John Calvin Commentary Daniel 4

Some connect these verses to the end of the third chapter, but there is no reason for this. It will clearly appear from the context that the edict is here presented in the king’s name, and other events are inserted. Daniel, therefore, here speaks in the person of the king; he afterwards narrates what happened to the king, and then returns to his own person.

Those who separate these three verses from the context of the fourth chapter do not seem to have sufficiently considered the Prophet's intention and words. This passage may seem harsh and rough when Daniel introduces the king of Babylon as speaking—then speaks in his own name—and afterwards returns to the person of the king. But since this variety does not make the meaning either doubtful or obscure, there is no reason why it should trouble us. We now see how all the sentences, which we will explain in their places, are mutually united.

The contents of this chapter are as follows: Nebuchadnezzar was sufficiently instructed in the worship of the God of Israel as one God and was compelled at the time to confess this; yet he did not depart from his own superstitions. His conceptions of the true God were only momentary, and therefore he suffered the punishment due to such great ingratitude.

But God intended him to become more and more blinded, as he is accustomed to treat the reprobate and even his elect at times. When men add sin to sin, God loosens his reins and allows them to destroy themselves. Afterwards he either extends his hand towards them, or withdraws them by his hidden power, or reduces them to order by his rod, and completely humbles them.

He treated the king of Babylon in this way. We will afterwards discuss the dream; but we must here briefly notice the king’s admonition, so that he might feel himself without excuse when he was so utterly broken down. God indeed might justly punish him as soon as he saw he was not truly converted; but before he inflicted the final chastisement—as we will see in its place—he wished to admonish him, if there were any hope of his repentance.

Although he seemed to receive with the greatest modesty what God had manifested by his dream through Daniel’s interpretation of it, yet he professed with his mouth what he did not really possess. And he shows this sufficiently, because, when he ought to be afraid and cautious, he does not lay aside his pride, but glories in himself as a king of kings, and in Babylon as the queen of the whole world!

Since, then, he spoke so confidently after being admonished by the Prophet, we perceive how little he had profited by his dream. But God wished in this way to render him more inexcusable, and although he did not bring forth fruit immediately, yet a long time afterwards, when God touched his mind, he very properly recognized this punishment to have been divinely inflicted.

Therefore, this dream was a kind of entrance and preparation for repentance. And, as seed seems to lie putrid in the earth before it brings forth its fruit, so God sometimes works by gentle processes, and provides for the teaching (which seemed for a long time useless) to become both efficacious and fruitful.

I now come to the words themselves. The preface to the edict is, Nebuchadnezzar the king to all peoples, nations, and languages, which dwell in the whole earth, that is, under his sway. He does not mean this to be extended to Scythia, or Gaul, or other distant regions; but since his empire extended far and wide, he spoke boastingly. Thus we see the Romans, whose rule did not reach nearly so far, called Rome itself the seat of the empire of the whole world! Here Nebuchadnezzar now proclaims the magnificence and mightiness of his own monarchy.

Therefore, he sends his edict to all peoples, and nations, and languages, which dwell on the earth. He afterwards adds, it seemed to me good to relate the signs and wonders which the mighty God has wrought with me.

No doubt he feels himself to have paid the penalty for his ingratitude, since he had so punctiliously ascribed glory to the one true God, and yet had relapsed into his own superstitions, and had never really said farewell to them.

We see how often King Nebuchadnezzar was chastised before he profited from the rod of the Almighty. Therefore, we need not be surprised if God often strikes us with his hand, since experience proves us to be dull and, to speak truly, utterly slothful. When God, therefore, wishes to lead us to repentance, he is compelled to repeat his blows continually, either because we are not moved when he chastises us with his hand, or we seem roused for the time, and then we return again to our former torpor. He is therefore compelled to redouble his blows. And we perceive this in the narrative before us, as in a mirror.

But the singular benefit of God was this: Nebuchadnezzar, after God had often chastised him, yielded at length. It is unknown whether or not this confession proceeded from true and genuine repentance; I must leave it in doubt. Yet without the slightest doubt Daniel recited this edict to show the king so subdued at length, as to confess the God of Israel to be the only God, and to bear witness to this among all people under his rule.

Meanwhile, we must remark how this edict of the king of Babylon receives the testimony of the Spirit; for Daniel has no other object or purpose in relating the edict than to show the fruit of conversion in King Nebuchadnezzar. Therefore, without doubt, King Nebuchadnezzar bore witness to his repentance when he celebrated the God of Israel among all people, and when he proclaimed a punishment for all who spoke reproachfully against God.

Therefore, this passage is often cited by Augustine against the Donatists. For they wished to grant impunity to themselves when they disturbed the Church with rashness, corrupted pure doctrine, and even permitted themselves to attack it like robbers. For some were then discovered to have been slain by them, and others mutilated in their limbs.

Since, then, they allowed themselves to act so licentiously and still desired to commit crimes with impunity, they yet held this principle as of first importance: No punishment ought to be inflicted on those who differ from others in religious doctrine—as we see in these days how some contend far too eagerly about this subject.

What they desire is clear enough. If anyone carefully observes them, he will find them impious despisers of God; they wish to make everything uncertain in religion, and as far as they can, they strive to tear away all the principles of piety. With the aim then of vomiting forth their poison, they strive eagerly for freedom from punishment and deny the right of inflicting punishment on heretics and blasphemers.

Such is that dog Castalio and his companions, and all like him; such also were the Donatists. And therefore, as I have mentioned, Augustine cites this testimony in many places and shows how ashamed Christian princes ought to be of their slothfulness if they are indulgent to heretics and blasphemers and do not vindicate God’s glory by lawful punishments, since King Nebuchadnezzar (who was never truly converted) yet promulgated this decree by a kind of secret instinct.

In any case, it ought to be sufficient for men of moderate and quiet tastes to know that King Nebuchadnezzar’s edict was praised by the approval of the Holy Spirit. If this is so, it follows that kings are bound to defend the worship of God, and to execute vengeance upon those who profanely despise it, and on those who endeavor to reduce it to nothing, or to adulterate the true doctrine by their errors, and thus dissipate the unity of the faith and disturb the Church’s peace.

This is clear enough from the Prophet’s context; for Nebuchadnezzar says at first, it pleases me to relate the signs and wonders which God has prepared for me. He had already explained how wonderfully God had treated him, but this had passed away. Now God seizes him a second and even a third time, and then he confesses it to be his boast to explain the wonderful signs of God.

He afterwards breaks forth into the exclamation, How mighty are his signs! How remarkable his miracles! His kingdom is a kingdom of an age, and his dominion is from age to age. Without doubt, Nebuchadnezzar wished to excite his subjects to the attentive perusal of this edict and to the acknowledgment of its value, and thus to subject themselves to the true and only God.

He calls him The High God, meaning, doubtless, the God of Israel. Meanwhile, we do not know whether he cast away his superstitions.

I, however, incline to the opposite conjecture, since he did not put off his errors but was compelled to give glory to the Most High God. He so acknowledged the God of Israel as to join inferior deities with him as allies and companions, just as all unbelievers, while admitting one supreme deity, imagine a multitude of others.

So also Nebuchadnezzar confessed Israel’s God to be Most High; yet he did not correct the idolatry which still flourished under his rule. Indeed, he mingled and confused the false gods with the God of Israel. Thus he did not leave behind his own corruptions.

He celebrates indeed with magnificence the glory of the supreme God, but this is not sufficient without abolishing all superstitions, promoting that religion alone which is prescribed by the word of God, and causing his pure and perfect worship to flourish.

In short, this preface might seem a proof of an important conversion, but we will soon see how far Nebuchadnezzar was from being entirely purged of his errors.

It ought, indeed, to affect us exceedingly to behold the king wrapped up in so many errors, and yet seized with admiration of the divine power, since he cannot express his thoughts, but exclaims—His signs how mighty! His wonders how powerful! He added, His kingdom is a perpetual kingdom, and his dominion is from age to age.

Here he confesses God’s power not to be dependent upon man’s will, since he had just before said that the statue which he had erected was to be worshipped because he had chosen so to decree it. Now, however, he relinquishes much of this pride by confessing God’s kingdom to be a perpetual one.

The narrative now follows. Until now, we have merely had a preface, because the edict was circulated among his subjects to make them attentive to the most important subjects.

Nebuchadnezzar here explains how he acknowledged the Supreme God. He does not relate the proofs which he had previously received; but since his pride was subdued in this last dream, he makes a passing allusion to it. Meanwhile, he doubtless recalled his former dreams to mind and condemned himself for his ingratitude, for burying this great power of God in oblivion and for wiping away the remembrance of those benefits with which God had adorned him.

Here, however, he speaks only of his last dream, which we will see in its own place. But before he comes to the dream, he says, he was at rest. שלה, seleh, signifies "rest" and "happiness"; and since prosperity renders men secure, it is metaphorically used for "security." David, when he pronounces the same sentence upon himself, uses the same words (Psalms 30:6): I said in my prosperity, or rest; שלוה, selueh, which some translate "abundance," but it rather signifies a quiet or prosperous state.

Nebuchadnezzar, therefore, here marks the circumstance of time; from this we may know he was divinely seized, because prosperous fortune had rendered him stupid and drunken. There is nothing surprising in this, for the old and common proverb is, "fullness is the parent of ferocity," as we see horses when too much fed, prance about and throw their riders. Thus also it happens with men. For if God treats them rather indulgently and liberally, they become fierce and insolent towards all men, and strike off God’s yoke, and forget they are only men. And when this happened to David, what will happen to the profane and to others who are still too much devoted to the world? For David confesses he was so deceived by his quiet and felicity as to determine within himself that he had nothing else to fear: I said in my happiness, or my quiet, I shall not be removed; and he afterwards adds,

O Lord, thou didst chastise me, and I was laid low (Psalms 38:7).

Since, therefore, David promised himself perpetual quiet in the world because God spared him for a time, how should our tranquility be suspected, lest we grow torpid on our lees? Nebuchadnezzar, then, does not recite this in vain: I was quiet at home, I flourished in my palace, since this was the cause of his confidence and pride, and of his carelessly despising God.

He afterwards adds, he saw a dream and was disturbed. He, doubtless, wished here to distinguish his dreams from common ones, which often arise from either a disturbance of the brain, or our daily thoughts, or other causes, as we have elsewhere seen. It is not necessary to repeat what we have already treated more copiously.

It is sufficient to state, briefly, how this dream, in which God previously informed him of the future punishment at hand, is separated from others which are either troubled, or fluctuating, or without reason. He says, therefore, he saw a dream, and was disturbed, while he was awake. He adds, his thoughts were upon his bed; and then, he was disturbed by visions of the head. These expressions only point towards that heavenly oracle, or vision, or dream, of which we will afterwards speak more fully.

It follows, he put forth a decree to summon all the wise men of Babylon to explain, or make manifest, the interpretation of the dream. Doubtless the king often dreamt, and did not always call together the Magi and soothsayers, and astrologers, and others who were skilled in the science of divination, or at least professed to be so.

He did not consult them on all his dreams; but because God had inscribed in his heart a distinct mark by which he had denoted this dream, so the king could not rest until he heard its interpretation. As we previously saw the authority of the first dream about the Four Monarchies and the Eternal Kingdom of Christ confirmed, so the king perceived this one to have proceeded from heaven.

There is another difference between this dream and the one previously explained. For God blotted out King Nebuchadnezzar's remembrance of the dream about the Four Monarchies, so that it became necessary for Daniel to reveal the dream to the king, and at the same time to add the interpretation.

Daniel was then more obscure. Although he proved himself to have excelled all the Chaldeans, King Nebuchadnezzar would have wondered at him less if he had only been an interpreter of a dream. God wished, therefore, to acquire greater reverence for his prophet and his doctrine, when God enjoined upon Daniel two duties: first, the divination of the dream itself, and then the explanation of its sense and purpose.

In this second dream, Daniel is only an interpreter. God had already sufficiently proved him to be endowed with a heavenly spirit, when Nebuchadnezzar not only called him among the rest of the Magi, but separated him from them all. He afterwards says:

Regarding the words used above, we have previously resolved any difficulty, because we cannot accurately define what area of expertise each one professed. They clearly covered their shamelessness with honorable titles, even though they devoted themselves to every possible deception. They called themselves by the common name of 'learned men,' when they were actually unacquainted with any true art or science, and they deceived humanity with miserable predictions. Therefore, by these words, Daniel included all the Magi, soothsayers, astrologers, and augurs who claimed to practice the art of divination.

Here Nebuchadnezzar confesses that he sent for these men in vain. Therefore, it follows that this whole practice was a fallacy, or, at least, Daniel’s interpretation of the dream was not by human skill, but by revelation from heaven. I hold this view, since Nebuchadnezzar wished to clearly express that Daniel’s power of interpreting his dream did not originate from man, but was a unique gift of the Spirit.

He had considered it an established fact that if any knowledge or skill in divination existed, it must be found among the Magi, soothsayers, augurs, and other Chaldeans who boasted of possessing perfect wisdom. It was therefore undisputed that the astrologers and the others were the most skilled in divination, and as far as human abilities permitted, nothing was beyond their knowledge.

Therefore, it follows, on the other hand, that Daniel was divinely instructed. If he had been only an astrologer or magician, he, like the others, would have required a long apprenticeship in this practice. Nebuchadnezzar, therefore, wishes here to praise Daniel above all the Magi, as if he were saying, 'He is a heavenly Prophet!' This will also become clearer from what follows.

Here the king of Babylon addresses Daniel kindly, since he saw himself deserted by his own teachers. And from this we gather that no one comes to the true God unless impelled by necessity. Daniel was neither unknown nor far off, for we have seen that he was in the palace.

Since, then, the king had Daniel with him from the first, why did he pass him over? Why did he call the other Magi from everywhere by his edict? Thus, as I have said, it clearly appears he would never have given glory to God unless compelled by extreme necessity.

Thus he never willingly submitted to the God of Israel; and his affections were clearly but momentary, whenever they manifested any sign of piety.

Because he besought Daniel so imploringly, we see his disposition was servile. Just as all proud men puff up when they do not need anyone's help and become overbearing in their insolence, but when they are reduced to extremity, they would rather lick the dust than not obtain the favor which they need.

Such was the king’s disposition, since he willingly despised Daniel and purposely preferred the Magi. But as soon as he saw himself left in difficulties and unable to find any remedy except in Daniel, this was his last refuge. He now seems to forget his own loftiness while speaking softly to God’s holy Prophet. But I will proceed with the rest tomorrow.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, since you here propose a remarkable example before our eyes, that we may learn your power to be so great as not to be sufficiently celebrated by any human praises: and since we hear how its herald was a profane king, indeed, even a cruel and proud one, and you have afterwards deigned to manifest yourself to us familiarly in Christ, — Grant, that in the spirit of humility we may desire to glorify you, and to cling entirely to you. May we declare you to be ours, not only in mouth and tongue, but also in works; not only as our true and only God, but our Father, since you have adopted us in your only-begotten Son, until at length we enjoy that eternal inheritance which is laid up for us in heaven by the same Christ our Lord. — Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

O Belteshazzar, master of the Magi, since I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret can escape thee — or overcome thee, as I will soon explain the word — relate the visions of my sleep which I saw, and their interpretation. Yesterday we showed King Nebuchadnezzar to be a suppliant to Daniel when reduced to extremity.

He did not seek him at first, but consulted his Magicians, and he is now compelled to venerate the person whom he had despised. He calls him Belteshazzar, and doubtless the name severely wounded the Prophet’s mind, for another name had been imposed upon him by his parents from his earliest infancy, from which he could recognize himself as a Jew and could draw his origin from a holy and elect nation.

For his change of name was doubtless made by the tyrant’s cunning, as we have previously said, to cause him to forget his own family. King Nebuchadnezzar wished, by changing his name, to render this holy servant of God degenerate.

Thus, as often as he was called by this name, he was clearly offended in no slight degree. But this evil could not be remedied, since he was a captive and knew he had to deal with a victorious, proud, and cruel people.

Thus, in the last verse, Nebuchadnezzar had used this name according to the name of his god. Since Daniel had his own name, which his parents had given him by God’s appointment, Nebuchadnezzar wished to erase that sacred name. Therefore, as a mark of respect, he called him Belteshazzar, a name we may believe to have been derived from an idol.

This, therefore, doubled the Prophet’s grief when he was stained with that shameful mark, bearing an idol’s emblem on his name. But it was his duty to endure this scourge of God among his other trials. Thus God exercised his servant in every way by enduring a cross.

He now calls him Prince of the Magi, and this doubtless wounded the holy Prophet’s feelings. He wished nothing more than separation from the Magi, who deceived the world by their impostures and soothsaying. For although they were skilled in the science of astrology and knew some principles worthy of praise, yet we are sure they corrupted all the sciences.

Thus Daniel did not willingly hear himself included among them; but he could not free himself from this infamy. Thus we see his patience was divinely proved in various ways. Now, Nebuchadnezzar adds, because I know the spirit of the holy gods to be in thee. Many understand this of angels; and this interpretation is not objectionable, as I have hinted elsewhere.

For the existence of a supreme God was known to all the nations, but they imagined angels to be inferior deities. Whatever the true meaning may be, Nebuchadnezzar here betrays his own ignorance, since he had made no real progress in the knowledge of the true God; because he was entangled in his former errors and retained many gods, as from the beginning he had been imbued with that superstition.

This passage might have been translated in the singular number, as some do, but it would be too forced, and the reason for such a translation is too weak; for they think Nebuchadnezzar was truly converted. But the futility of this is proved by the whole context; and being occupied by this opinion, they wish to relieve him from all fault.

But since it is clear that in this edict of Nebuchadnezzar many proofs of his old ignorance are included, there is no reason why we should depart from the simple sense of the words. Thus he attributes a divine spirit to Daniel, but meanwhile imagines many gods. Since, therefore, “the spirit of the holy gods is in thee,” he says, “and no secret overcomes thee.” Some translate אנס, anes, to be troublesome; it properly means to compel, or to force; for those who translate “there is no secret which can surpass thee,” depart from the correct sense.

Others translate it, “to be troublesome.” This would be a more tolerable translation, but they would do better by translating, “no secret renders thee anxious or perplexed.” If the rules of grammar would allow the א, aleph, to be a servile letter, the sense would be more suitable. For נסה, neseh, means to try, or prove, and also to elevate.

We may translate it, “No secret is loftier than thy understanding;” or, “No secret proves thee.” If he had said — Daniel was endowed with a divine spirit — he does not examine any proposition and has no need to make an experiment in any science, since his answer is easy and at hand.

But it is necessary to remember what I said— “No secret renders thee anxious, or confounds thee.” Nebuchadnezzar knew this. Then why did he not directly call him in his perplexity? As Daniel could free him from all perplexity, the king’s ingratitude is proved, because he admitted the Magi to his counsels and neglected Daniel.

We see, then, how he always endeavored to avoid God, until he was drawn along by a violent hand, and thereby showed his lack of conversion. For repentance is voluntary, and only those are said to repent who willingly return by a change of mind to the God from whom they had revolted; and this cannot be done without faith and the love of God.

He then asks him to relate his dream and its interpretation. But the dream was not unknown, and he relates it to Daniel. There is, therefore, something superfluous in these words, but no doubt about the sense — as Nebuchadnezzar only asks for the explanation of his dream. It follows: —

The following verses should be added: