John Calvin Commentary Daniel 2:29

"as for thee, O king, thy thoughts came [into thy mind] upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter; and he that revealeth secrets hath made known to thee what shall come to pass." — Daniel 2:29 (ASV)

He again confirms what I have just mentioned, because he wished to impress this upon the king’s mind — that God was the author of the dream, to encourage the king to prepare for its interpretation with appropriate seriousness, modesty, and docility. For if he had not been seriously affected, he would have despised Daniel’s interpretation, just as we see people fail to profit from their own pride or carelessness even when God addresses them directly.

Therefore, we must observe this order, be fully prepared to listen to God, and learn to restrain ourselves when we hear His sacred name, never rejecting whatever He proposes to us, but treating it with appropriate seriousness. This is the true reason why Daniel repeats that King Nebuchadnezzar was divinely instructed in future events.

He says, in the first clause, The king’s thoughts ascended — the phrase is Hebrew and Chaldee. Thoughts are said to ascend when they are revolved in the brain or head, as we previously saw — this vision was in your head, since the seat of the reasoning faculty is in the head.

Daniel therefore asserts that the king was anxious about the future, as the greatest monarchs think of what will happen after their death, and everyone dreams about enjoying the empire of the whole world. So King Nebuchadnezzar was very probably indulging these thoughts. But it follows immediately that his thoughts could not profit him unless God unveiled the future, because it was His special role, says the Prophet, to reveal secrets. Here we see clearly how vainly people disturb themselves when they repeatedly consider subjects that surpass their abilities.

King Nebuchadnezzar might have fatigued himself for a long time without profit if he had not been instructed by the oracle. Therefore, there is weight in these words — He who reveals secrets has explained to the king what shall happen; that is, you cannot understand the dream by your own thoughts, but God has deemed you worthy of this special favor when He wished to make you aware of mysteries that had otherwise been completely hidden from you, for you could never have penetrated to such a depth.

He afterwards adds —