◄ Daniel 2:1 ►
In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams that troubled his spirit, and sleep escaped him.
Study Bible
In the second year of his reign
This phrase situates the narrative within a specific historical context. Nebuchadnezzar's reign began in 605 BC, making this around 603 BC. The "second year" is significant as it marks the early period of his rule, a time when he was consolidating power and establishing his kingdom. Historically, this was a period of great expansion and military success for Babylon, yet it was also a time of personal and political uncertainty for Nebuchadnezzar, which may have contributed to his troubled spirit.

Nebuchadnezzar
The name Nebuchadnezzar is derived from the Akkadian "Nabu-kudurri-usur," meaning "Nabu, protect my boundary." Nabu was a Babylonian deity associated with wisdom and writing. Nebuchadnezzar II was one of the most powerful and influential kings of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, known for his military conquests and monumental building projects, including the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. His reign is well-documented in both biblical and extra-biblical sources, highlighting his significance in the ancient Near East.

had dreams
Dreams in the ancient Near Eastern context were often seen as divine messages or omens. In the Hebrew Bible, dreams frequently serve as a medium through which God communicates with individuals (e.g., Joseph in Genesis). The plural "dreams" suggests a recurring or particularly vivid experience, emphasizing the importance and urgency of the message being conveyed to Nebuchadnezzar.

that troubled his spirit
The Hebrew root for "troubled" (pa'am) conveys a sense of disturbance or agitation. Nebuchadnezzar's spirit, or inner being, was deeply unsettled by these dreams. This reflects the ancient belief in the spiritual significance of dreams and the anxiety that could accompany them, especially for a king responsible for the welfare of his kingdom.

and sleep escaped him
The phrase indicates a state of insomnia, a common response to anxiety or stress. In the ancient world, sleep was often seen as a time when the divine could communicate with humans, so the loss of sleep due to troubling dreams would have been particularly distressing. This highlights Nebuchadnezzar's vulnerability and the profound impact of the dreams on his mental and emotional state.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Nebuchadnezzar
The king of Babylon, known for his powerful reign and significant impact on the Jewish people during the Babylonian exile. His dreams play a crucial role in the unfolding of God's plan and revelation.

2. Babylon
The empire over which Nebuchadnezzar ruled. It was a center of power and culture in the ancient world and a place of exile for the Israelites.

3. Dreams
In the ancient Near East, dreams were often seen as messages from the divine. Nebuchadnezzar's dreams are significant as they reveal God's sovereignty and future plans.

4. Troubled Spirit
Nebuchadnezzar's disturbed state indicates the seriousness of the dreams and sets the stage for Daniel's involvement and God's revelation.

5. Daniel
Though not mentioned in this specific verse, Daniel becomes a key figure in interpreting the king's dreams, demonstrating God's wisdom and power through him.
Teaching Points
God's Sovereignty in Human Affairs
God is in control of all nations and rulers, using them to accomplish His divine purposes, as seen in Nebuchadnezzar's dreams.

The Role of Dreams in Divine Revelation
While not every dream is a message from God, He can use dreams to communicate His will, as He did with Nebuchadnezzar.

The Importance of Seeking Godly Wisdom
Nebuchadnezzar's troubled spirit points to the need for divine wisdom, which Daniel later provides. Believers should seek God's wisdom in times of uncertainty.

God's Faithfulness to His People
Despite being in exile, God remains faithful to His people, using Daniel to reveal His plans and demonstrate His power.

The Peace of God in Troubling Times
Nebuchadnezzar's loss of sleep contrasts with the peace that God offers to those who trust in Him, reminding believers to seek God's peace in anxious times.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Nebuchadnezzar's experience with dreams in Daniel 2:1 demonstrate God's sovereignty over earthly rulers?

2. In what ways can believers today discern whether a dream or experience is a message from God, based on biblical examples like Daniel and Joseph?

3. How does the account of Daniel interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's dreams encourage us to seek God's wisdom in our own lives?

4. What can we learn from Nebuchadnezzar's troubled spirit about the limitations of earthly power and the need for divine guidance?

5. How does the peace of God, as described in Philippians 4:6-7, contrast with Nebuchadnezzar's anxiety, and how can we apply this peace to our own lives?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Genesis 41
Joseph's interpretation of Pharaoh's dreams parallels Daniel's role in interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's dreams, highlighting God's use of His servants to reveal divine plans.

Job 33:14-16
This passage discusses how God speaks through dreams, providing a broader biblical context for understanding the significance of Nebuchadnezzar's dreams.

Proverbs 21:1
This verse speaks to God's sovereignty over the hearts of kings, which is evident in how He uses Nebuchadnezzar's dreams to fulfill His purposes.
Sermons
Dreams and DreamersC. Leach, D.D.Daniel 2:1-2
Human Wisdom Tested and Found WantingThe Southern PulpitDaniel 2:1-2
The Dream of HumanityBp. Boyd Carpenter.Daniel 2:1-2
The Lost DreamW.A. Scott, D.D.Daniel 2:1-2
The Wise Men of BabylonJ. White.Daniel 2:1-2
The Failure and Discomfiture of FalsehoodJ.D. Davies Daniel 2:1-13
The Revelation LostH.T. Robjohns Daniel 2:1-13
People
Abednego, Arioch, Azariah, Belteshazzar, Daniel, Hananiah, Meshach, Mishael, Nebuchadnezzar, Shadrach
Places
Babylon, Shinar
Topics
Brake, Broke, Dreamed, Dreams, Itself, Mind, Move, Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnez'zar, Reign, Rule, Sleep, Spirit, Troubled, Wherewith
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Daniel 2:1

     5366   king
     5533   sleep, physical
     5537   sleeplessness
     5933   restlessness

Daniel 2:1-3

     5935   riddles

Daniel 2:1-13

     8709   astrology

Library
The Image and the Stone
'This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. 37. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 38. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath He given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. 39. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Book and Tract Catalogue.
THE PLAN OF REDEMPTION. BY I. C. WELLCOME AND C. GOUD. "The Plan of Redemption is an earnest book, evidently prepared after no little study, and with a conscientious desire to advance the cause of Christ. The Bible is made the basis of argument; it contains many fresh and well considered suggestions. The careful reader will find much that is valuable."--Watchman and Reflector. "This treatise aims to serve up the gospel scheme in a compact form. It states the plan and work well, and usually correctly. …
Dwight L. Moody—That Gospel Sermon on the Blessed Hope

Editor's Preface
Professor Maspero does not need to be introduced to us. His name is well known in England and America as that of one of the chief masters of Egyptian science as well as of ancient Oriental history and archaeology. Alike as a philologist, a historian, and an archaeologist, he occupies a foremost place in the annals of modern knowledge and research. He possesses that quick apprehension and fertility of resource without which the decipherment of ancient texts is impossible, and he also possesses a sympathy …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 1

The Scattering of the People
[Illustration: (drop cap A) The Fish-god of Assyria and Babylonia] At last the full punishment for their many sins fell upon God's chosen people. The words of warning written in the fifth book of Moses had told them plainly that if they turned aside and worshipped the wicked idol-gods of Canaan, the Lord would take their country from them and drive them out into strange lands. Yet again and again they had yielded to temptation. And now the day of reckoning had come. Nebuchadnezzar, the great king …
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making

That Gospel Sermon on the Blessed Hope
In 2 Timothy, 3:16, Paul declares: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness;" but there are some people who tell us when we take up prophecy that it is all very well to be believed, but that there is no use in one trying to understand it; these future events are things that the church does not agree about, and it is better to let them alone, and deal only with those prophecies which have already been …
Dwight L. Moody—That Gospel Sermon on the Blessed Hope

Epistle Xliii. To Eulogius and Anastasius, Bishops.
To Eulogius and Anastasius, Bishops. Gregory to Eulogius, Bishop of Alexandria, and Anastasius, Bishop of Antioch. When the excellent preacher says, As long as I am the apostle of the Gentiles I will honour my ministry (Rom. xi. 13); saying again in another place, We became as babes among you (1 Thess. ii. 7), he undoubtedly shews an example to us who come after him, that we should retain humility in our minds, and yet keep in honour the dignity of our order, so that neither should our humility be …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

A Description of Heart-Purity
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8 The holy God, who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity' calls here for heart-purity, and to such as are adorned with this jewel, he promises a glorious and beatifical vision of himself: they shall see God'. Two things are to be explained the nature of purity; the subject of purity. 1 The nature of purity. Purity is a sacred refined thing. It stands diametrically opposed to whatsoever defiles. We must distinguish the various kinds …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

The Wisdom of God
The next attribute is God's wisdom, which is one of the brightest beams of the Godhead. He is wise in heart.' Job 9:9. The heart is the seat of wisdom. Cor in Hebraeo sumitur pro judicio. Pineda. Among the Hebrews, the heart is put for wisdom.' Let men of understanding tell me:' Job 34:44: in the Hebrew, Let men of heart tell me.' God is wise in heart, that is, he is most wise. God only is wise; he solely and wholly possesses all wisdom; therefore he is called, the only wise God.' I Tim 1:17. All …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Wicked Husbandmen.
"Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: and when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto …
William Arnot—The Parables of Our Lord

The First Great Group of Parables.
(Beside the Sea of Galilee.) Subdivision B. Parable of the Sower. ^A Matt. XIII. 3-23; ^B Mark IV. 3-25; ^C Luke VIII. 5-18. ^a Behold, ^c 5 The sower went forth to sow his seed [Orientals live in cities and towns. Isolated farmhouses are practically unknown. A farmer may therefore live several miles from his field, in which case he literally "goes forth" to it]: ^b 4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some seed { ^a seeds } fell by the way side, ^c and it was trodden under foot, and the birds of …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Necessity of Regeneration, Argued from the Immutable Constitution of God.
John III. 3. John III. 3. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. WHILE the ministers of Christ are discoursing of such a subject, as I have before me in the course of these Lectures, and particularly in this branch of them which I am now entering upon, we may surely, with the utmost reason, address our hearers in those words of Moses to Israel, in the conclusion of his dying discourse: Set your hearts unto all …
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration

Letters of St. Bernard
I To Malachy. 1141.[924] (Epistle 341.) To the venerable lord and most blessed father, Malachy, by the grace of God archbishop of the Irish, legate of the Apostolic See, Brother Bernard called to be abbot of Clairvaux, [desiring] to find grace with the Lord. 1. Amid the manifold anxieties and cares of my heart,[925] by the multitude of which my soul is sore vexed,[926] the brothers coming from a far country[927] that they may serve the Lord,[928] thy letter, and thy staff, they comfort …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

Lii. Concerning Hypocrisy, Worldly Anxiety, Watchfulness, and his Approaching Passion.
(Galilee.) ^C Luke XII. 1-59. ^c 1 In the meantime [that is, while these things were occurring in the Pharisee's house], when the many thousands of the multitude were gathered together, insomuch that they trod one upon another [in their eagerness to get near enough to Jesus to see and hear] , he began to say unto his disciples first of all [that is, as the first or most appropriate lesson], Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. [This admonition is the key to the understanding …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Annunciation of the Birth of Jesus.
(at Nazareth, b.c. 5.) ^C Luke I. 26-38. ^c 26 Now in the sixth month [this is the passage from which we learn that John was six months older than Jesus] the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth [Luke alone tells us where Mary lived before the birth of Jesus. That Nazareth was an unimportant town is shown by the fact that it is mentioned nowhere in the Old Testament, nor in the Talmud, nor in Josephus, who mentions two hundred four towns and cities of Galilee. The …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The First Sayings of Jesus --His Ideas of a Divine Father and of a Pure Religion --First Disciples.
Joseph died before his son had taken any public part. Mary remained, in a manner, the head of the family, and this explains why her son, when it was wished to distinguish him from others of the same name, was most frequently called the "son of Mary."[1] It seems that having, by the death of her husband, been left friendless at Nazareth, she withdrew to Cana,[2] from which she may have come originally. Cana[3] was a little town at from two to two and a half hours' journey from Nazareth, at the foot …
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus

The Gospel of the Kingdom.
"This is He whom Seers in old time Chanted of with one accord; Whom the voices of the Prophets Promised in their faithful word." We have seen that, in the providence of God, John the Baptist was sent to proclaim to the world that "The Kingdom of Heaven" was at hand, and to point out the King. And as soon as the Herald had raised the expectation of men by the proclamation of the coming Kingdom, our Lord began His public ministry, the great object of which was the founding of His Kingdom for the salvation …
Edward Burbidge—The Kingdom of Heaven; What is it?

Daniel
Daniel is called a prophet in the New Testament (Matt. xxiv. 15). In the Hebrew Bible, however, the book called by his name appears not among the prophets, but among "the writings," between Esther and Ezra. The Greek version placed it between the major and the minor prophets, and this has determined its position in modern versions. The book is both like and unlike the prophetic books. It is like them in its passionate belief in the overruling Providence of God and in the sure consummation of His …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

Links
Daniel 2:1 NIV
Daniel 2:1 NLT
Daniel 2:1 ESV
Daniel 2:1 NASB
Daniel 2:1 KJV

Daniel 2:1 Commentaries

Bible Hub
Daniel 1:21
Top of Page
Top of Page