the Neo-Babylonian Empire together. Persia, by contrast, was often threatened with internal divisions and instability around the periphery.
Summary for Dan 2:41-42: 2:41-42 ^o as weak as clay: Feet are crucial to stability; the feet were brittle and illustrate how precarious the whole image—that is, earthly kingdoms and their power—would be.
2:43 ^p Just as iron and clay do not mix, ... intermarriage among different people groups could weaken political alliances rather than produce real or lasting unity. This empire would be fragmented.
2:44 ^q Those kings were probably kings that arose within the fourth kingdom and attempted to strengthen themselves by alliances of intermarriage. However, the phrase might refer to all the kings of the statue as God’s kingdom persistently breaks into the flow of history.

• it will stand forever: Only a kingdom whose authority and power are from God (see John 18:36 ^r) can never be destroyed, for all earthly kingdoms crumble.
2:45 ^s The Babylonians often pictured the earth as a mountain (or ziggurat); hence, the rock would cover or replace the entire earth.

• The dream is true: The dream, clearly explained by divine revelation, was truth from God.

• its meaning is certain: God guaranteed that what the dream communicated would certainly take place.