Daniel 2:4,5 – “Real World”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁴And the Chaldeans said to the king [in] Aramaic, “O king, live to ages. Tell the dream to your servants and we will declare the interpretation.” ⁵The king answering said to the Chaldeans, “The word/thing from me is gone/assured. If you do not make known the dream and its interpretation, you will be taken [by] limbs and your houses will be made a dunghill.”

This is the point where Daniel begins to write in Aramaic rather than Hebrew. He will stay in Aramaic until the end of chapter 7. As I began to examine the text in Aramaic, I had the same uneasy feeling I had years ago before I had the privilege of actually studying Greek and Hebrew. I learned early how to use a Concordance and how to look up the definitions of the Greek and Hebrew words in the Bible. However, I quickly realized that understanding another language goes far beyond simply being able to translate the words themselves. To truly understand the text in its original language one must understand the grammar, the constructions, verb conjugations, etc. To not know those things is to realize the actual original text is to me obscure. And for me that is untenable. I want to know for myself as much as can be known, so I am confident I understand, as far as possible, exactly what the Lord said … and what He did not. As I peruse these Aramaic words, I don’t recognize the way in which they indicate articles or the construct/absolute relationships, or even the pluralities, much less the conjugations. Again, that is untenable to me. So I’ve ordered a book on Aramaic and will have to develop at least a rudimentary understanding of the language and its differences from Hebrew. However, I must say, as frustrating as it is not to be able to work with this text, it is exciting to me to think of delving into another language!

As far as the passage before us, I want to record a couple of expository thoughts and then ponder a couple of the practical applications I see. From an expository perspective, probably the biggest issue is the translation of the king’s response to the Chaldeans. In my translation above, I included alternative words to reflect the uncertainties. The question is whether Nebuchadnezzar is saying, “The thing (the dream) is gone from me,” (i.e. he’s forgotten it) or “The command from me is certain,” (i.e. he’s made up his mind and you’re in trouble!). There are scholarly people on both sides of the argument, so I will just conclude I don’t know which it is. If he is saying “It’s gone from me,” then we are certain that he has forgotten the dream. If he’s saying, “I’ve made up my mind,” then we don’t know if he’s forgotten or if he is perhaps deliberately testing the Chaldeans. There is the thought that Nebuchadnezzar has his doubts about these guys and he’s decided to test them – if they really do have the power to interpret dreams, then they should also be able to tell what the dream was. Basically, to believe this, we have to go with the second option of the translation.

But, again, I don’t see any conclusive arguments on either side. So I’ll just say I don’t know which it is – which also means I don’t know exactly what’s going on in Nebuchadnezzar’s head.

The other exegetical issue I see is the meaning of the word for what the king is threatening to do to their houses. I’ve translated it “…your houses will be made a dunghill.” The word translated “dunghill” could mean a lot of things. In addition to “dunghill” it could mean “a pile of rubble,” or even the idea of “an outhouse.” Apparently oriental kings were in the habit of all three. The bottom-line is that not only will these guys get drawn and quartered, but in some way their houses will be destroyed too. I think that is as much as we can say with certainty.

From a practical perspective, this situation is exactly what believers face every day as they work and live in the real world. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon to work under bosses who are just as volatile and cruel as Nebuchadnezzar. “The king” wants something and you’d better give it to him or you’re fired! Few of us are likely to be drawn and quartered or have our houses torn down, but too often people have to work in a very similar environment of fear.

Consider the case before us: The Chaldeans have built an entire industry on their ability to foretell the future by interpreting things. If a king or someone else possessing the financial means was to retain their services, they might interpret the movements and positions of the stars, they might examine the entrails of sacrificed animals or the falling of arrows, or, perhaps they might interpret someone’s dream. Their art was fortunetelling by interpretation. This was no doubt a significant part of Daniel’s training at Babylon U. And this is precisely why their services were retained by the palace – to provide guidance to the king based on interpretations of prognosticating events.

We may suspect they were largely charlatans but, nevertheless, all their trade promised to do was to interpret things. Now the king wants something and it matters not to him they never claimed they could do what he’s asking. In that world, what he is asking of them is totally unreasonable.

But he wants it, and they’re close at hand, so they’d better give it to him or they’re fired.

People who work largely in “Christian” organizations rarely have to work under such arbitrary cruelty. In fact, I would observe that is probably one of the main reasons people seek to work in “Christian” businesses – to escape the world of cruel capricious bosses. I have the good fortune to be an engineer who works mainly with municipal clients. Engineers as a group are very pleasant to work with as they are rarely screamers. In all my career, I’ve never heard a raised voice in our office unless it was a visiting client or contractor or someone else who was upset about something. And municipal clients tend to be very patient people. On the other hand, I have worked in industrial settings and with industrial clients where such is not the case. Like Nebuchadnezzar, they want everything yesterday and you’d better give it to them or you’re fired. And it matters not one whit if what they’re asking is impossible. It may not matter that it is clearly outside your area of expertise. They want it and you’d better get it … or else.

Peter didn’t say without cause, “Servants, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh” (I Peter 2:18). He goes on in that chapter to call us to follow Jesus’ example, reminding us “When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats” (v23a). His answer of course was “He entrusted Himself to Him to judges justly” (v23b).

Such is the world believers often find themselves in. It is the real world even if it’s ugly. It’s one of the places where faith is the only answer. Like Jesus, and like Daniel and his friends, we have to learn how to live, to do our jobs, to do our best, trusting the Lord Himself, even as we live under the specter of totally unreasonable demands. As with Daniel and his friends, our Lord goes with us into the workplace. Even there He is still “a very present help in trouble.” Even there He is “working all things together for our good.” Daniel will overcome this situation by faith, by taking the problem to the Lord in prayer, and by trusting the Lord to enable him to do even that which is impossible. He lived in the real world, and you and I can be like him today, living in our own real world.

The other thing we ought to take from this passage is a determination not to be like this ourselves. It is very easy to get in a position of authority or power and then be cruel in our expectations of those around us. It begins at home with how husbands and wives treat each other and how they treat their children. Then it extends to how we treat the clerk at the grocery store, the kid who mows our grass, our doctors and nurses, our mechanics and plumbers, our children’s teachers and coaches, and everyone else from whom we feel we have a right to expect “performance.” And that includes at work, how we treat those who work for us. Even when we ourselves are under a lot of stress and perhaps very unreasonable demands, we mustn’t use that as an excuse to make unreasonable demands on those who work under us.

Ruthie came home from school once and told me about a harrowing event which occurred during her gym class that day. She particularly noticed how it frightened and upset the other girls, then made the astute observation, “They have no one to trust.” As the Chaldeans are faced with this fearful demand of the king, they too have “no one to trust.” But Daniel does … and so do we.

Let’s all be the more determined to “take the Lord with us” to work. We may not be able to escape that world of cruel unreasonable demands. Unfortunately it is the real world. But we have a Lord who urges us to “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” We have someone to trust.