Albert Barnes Commentary Daniel 2:28

"but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and he hath made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these:" — Daniel 2:28 (ASV)

But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets - One of the principal objects contemplated in all that occurred regarding this dream and its interpretation was, to direct the mind of the monarch to the true God, and to secure the acknowledgment of His supremacy. Hence, it was so ordered that those who were most eminent for wisdom, and who were regarded as the favorites of heaven, were constrained to confess their entire inability to explain the mystery. The way was thus prepared to show that He who could do this must be the true God, and must be worthy of adoration and praise.

Thus prepared, the mind of the monarch was now directed by this pious Hebrew youth, though a captive, to a truth so momentous and important. His whole training, his modesty and his piety, all were combined to lead him to attribute whatever skill he might demonstrate in such a difficult matter to the true God alone: and we can scarcely conceive of a more sublime object of contemplation than this young man, in the most magnificent court of the world, directing the thoughts of the most mighty monarch who then occupied a throne, to the existence and the perfections of the true God.

And makes known to the king Nebuchadnezzar - Margin, “hath made.” The translation in the text is more correct, for it was not true that he had yet actually made these things known to the king. He had provided indications of what was to occur, but he had not yet been permitted to understand their meaning.

What will be in the latter days - Greek ἐπ ̓ ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν ep' eschatōn tōn hēmerōn - “in the last days.” Vulgate, in novissimis temporibus - “in the last times.” Chaldee, יומיא באחרית b e 'achărı̂yth yômayâ' - “in the after days;” or, as Faber expresses it, “in the afterhood of days.” The phrase means what we should express by saying, “hereafter - in future times - in time to come.” This phrase often has special reference to the times of the Messiah, as the last dispensation of things on the earth, or as that under which the affairs of the world will be concluded. Compare the notes at Isaiah 2:2. It does not appear, however, to be used in that sense here, but it denotes merely future times. The phrase “the latter days,” therefore, does not exactly convey the sense of the original. It is future days rather than latter days.

Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed - The phrase “visions of your head” means conceptions or notions formed by the brain. It would seem from this, that, even in the time of Daniel, the brain was regarded as, in some sense, the organ of thinking, or that thought had its seat in the head. We are not to suppose that by the use of these different expressions Daniel meant to describe two things, or to intimate that Nebuchadnezzar had had visions which were distinct. What he saw might be described as a dream or a vision; it, in fact, had the nature of both.

Are these - “These which I now proceed to describe.”