before Christ 603. Mr. Bedford {} places it in 604:
Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; which, though but
one, yet, relating to various things, the several parts of
the hutnan body, and the different metals the form he
saw was made of, as well as the four monarchies it
signified, is called dreams. Jacchiades says, he first
dreamed the dream, and then the interpretation 6fit;
which is the reason of the plural nnmber: wherewith
his spirit was troubled; it gave his mind a great deal
of trouble while he was dreaming it; and when he
awaked, though he could not recover it, yet he had
some confused broken ideas of it; it had left some
impressions upon him, which gave him great uneasi-
ness, and the more as he could not recollect any part
of it; his mind was agitated, and tossed to and fro,
and under the greatest perplexity: and his sleep brake
from him; went away from him, through the strange-
ness of the dream, and the effect it had upon him.
Ver. 2. Then the king 'commanded to call the magi-
cians, &c.] He ordered his servants in waiting to send
immediately' for the wise men, the philosophers of that
age and kingdom, that studied the things of nature,
and the natural causes of things: and the astrologers;
that cast nativities, and pretended by the position and
influenceof the stars to know what would befall men:
and the sorcerers; or wizards, that made use of fami-
liar spirits, and the help of the devil; necromancers
that consulted the dead, in order to get knowledge of
future things: and the Chaldeans; so called, not from
their couutry; for probably all the preceding were
Chaldeans by nation; but inasmuch as the study of
judiciary astrology, and other unlawful arts, greatly
obtained in Chaidea; hence those that were addicted
to them had this name": for to ,hew the king his
dreams; both what it was he dreamed, and what the
interpretation or meaning of it was .: so they came, and
stood before the king; they came immediately, with
great readiness and willingness, esteeming it a great
honour done them to be sent for by the king, and
admitted into his chamber; and hoping it would turn
much both to their credit and profit; and being come,
they stood waiting his will and pleasure.
Ver. 8. And the king said unto them, I have dreamed
a dream, &c.3 What before is carled dreams is here
expressed in the singular, a dream; for it was but one
dream, though it contained in it various things ; this
the king could remember, that he had a dream; for
it had left .some impression on his mind, though he
could not call to mind what it was about. Aben Ezra
makes mention of one of their Gaons or Rabbins, that
affirmed that Nebuchadnezzar knew his dream, but
was willing to try the wise men; but, as he observes,
he could not surely believe the words of Daniel: and
my spirit was troubled to know the dream; both that,
and the meaning of it; he says nothing as yet about
the interpretation of it; concluding that, if they could.
tell him the dream, they could explain it to him; or
then it would be time enough to inquire after that.
Ver. 4. Then spake the Chaldeans to the king It,
Syriac, &c.] These spake, either because the inter-
eplretation of dreams particularly belonged to them; or
se as being the chief of the wise men, and of greatest
authority; or as chosen by the rest, and spake in their
name; and indeed this appellation may include them
all, being all of the same country, though they might
differ in their profession: they spake in the Syriac or
Babylonish language, the same with the Chaldee,
being their mother-tongue, and that of the. king too;
and therefore could more easily speak it themselves,
and be more easily understood by him, than if they
had spoke in another; see the note on ch. i. 14. and
from hence, to the end of the seventh chapter, Daniel
writes in Chaldee; the things he treats of chiefly re-
lating to the Chaldeans: 0 king, live for ever; which
is a wish of long life, health, and pros.perity; and does
not intend an everlasting continuance m this world, or
an eternal life in another, to the knowledge of which
they might be strangers: this w/as an .usual form of
salution of kings in these eastern nations; like to this
is-that of Sinaetus, a Persian, to Artaxerxes Mnemon {x}
"O King Artaxerxes, reign for ever ;" so said {y} Arta-
bazus, a faithful friend of Darius, to Alexander the
great, when he met him with the friends and relations
of Darius, "O king, may you flourish in perpetual hap-
"piness :" tell thy seroants the dream, and wewill ,hew the
interpretation; this was not the thing that was asked of
them, but the dream itself; and if that had been told
them, they- promise more than there is reason to believe
they would have fulfilled, had that been done; it is more
than the Egyptian magicians could. do, even when
Pharaoh had told them his dream: this they said partly
to get time, and partly to make a ,hew of theirskill and
knowledge; though in avery vain and arrogant manner.
Vet. 5. The king answered and said to the Chaldeans,
&c.] In the same language they spoke to him: the
thing is gone from me; either the dream was gone from
him; it was out of Iris mind, he had forgot it, and
could not call it to remembrance; he had been dream-
ing of monarchies and kingdoms, which are them-
selves but dreams and tales, and empty things that
pass away, and which he might have learned from
ú hence: or, as it may be rendered, the word is confirmed
by me {z}. Saadiah says, th.at s..o. mei observe that the
word here used has the ssgnshcat on of strength or
firmness; and so Aben Ezra interprets the word, is
stable and firm; to which agrees the Syriac version,
"most sure is the word which I pronounce ;" referring
not to the dream, but to what follows the king's decla-
ration, both with respect to threatenings and pro-
mises: if ye will not make known unto me. the dream,
with the interpretation thereof; the king speaks as if he
thought it was in their power, but they were unwilling
to do it; though no doubt, had they been able, they
would have readily done it, both for their credit and
advantage: ye shall be cut in pieces; not only cut in
two, but into various pieces, limb by limb, as Agag by
Samuel, and the Ammonites by David; and which
was a punishment often inflicted in the eastern nations;
as Orpheus was cut to pieces by the Thracian women,
and Bessus by order of Alexander the great {a}; much

{u} Scripture Chronology, p. 677ú
{w} Vid. Juvenal. Satyr. 6. A. GelIii Noet. Attic, I. 1. c. 9. Cicero de
Divinatione, I.1.
{x} AElian. Var. Hist. 1. 1. c. 32.
{y} Curtius, I. 6. c. 5.
{z} \^adza ynm atlm\^ verbum a me firmum, vel firmatum, Michaelis;
a me decretum & statutum, L'Empereur.
{a} Vid. Curtium, I. 7. c. 5. p. 206.