Daniel 2:20
and declared: "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him.
and declared
The phrase "and declared" signifies a proclamation or an announcement. In the context of Daniel, this declaration is a response to divine revelation. Daniel, having received insight from God, is moved to publicly acknowledge and praise God. The act of declaring is significant in biblical narratives as it often precedes or follows a divine encounter or revelation, emphasizing the importance of vocalizing faith and recognition of God's sovereignty.

Blessed be the name of God
The word "Blessed" in Hebrew is "barak," which means to kneel or to praise. This expression of blessing is a form of worship and reverence. The "name of God" represents His character, authority, and presence. In ancient Near Eastern cultures, a name was more than a label; it encapsulated the essence of the person. Thus, blessing God's name is an acknowledgment of His holiness and majesty. This phrase sets the tone for the rest of the verse, focusing on God's eternal attributes.

forever and ever
This phrase emphasizes the eternal nature of God. In Hebrew, the repetition of words is a common method to express infinity or perpetuity. The concept of eternity is central to understanding God's nature in the Bible. Unlike human wisdom and power, which are transient, God's attributes are unchanging and everlasting. This eternal perspective provides comfort and assurance to believers, knowing that God's dominion and wisdom are not subject to the limitations of time.

for wisdom and power
The terms "wisdom" and "power" are often linked in Scripture to describe God's sovereign rule. "Wisdom" (Hebrew: "chokmah") refers to the divine insight and understanding that God possesses, which is beyond human comprehension. "Power" (Hebrew: "geburah") denotes might and strength. Together, these attributes highlight God's ability to govern the universe with perfect knowledge and authority. In the context of Daniel, who was given the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, this acknowledgment underscores that true wisdom and power come from God alone.

belong to Him
This phrase asserts God's exclusive ownership of wisdom and power. The use of "belong" indicates possession and control. In a world where rulers and kingdoms rise and fall, Daniel's declaration is a reminder that ultimate authority resides with God. This acknowledgment serves as a foundation for faith, encouraging believers to trust in God's sovereign plan and His ability to execute it with perfect wisdom and strength. It is a call to recognize God's supremacy in all aspects of life and history.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Daniel
A young Hebrew prophet and wise man in Babylon, known for his faithfulness to God and his ability to interpret dreams.

2. Babylon
The empire where Daniel was taken captive. It was a place of great power and influence during Daniel's time.

3. Nebuchadnezzar
The king of Babylon who had a troubling dream that none of his wise men could interpret, leading to Daniel's involvement.

4. God
The central figure in this verse, acknowledged by Daniel as the source of wisdom and power.

5. The Dream
The event that prompted Daniel to seek God's wisdom, resulting in the revelation of the dream's meaning and the subsequent praise in this verse.
Teaching Points
Acknowledging God's Sovereignty
Recognize that wisdom and power are attributes of God alone. In our lives, we should seek His guidance and strength in all situations.

Prayer and Praise
Daniel's response to God's revelation was immediate praise. We should cultivate a habit of thanking God for His wisdom and intervention in our lives.

Dependence on God
Just as Daniel depended on God for understanding, we should rely on God for insight and direction in our daily decisions.

God's Eternal Nature
Daniel's praise emphasizes God's eternal nature. We should find comfort in knowing that God's wisdom and power are unchanging and everlasting.

Witnessing Through Faith
Daniel's faith and acknowledgment of God served as a witness to those around him, including King Nebuchadnezzar. Our faith and testimony can impact others and point them to God.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Daniel's acknowledgment of God's wisdom and power in Daniel 2:20 inspire you to seek God's guidance in your own life?

2. In what ways can you incorporate praise and thanksgiving into your daily routine, as Daniel did after receiving God's revelation?

3. Reflect on a time when you experienced God's wisdom and power in your life. How did it affect your faith and relationship with Him?

4. How can Daniel's example of faith and reliance on God serve as a model for you when facing challenges or uncertainties?

5. Consider the connections between Daniel 2:20 and other scriptures that speak of God's wisdom and power. How do these connections deepen your understanding of God's character?
Connections to Other Scriptures
James 1:5
This verse speaks about God giving wisdom generously to those who ask, connecting to Daniel's acknowledgment of God as the source of wisdom.

Proverbs 2:6
Highlights that the Lord gives wisdom, and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding, reinforcing Daniel's declaration.

Romans 11:33
Paul marvels at the depth of God's wisdom and knowledge, echoing Daniel's praise of God's wisdom and power.

1 Chronicles 29:11-12
David's prayer acknowledges God's greatness, power, and glory, similar to Daniel's praise.

Job 12:13
Job acknowledges that wisdom and power belong to God, paralleling Daniel's declaration.
A Specific Remedy for Human DistressJ.D. Davies Daniel 2:14-23
The Dream FoundH.T. Robjohns Daniel 2:14-30
Daniel About to Interpret Nebuchadnezzar's DreamH. B. Moffat, M.A.Daniel 2:20-23
Daniel's Prayer of ThanksgivingP. H. Hunter.Daniel 2:20-23
Daniel's ThanksgivingJ. White.Daniel 2:20-23
The Workings of GratitudeW. M. Taylor, D.D.Daniel 2:20-23
People
Abednego, Arioch, Azariah, Belteshazzar, Daniel, Hananiah, Meshach, Mishael, Nebuchadnezzar, Shadrach
Places
Babylon, Shinar
Topics
Age, Belong, Blessed, Daniel, Everlasting, Forever, Power, Praised, Spoke, Strength, Wisdom
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Daniel 2:17-23

     8160   seeking God

Daniel 2:17-49

     6694   mystery

Daniel 2:19-21

     5841   ecstasy

Daniel 2:19-23

     1409   dream
     8131   guidance, results

Daniel 2:20-23

     1180   God, wisdom of
     8135   knowing God, nature of

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

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