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

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

2. Tuesday May 29, 2012Daniel: Daniel 3:2-Nebuchadnezzar Summons Each And Every One Of The Dignitaries In The Various Provinces Of His Kingdom To The Dedication Of The Image Of HimselfLesson # 79

3. Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 3:1.

4. Daniel 3:1 records Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon erecting a gold statue of himself, ninety feet tall, nine feet wide in the plain of Dura in the province of the city of Babylon.

5. Daniel 3:1 Nebuchadnezzar the king sculptured an image composed of gold, its height ninety feet, its width nine feet. He erected it on the plain of Dura in the province of the city of Babylon. (Author’s translation)

6. This evening we will study Daniel 3:2, which records Nebuchadnezzar issuing an order to assemble each and every one of the dignitaries in the various provinces of his kingdom to attend the dedication of the gold statue he erected of himself on the plain of Dura in the province of the city of Babylon.

7. Daniel 3:2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent word to assemble the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. (NASB95)

8. “Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent word” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “then” which is followed by the masculine singular form of the proper name neḇû∙ḵǎḏ∙ně(ʾ)ṣ∙ṣǎr (נְבוּכַדְנֶאצַּר) (neb-oo-kad-nets-tsar), “Nebuchadnezzar” and then we have the masculine singular form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh´-lek), “king” which is followed by the third person masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active perfect form of the verb šelǎḥ (שְׁלַח) (shel-akh´), “sent.”

9. The conjunction wa is a marker of a sequence of closely related events meaning that it is introducing a statement that marks the next event that took place after Nebuchadnezzar sculptured an image of gold and erected it on the plain of Dura in the province of the city of Babylon.

10. The verb šelǎḥ means “to send out or issue an order or command” and is used with Nebuchadnezzar as its subject and its thought is completed by the infinitive construct form of the verb kenǎš, “to assemble.”

11. Thus, the verb šelǎḥ denotes Nebuchadnezzar “issuing an order” to his officials throughout the various provinces of his kingdom to assemble for the dedication of the statue that he had erected on the plain of Dura in the province of the city of Babylon.

12. “To assemble” is composed of the preposition lĕ (לְ) (leh) “to” and its object is the peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active infinitive construct form of the verb kenǎš (כְּנַשׁ) (kaw-nash´), “assemble.”

13. The verb kenǎš means “to assemble” in the sense of causing others to come together at a particular location.

14. Here it denotes Nebuchadnezzar issuing an order for the purpose of “assembling” his officials from the various provinces of his kingdom for the dedication of the gold statue he erected on the plain of Dura in the province of the city of Babylon.

15. The preposition lĕ is prefixed to the infinitive construct form of the verb kenǎš indicating the purpose for Nebuchadnezzar issuing this order.

16. The purpose of the order was to assemble his officials from the various provinces of his kingdom for the dedication of the gold statue he erected on the plain of Dura in the province of the city of Babylon.

17. “Satraps” is the masculine plural noun ʾǎḥǎš∙dǎr∙pǎn (אֲחַשְׁדַּרְפַּן) (akh-ash-dar-pan´), which is a Persian loan word which means “protector of the kingdom.”

18. In the Septuagint, the word in Daniel 3:2 is translated with the Greek noun σᾰτράπηςwhich means “satrap.”

19. This group of officials was the chief representatives of Nebuchadnezzar as well as governors of certain types of provinces.

20. They were the highest officials in his kingdom, which is supported by the statement in Daniel 6:1, which records that Darius appointed 120 satraps over his kingdom who would be in charge of the entire kingdom.

21. “Prefects” is the masculine plural noun seḡǎn (סְגַן) (seg-an´), which means “prefect” and were the military commanders of the various provinces throughout Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom.

22. “Governors” is the masculine plural noun pě∙ḥā(h) (פֶּחָה) (peh-khaw´), which means “governor” and is used here of the civil administrators or governors of civil government in the various provinces throughout Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom.

23. “Counselors” is the masculine plural noun ʾǎḏǎr∙gā∙zǎr (אֲדַרְגָּזַר) (ad-ar´´-gaw-zare´), which means “minister of information” referring to those individuals who give counsel or advise those in governmental authority.

24. “Treasurers” is the masculine plural noun geḏā∙ḇǎr (גְּדָבַר) (ghed-aw-bawr´), which means “treasurer” referring to those individuals in Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom who were in charge of the finances of the various provinces throughout the kingdom.

25. They administered the funds in the various provinces throughout Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom.

26. They were the superintendents of the treasuries in the various provinces throughout the empire.

27. “Judges” is the masculine plural noun deṯā∙ḇǎr (דְּתָבַר) (deth-aw-bawr´), which means “lawyer, guardian of the law” and were those individuals who were administrators of the law in the various provinces throughout Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom.

28. “Magistrates” is the masculine plural noun tip̄∙tāy (תִּפְתָּי) (tif-tah´ee), which means “magistrate, judge” referring to judges in the various provinces throughout the Babylonian kingdom who passed judgment in keeping with the law.

29. “And all the rulers of the provinces” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is followed by the singular construct form of the noun kōl (כֹּל) (kole), “whole” which is modifying the masculine plural construct form of the noun šil∙ṭōn (שִׁלְטֹן) (shil-tone´), “the rulers of” and then we have the feminine singular form of the noun meḏî∙nā(h) (מְדִינָה) (med-ee-naw´), “the provinces.”

30. This time the conjunction wa is used in an explicative sense meaning that the word is introducing an expression, which clarifies the list of officials who were ordered by Nebuchadnezzar to assemble for the dedication of the gold statue which he erected on the plain of Dura in the province of the city of Babylon.

31. It is introducing an expression which defines in summary fashion the list of seven classes of officials who were ordered by Nebuchadnezzar to assemble for the dedication of the gold statue which he erected on the plain of Dura in the province of the city of Babylon.

32. This expression ḵōl šil·ṭō·nê  meḏî·nā·ṯā(ʾ) (כֹ֖לשִׁלְטֹנֵ֣ימְדִֽינָתָ֑א), “all the rulers of the provinces” is a summary title for the list of seven classes of officials mentioned by Daniel.

33. The noun šil∙ṭōn means “official, ruler, dignitary” referring to an official of high standing or provincial administrator.

34. It refers to an individual who possesses an exalted rank or position of dignity and honor in Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom.

35. Thus it does not refer to lesser officials who were subordinate to the satraps or governors.

36. It is used to define the seven classes of officials previously listed by Daniel.

37. The noun describes in summary fashion that the satraps, military commanders, governors, advisers, treasurers, lawyers, judges were all officials of high standing or dignitaries in Nebuchadnezzar’s government.

38. Furthering supporting this interpretation is the noun kōl, “all,” which is modifying the noun šil∙ṭōn and speaking of these seven classes of officials in their entirety.

39. If the noun šil∙ṭōn referred to an eighth class of official in Nebuchadnezzar’s government, Daniel would not have employed the noun kōl, “all” since it is clear that the king wanted all the individuals belonging to each class of official to attend the dedication of the statue.

40. Thus, if the noun šil∙ṭōn referred to an eighth class of official, kōl, “all” would have been redundant.

41. The noun kōl denotes totality and is used in a distributive meaning “each and every” indicating that Nebuchadnezzar issued an order to assemble “each and every one” of the dignitaries for the dedication of the statue he erected in the plain of Dura in the province of the city of Babylon.

42. The noun meḏî∙nā(h) means “province” referring to a governmental administrative district.

43. Here it refers to the province of the city of Babylon.

44. The word is a genitive of source meaning it denotes that these high governmental officials or dignitaries were “from” the various provinces of Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom.

45. “To come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up” is composed of the preposition lĕ (לְ) (leh) “to” and its object is the peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active infinitive construct form of the verb ʾǎṯā(h) (אֲתָה) (aw-thaw´), “come” which is followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (leh) “to” and its object is the feminine singular construct form of the noun ḥǎnǔk∙kā(h) (חֲנֻכָּה) (chan-ook-kaw´), “the dedication of”

46. and then we have the masculine singular form of the noun ṣelēm (צְלֵם) (tseh´-lem), “an image” which is followed by the particle dî (דִּי) (dee), “that” and then we have the third person masculine singular hafʿel (Hebrew: hiphil) active perfect form of the verb qûm (קוּם) (koom), “set up” which is followed masculine singular form of the proper name neḇû∙ḵǎḏ∙ně(ʾ)ṣ∙ṣǎr (נְבוּכַדְנֶאצַּר) (neb-oo-kad-nets-tsar), “Nebuchadnezzar” which is followed by the masculine singular form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh´-lek), “king.”

47. The verb ʾǎṯā(h) means “to attend” and denotes each and every one of Nebuchadnezzar’s dignitaries from the various provinces in his kingdom “attending” the dedication of the statue he erected on the plain of Dura in the province of the city of Babylon.

48. The preposition lĕ is prefixed to the infinitive construct form of the verb ʾǎṯā(h) indicating the purpose for Nebuchadnezzar issuing this order for all his dignitaries to assemble.

49. The purpose of the order was to assemble them for the dedication of the gold statue he erected on the plain of Dura in the province of the city of Babylon.

50. The noun ḥǎnǔk∙kā(h) means “dedication” of the gold statue that Nebuchadnezzar erected on the plain of Dura in the province of the city of Babylon.