Matthew Henry

When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners came in, I told them the dream, and they could not interpret it for me.

“Providence ordered it so that they should be first puzzled with it, that Daniel's interpreting it afterwards might redound to the glory of the God of Daniel. Now was fulfilled what Isaiah foretold ( ch. xlvii.”

“O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery baffles you.

“He looked upon him as one that had such an insight, such a foresight, as none of his magicians had: I know that no secret troubles thee.”

“O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery baffles you.

“Here is a strange medley in Nebuchadnezzar, but such as is commonly found in those that side with their corruptions against their convictions.”

Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit was abundant, and upon it was food for all.

“If the bramble be promoted over the trees, he invites them to come and trust in his shadow, such as it is, Judg. ix. It is protection that draws allegiance.”

But leave the stump with its roots in the ground, and a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field.

“There is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, that through the scent of water it will bud, Job xiv. (3.) The meaning of this is explained by the angel himself to Nebuchadnezzar,”

This decision is the decree of the watchers, the verdict declared by the holy ones, so that the living will know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of…

“It is by the decree of the watchers; not that the great God needs the counsel or concurrence of the angels in any thing he determines or does, but, as he uses their ministration in executing his counsels, so he is sometimes represented, after the…”

you, O king, are that tree! For you have become great and strong; your greatness has grown to reach the sky, and your dominion extends to the ends of the…

“And willing enough would the king be to hear this (as, before, to hear, Thou art the head of gold ), but for that which follows.”

But at the end of those days I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity was restored to me.

“His flatterers often complimented him with, O king! live for ever. But he is now convinced that no king lives for ever, but the God of Israel only, who is still the same.”

Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that…

“While he tasted the wine, he commanded to bring the vessels of the temple, that they might drink in them.”

As they drank the wine, they praised their gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

“Drunken worshippers, who are not men, but beasts, are the most proper for the service of dunghill deities, that are not gods, but devils. They have erred through wine, Isa. xxvii.”

The king called out for the enchanters, astrologers, and diviners to be brought in, and he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this inscription and tells me…

“He knew what these pretenders to wisdom aimed at, and what would please them, and therefore promised them a scarlet robe and a gold chain, glorious things in the eyes of those that know no better.”

There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him.

“She entreated him not to be discouraged by the insufficiency of his wise men to solve this riddle, for that there was a man in his kingdom that had more than once helped his grandfather at such a dead lift, and, no doubt, could help…”

There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him.

“Yet what was the wisdom of them both compared with the treasures of wisdom hidden in Christ? (2.) He had an admirably good heart: An excellent spirit was found in him, which was a great ornament to his wisdom and knowledge, and qualified him to…”

So Daniel was brought before the king, who asked him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah?

“He was now nearly ninety years of age, so that his years, and honours, and former preferments, might have entitled him to a free admission into the king's presence; yet he was willing to be conducted in, as a stranger, by the master of the…”

But I have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems.

“But God so ordered it that they had nothing at all to say, as, when Christ was born, the heathen oracles were struck dumb.”

In response, Daniel said to the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else.

“He slights the offer he made him of rewards, is not pleased that it was mentioned, for he is not one of those that divine for money; what gratuities Nebuchadnezzar gave him afterwards he gladly accepted, but he scorned to bargain for them, or to…”

That very night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans was slain,

“And it was foretold what a consternation it would be to the court, Jer. li. Note, Death comes as a snare upon those whose hearts are overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness. The transferring of the kingdom into other hands.”

That very night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans was slain, and Darius the Mede received the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.

“Now in this sumptuous feast, 1. He put an affront upon the providence of God and bade defiance to his judgments. His city was now besieged; a powerful enemy was at his gates; his life and kingdom lay at stake.”

Soon, by his extraordinary spirit, Daniel distinguished himself among the administrators and satraps. So the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

“We must take notice of it, to the glory of God, that, though Daniel was now very old (it was above seventy years since he was brought a captive to Babylon), yet he was as able as ever for business both in body and mind…”

Finally these men said, “We will never find any charge against this Daniel, unless we find something against him concerning the law of his God.”

“It is observable that, when Daniel's enemies could find no occasion against him concerning the kingdom, they had so much sense of justice left that they did not suborn witnesses against him to accuse him of crimes he was innocent of, and to swear treason…”

All the royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers, and governors have agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce a decree that for thirty days anyone who petitions any…

“But it was much worse, and an impudent affront to all religion, to forbid asking a petition of any god.”

Now when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house, where the windows of his upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day…

“Cornelius was a man that prayed in his house, Acts x. Note, Every house not only may be, but ought to be, a house of prayer; where we have a tent God must have an alter, and on it we must offer spiritual sacrifices. (2.)”

Then they told the king, “Daniel, one of the exiles from Judah, shows no regard for you, O king, or for the decree that you have signed.

“That excellent spirit which Daniel was endued with, and that established reputation which he had gained, could not protect him from these poisonous darts.”

Then the men approached the king together and said to him, “Remember, O king, that by the law of the Medes and Persians no decree or ordinance established by the…

“We are not told what Daniel said; the king himself is his advocate, he needs not plead his own cause, but silently commits himself and it to him that judges righteously.”

So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the den of lions.

“He is sure that his God can deliver him, for he believes him to be an almighty God, and he has reason to think he will do it, having heard of his delivering Daniel's companions in a like case from the fiery furnace, and concluding…”