Wenstrom Bible Ministries Marion, Iowa Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom wenstrom

1. Wenstrom Bible MinistriesMarion, IowaPastor-Teacher Bill Wenstromwww.wenstrom.org

2. Tuesday September 25, 2012Daniel: Daniel 4:18-Nebuchadnezzar Requests That Daniel Communicate To Him The Interpretation Of His Dream Since God’s Holy Spirit Is In HimLesson # 124

3. Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 4:18.

4. Daniel 4:18 ‘This is the dream which I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, tell me its interpretation, inasmuch as none of the wise men of my kingdom is able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, for a spirit of the holy gods is in you.’ (NASB95)

5. Nebuchadnezzar under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is employing the figure of “asyndeton” in order to emphasize the first statement that appears in Daniel 4:18, which records Nebuchadnezzar telling Daniel that he has finished telling him the content of his dream, which is recorded for us in Daniel 4:10-17.

6. The Holy Spirit through Nebuchadnezzar uses this figure because He wants the reader to dwell upon the content of the king’s dream and meditate upon it and so this figure sets up the reader for Daniel’s interpretation of this description.

7. “This” is the demonstrative pronoun denā(h) (דְּנָה) (dane-awe), which is anaphoric meaning that the word is pointing back to Daniel 4:10-17, which records Daniel telling Nebuchadnezzar the content of his dream.

8. “The dream” is the masculine singular form of the noun ḥē∙lěm (חֵלֶם) (khay´-lem), which refers to the content of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and refers to the revelation Nebuchadnezzar received from God in a vision in a dream, which is presented to the reader by Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:10-17.

9. “I” is the first person singular personal pronoun ʾǎnā(h) (אֲנָה) (an-aw´), which serves to contrast Nebuchadnezzar sharing the content of his dream with Daniel and Daniel telling him its interpretation.

10. “Have seen” is the first second person singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active perfect form of the verb ḥǎzā(h) (חֲזָה) (khaz-aw´), which means “to see” in the sense of receiving a prophetic revelation in a dream.

11. It refers to Nebuchadnezzar “receiving a prophetic revelation” in a dream which was concerning his future and is recorded in Daniel 4:10-17.

12. “Now you, Belteshazzar, tell me its interpretation” is a transitional clause since the conjunction wa, “now” is introducing a statement that marks a transition from the king telling Daniel that he has completed telling him the content of the dream to Nebuchadnezzar expressing his desire that Daniel interpret the dream for him.

13. The personal pronoun ʾǎnt, “you” is an independent personal pronoun which means “as for you” since it emphasizes Daniel interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream for him which terrified the king.

14. Here in Daniel 4:18, we have the vocative use of the nominative proper noun bēl∙ṭešǎ(ʾ)ṣ∙ṣǎr (bale-tesh-ats-tsar), which is expressing Nebuchadnezzar’s emotion when addressing Daniel in the sense that the king is desperate for an answer to what the dream meant since he senses it concerns him.

15. It seems strange that Nebuchadnezzar would address Daniel by his Babylonian name when the king knew that Daniel was loyal to his God, Yahweh and almost appears to be an insult to address Daniel according to his Babylonian name.

16. However, we must understand that Nebuchadnezzar is writing retrospectively here about an event that took place in the royal court.

17. Nebuchadnezzar is writing about what he requested of Daniel while standing before all of his court officials and dignitaries and wise men.

18. Thus, for the king to address Daniel according to his Babylonian name would be appropriate since the Babylonian dignitaries, wise men and other officials present at this audience knew Daniel only by his Babylonian name.

19. The verb ʾǎmǎr means “to communicate” to someone and thus denotes Daniel “communicating” to Nebuchadnezzar the interpretation of his dream.

20. The imperative mood of the verb is an imperative of request indicating that Nebuchadnezzar is requesting that Daniel communicate to him the interpretation of the dream which had been terrifying him.

21. This is not an imperative of command since the king is desperate to know what the dream meant since he is sure it concerns him and Daniel is the only one in his kingdom who has the ability to interpret this dream for him.

22. Also, the king knows the dream is from Daniel’s God and since Daniel is God’s servant, the king must get the interpretation from Daniel.

23. Further indicating an imperative of request is that Nebuchadnezzar addresses Daniel with great respect in that he describes him as possessing God’s Holy Spirit and thus he acknowledges Daniel’s God so that Daniel would be persuaded to interpret his dream for him.

24. “Inasmuch” is composed of the preposition k- (כְּ־) (kee) and this is followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (leh) and then we have the preposition qǒḇēl (קֳבֵל) (kob-ale´) and this is followed by the relative particle dî (דִּי) (dee).

25. These four words are introducing a statement that presents the reason or the basis for Nebuchadnezzar requesting that Daniel interpret the dream which terrified him.

26. “The wise men” is the masculine plural construct form of the noun ḥǎk∙kîm (חַכִּים) (khak-keem´), which is a reference to the four groups mentioned in Daniel 4:7, namely, the occult priests, necromancers, astrologers and diviners.

27. “None” is the singular construct form of the noun kōl (כֹּל) (kole), which is modifying the noun ḥǎk∙kîm and means “each and every one” since it denotes totality in a distributive sense.

28. It refers to the totality of Nebuchadnezzar’s wise men indicating that “each and every one” of them was absolutely unable to interpret his dream for him.

29. Then we have the emphatic negative particle lā(ʾ) (לָא) (law), which is negating the meaning of the masculine plural peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active participle form of the verb yeḵil (יְכִל) (yek-ale´), “is able.”

30. The verb yeḵil means “to be able” and its meaning is emphatically negated by the negative particle lā(ʾ).

31. Thus, these two words indicate that the king is saying to Daniel that he needs him to interpret his dream because “absolutely none” of the wise men “were able” or “had the ability to” communicate the interpretation of his dream, which had terrified him.

32. “But you are able, for a spirit of the holy gods is in you” stands in contrast to the king’s previous statement that each and every one of the wise men belonging to his kingdom was absolutely unable to make known the interpretation of his dream for him.

33. “You are able” is composed of the second person masculine singular form of the personal pronoun ʾǎnt (אַנְתְּ) (ant), “you” and then we have the masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew equivalent is the qal) active participle verb kehǎl (כְּהַל) (keh-hal´), “able.”

34. Once again, we have the independent personal pronoun ʾǎnt, which this time serves to contrast Daniel’s ability to interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream with the king’s wise men’s inability to do so.

35. “For a spirit of the holy gods is in you” presents the reason why Nebuchadnezzar has total confidence that Daniel can interpret the dream, which had terrified him.

36. “A spirit of the holy gods” is composed of the feminine singular construct form of the noun rûaḥ (רוּחַ) (roo´-akh), “a spirit of” which is followed by the masculine plural noun ʾělāh (אֱלָהּ) (el-aw´), “gods” which is modified by the masculine plural adjective qǎd∙dîš (קַדִּישׁ) (kad-deesh´), “holy.”

37. This expression appeared in Daniel 4:8-9 and as was the case in these two verses, here in Daniel 4:18, it means “God’s Holy Spirit” rather than “a spirit of the holy gods,” which is indicated by the fact that in Daniel 4:9, the king uses it to describe the basis for the fact that absolutely no mystery is too difficult for Daniel.

38. Now, Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged that Daniel’s God is a revealer of mysteries in Daniel 2:47.

39. Thus, the fact that the king associated the revealing of mysteries to Daniel’s God indicates that when Nebuchadnezzar uses the expression rûaḥ qǎd·dî·šînʾělā·hîn in Daniel 4:8-9 and 18 he is describing Daniel as possessing God’s Holy Spirit rather than being indwelt with a spirit of the holy gods.

40. Furthermore, Nebuchadnezzar is writing retrospectively as one who has trusted in Yahweh and would thus not be attributing Daniel’s ability to interpret his dream to pagan gods, which he worshipped as a heathen.

41. Therefore, the noun rûaḥ means “Spirit” referring to the third member of the Trinity.

42. The proper noun ʾělāh means “God” referring to the deity of the Spirit and the adjective qǎd∙dîš means “holy” describing the Spirit’s character and nature as set apart and morally pure in the sense that He is to be distinguished from the heathen gods in that He is the true God and they are not.

43. Daniel 4:18 “This is the dream I myself, King Nebuchadnezzar saw. Now, as for you, O Belteshazzar, please communicate the interpretation because each and every one of the wise men belonging to my kingdom is absolutely unable to make known to me the interpretation. However, in contrast to them, you are able because God’s Holy Spirit is in you.” (My translation)

44. Nebuchadnezzar’s statements to Daniel here in Daniel 4:18 echo his statements he made to Daniel in Daniel 4:9 before he communicated the content of his dream to Daniel.

45. Daniel 4:18 makes clear that Daniel was empowered by the Holy Spirit to interpret dreams, according to Nebuchadnezzar.

46. Nebuchadnezzar’s confession that Daniel had the ability to interpret his dream and his wise men did not emphasizes with the reader that one can only interpret dreams if the Holy Spirit gives you the power to do so.

47. The Holy Spirit provided Daniel the power or ability to interpret the king’s dream.