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Wenstrom Bible Ministries Marion, Iowa Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom www.wenstrom.org. Tuesday January 25, 2012 Daniel: Daniel 2:2-Nebuchadnezzar Orders His Occult Priests, Necromancers, Sorcerers And Astrologers To Interpret His Dreams To Him Lesson # 26.
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Wenstrom Bible MinistriesMarion, IowaPastor-Teacher Bill Wenstromwww.wenstrom.org
Tuesday January 25, 2012Daniel: Daniel 2:2-Nebuchadnezzar Orders His Occult Priests, Necromancers, Sorcerers And Astrologers To Interpret His Dreams To HimLesson # 26
In Daniel 2:2, Nebuchadnezzar orders his occult priests, necromancers, sorcerers and astrologers to interpret his dreams to him.
Daniel 2:1 Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him. 2 Then the king gave orders to call in the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. (NASB95)
“Then the king gave orders to call in the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “then” which is followed third person masculine singular qal active imperfect form of the verb ʾā∙mǎr (אָמַר) (aw-mar), “gave orders”
and then we have the articular masculine singular form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh-lek), “the king” which is followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), “to” and its object is the qal active infinitive construct form of the verb qā∙rā(ʾ) (קָרָא) (kaw-raw´), “call”
and this is followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), “of” and its object is the articular masculine plural form of the noun ḥǎr∙ṭōm (חַרְטֹם) (khar-tome), “the magicians” which is followed by the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), which is not translated and followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), which is not translated and its object is the articular masculine plural form of the noun ʾǎš∙šāp̄ (אַשָּׁף) (ash-shawf), “the conjurers”
and then we have the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), which is not translated and followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), which is not translated and its object is the articular masculine plural piel active participle form of the noun kā∙šǎp̄ (כָּשַׁף) (kaw-shaf´), “the sorcerers”
and then we have the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), which is not translated and followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), which is not translated and its object is the articular the masculine plural form of the proper noun kǎś∙dîm (כַּשְׂדִּים) (kas-deem), “theChaldeans.”
The conjunction wa is a marker of result indicating that “as a result of” Nebuchadnezzar having a recurring dream which troubled him and gave him insomnia, he issued orders to summon the occult priests, necromancers, sorcerers and astrologers in his kingdom to explain his dreams.
The verb ʾā∙mǎr means “to issue an order” since the statement to follow indicates just that.
The verb qā∙rā(ʾ) means “to summon” in the sense of calling a person or persons into one’s presence.
Therefore, the word denotes that the king issued an order to summon the occult priests, necromancers, sorcerers and astrologers in his kingdom into his presence in order to interpret his dreams.
As was the case in Daniel 1:20 where the word first appeared, the noun ḥǎr∙ṭōm in Daniel 2:2 refers to the “occultists” in Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom who were a class of intelligent and clever priests involved with the occult, which is driven by demons.
These occult priests occupied themselves with the arts and sciences of the Babylonians, which involves astrology, the interpretation of dreams, the foretelling of events, as well as magic and channeling.
As was the case in Daniel 1:20, this noun ʾǎš∙šāp̄ in Daniel 2:2 refers to a necromancer who was an individual who attempted to contact the dead for the purpose of magically revealing the future or influencing the course of events.
The verb kā∙šǎp̄ refers to an individual who practices witchcraft or sorcery in other words is involved with the black magic arts.
It refers to an individual who practices magic by using occult formulas, incantations and mystic utterings.
Witchcraft was outlawed in Israel (Exodus 22:18; Deuteronomy 18:10-12).
Roy Zuck has an excellent comment, he writes “Babylon was famed for expiations or sacrifices, and other incantations, whereby they tried to avert evil and obtain good.’
In fact, ‘Babylonia was the birthplace of astrology from which sprung the twelvefold division of the day, the horoscope and sun-dial (Herod. ii. 109); but it was also the home of magic, which pretended to bind the course of events…The ancient world was deeply entrenched in occultism.
Not only were the nations Canaan, Israel, Judah, and Babylon engaged in witchcraft; Assyria too was an active participant in the black arts.”
Fred Smith writes “Babylonian court magicians were advisers to the king (astrologers, charmers, diviners, and Chaldeans; Dan. 1:20; 2:2, 10; 4:7; 5:7). God condemned divination and magic in every form. The law of Moses repeatedly condemns the practice. In Exod. 22:18 and Lev. 20:27 it brings the death penalty.
Leviticus 19:26 forbids the practice. Leviticus 20:6 commands the people to avoid those who engage in such practices, linking it to harlotry. To engage in divination is to be unfaithful to the Lord and to commit abomination (Deut. 18:9–22). People are exhorted to listen to God’s prophets instead.”
Robert Dick Wilson has made an exhaustive study of this word in Daniel 2:2 and has shown that the profane usage of this word dating back nearly to the time of Daniel agrees with the biblical usage and that the meaning “astrologers” is the most common meaning of the word (Studies in the Book of Daniel; pages 319-366; 1917; Google Books).
Archer comments on this word, he writes “It seems to have been derived from an original kaldu in Akkadian, which was by false analogy with the ethnic term kaldu (“Chaldean”) archaized back into kasdu. But actually kaldu was a loan word from a Sumerian GAL.Du (“master-builder”), a term applied to a special class of astrologer-soothsayers.” (Archer Jr., Gleason L.; The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, volume 7: Daniel-Minor Prophets; page 40; Regency Reference Library; Zondervan Publishing House; Grand Rapids, Michigan; 1985)
“To tell the king his dreams” is composed of the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), “to” and its object is the hiphil active infinitive construct form of the verb nā∙ḡǎḏ (נָגַד) (naw-gad´), “tell” and this is followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), “to” and its object is the articular masculine singular form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh-lek), “the king” and then we have the feminine plural construct form of the noun ḥǎlôm (חֲלֹום) (khal-ome´), “dreams” which is modified by the third person masculine singular pronomial suffix –hû (־הוּ) (who), “his.”
In Daniel 2:2, the verb nā∙ḡǎḏ means “to interpret” and is used with the Nebuchadnezzar as its subject and his dreams that disturbed him and caused him to suffer insomnia as its object.
The word refers to revealing a divine revelation which can not be understood without divine assistance.
The preposition lĕ is prefixed to the infinitive construct form of the verb nā∙ḡǎḏ indicating the purpose for Nebuchadnezzar issuing an order to summon the occult priests, necromancers, sorcerers and astrologers, which was to interpret his dreams.
The noun ḥǎlôm is in the plural and means “revelation in dreams” since Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream as recorded in Daniel 2:24-45a reveals that this dream was a revelation from God concerning future world empires and the times of the Gentiles.
“So they came in and stood before the king” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “so” and this is followed by the third person masculine plural qal active imperfect form of the verb bôʾ (בּוֹא) (bow), “they came in” and then we have the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is followed by the third person masculine plural qal active imperfect form of the verb ʿā∙mǎḏ (עָמַד) (aw-mad), “stood”
and this is followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed) and its object is the masculine plural construct form of the noun pā∙ně(h) (פָּנֶה) (paw-neh) and then we have the articular masculine singular form of the noun mě∙lěḵ (מֶלֶךְ) (meh-lek), “the king’s.”
The conjunction wa is a marker of result indicating that “as a result of” Nebuchadnezzar issuing an order to summon the occult priests, necromancers, sorcerers and astrologers in order to interpret his dreams, these four groups entered into his presence.
The verb bô(ʾ) means “to enter” and is used with Nebuchadnezzar’s occult priests, necromancers, sorcerers and astrologers as its subject indicating that they “entered” the presence of Nebuchadnezzar.
The verb ʿā∙mǎḏ means “to stand” indicating that Nebuchadnezzar’s occult priests, necromancers, sorcerers and astrologers stood in his presence.
The noun pā∙ně(h) means “presence” and is employed with the preposition lĕ, which is marker of location and together they mean “in the presence of” indicating that the occult priests, necromancers, sorcerers and astrologers stood “in the presence of” the king of Babylon.
In an attempt to understand the meaning of his dreams which were disturbing him and causing him to suffer insomnia, the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar issues an order to summon the occult priests, necromancers, sorcerers and astrologers in order to interpret this dream.
He felt that if they pool their expertise in their various fields, one or more or all of these four groups would be able to interpret his dream and thus bring an end to his anxiety and insomnia.
These four groups formed the brain trust for the king of Babylon.
They were highly respected by the king and Babylonian society and throughout the ancient world at that time.
As they made their way into the king’s presence, they must have questioned among themselves why the king would summon all four groups of them.
They undoubtedly would have sensed because of this that the king had a difficult problem on his hands.
