Nebuchadnezzar's statue vision in Daniel 2
Encyclopedia
Daniel 2 is the second chapter of the Book of Daniel
in the Hebrew Bible
. The chapter's source text is predominantly written in Aramaic. According to the text, Nebuchadnezzar is the king of Babylon
who is troubled by his dreams. He demands an interpretation for his dreams or will have his mystic interpreters executed. Daniel seeks Divine Wisdom to interpret the King's dreams and praises God with a short psalm. God gives Daniel a vision in the night to reveal the King's dream. Able to satisfy the King, Daniel is promoted over the whole province of Babylon.
for Daniel chapter 2:
A. Introduction (v.1)
A'. Result (vv.48-49)
to the end of the book.
The lack of continuity with other portions of Daniel are sometimes cited as evidence of editorial activity. Danna N. Fewell even suggests that the biblical text compromises the narrator’s reliability as an accurate storyteller. However, John E. Goldingay suggests that these instances of repetitiveness and the lack of continuity in Daniel chapter 2, is the "responsibility of the author as a redactor".
in similar stories of the same literary genre
, is the novice making fools of the experts. From the perspective of redaction criticism
, the focus would be on the theological motif in that attention is not given to Daniel’s gifts, nor his Chaldean education. Rather, events unfold due to the Divine Wisdom and power that belongs to God alone.[v.13-19] This is indicated when Daniel urged his companions to seek God’s mercy for the interpretation of the King’s dreams and from Daniel’s doxology
.[v.20-23]
Numerous other solutions have been proposed for the seeming anachronism, as early as Flavius Josephus. Jerome
and several others suggested the second year of Nebuchadnezzar was counted not from his rule over Babylon alone, but from his universal rule following his conquest of Egypt. One recent study proposes the second year dates from the consolidation of the Babylonian kingdom when Nebuchadnezzar appointed Zedekiah
, placing the dream in 595 BCE.
, Daniel 2 is made up numerous literary subgenres
: a court tale, a dream report, a legend, an aretalogy
, a doxology
, and a midrash
. In regards to the theme of interpreting kings’ dreams and being promoted to prominence, parallels can be drawn between Daniel in Nebuchadnezzar’s court and Joseph in Pharaoh’s court. Form-critical scholars attribute this to a shared folklore pattern of a success story where the lower-class hero solves a problem for the higher-class person and is then rewarded for doing so.
.[v.14] Daniel’s prudence is noticed and he requests an explanation of the things that are happening. The captain responds with an indirect report.[v.15] Daniel requests for an appointment with the King.[v.16] Daniel makes known the King’s decree to his three companions [v.17] and instructs them to pray for God’s mercy to receive revelation of the King’s dream.[v.18] God then reveals the mystery to Daniel in a vision that night.[v.19]
is a benediction
that affirms God’s Divine wisdom and might.[v.20] It illustrates the control of times, power over kings, distribution of wisdom and knowledge,[v.21] and the Revelation of mysteries. The acknowledgement of darkness is contrasted with the association of light.[v.22] A declaration of thanks and praise is given for what God has given to Daniel, namely: wisdom, strength and the revelation of the King’s dream.[v.23]
of Heaven to reveal the dream and the interpretation. Daniel then explains it to Nebuchadnezzar as presaging what shall be "in the last days
" (Aramaic
:) (28).
, the God of Israel as the true God, verses the pantheon
of idolized Babylonian gods
. The cosmic dimension of the contest, to interpret the king’s dream, is the ultimate source of knowledge and wisdom: the God of the Hebrews or the occult lore of the Babylonian wise men.
Introduces Nebuchadnezzar’s volatile behavior. The king of Babylon experienced dreams that troubled him and kept him awake at nights. He demands an interpretation of the dreams and threatens a violent execution if he is not satisfied. The text implies a hint of distrust toward his magicians’ abilities to interpret his dreams. According to Artimedorus’s “Oneirocritica
”: Dreams, especially those of kings, were regarded as portents. Because this class of servants failed to interpret his dreams, the King orders their deaths throughout all of Babylon. It is suggested that the King’s order to have these wise men of Babylon killed, foreshadow
s his irrational behavior in Daniel chapter 4.
Verses 13-19:
Daniel seeks divine aid, which suggests that he and his colleagues were not present at the earlier meeting with the king. The captain of the King’s guard, Arioch
is unattested in historical criticism
. He is willing to disregard the king’s order to kill all the wise men of Babylon, in order to help Daniel. This appears to contrast with verse 24 where Daniel requires Arioch’s intervention in order to see the King. This discrepancy along with the reintroduction of Daniel’s companions in verse 17, suggests that verses 13-23 are later additions to the story. Daniel urged his companions to seek God’s mercy to reveal the mystery or secret of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The term Mystery is frequently found in the scrolls from Qumran
, the Dead Sea Scrolls
, that often indicates a secret that can be learned through Divine wisdom. Daniel receives a vision in the night, to interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.
Verses 20-23:
The doxology of Daniel is a short psalm that emphasizes the Divine as a repository of wisdom. Hymns and prayers are frequently inserted into postexilic narratives. Daniel's praise of God and His ability to depose kings, serves to foreshadow
the end of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign.
Verses 31-35:
The personified giant image in the King's dream, was made up of metals of decreasing worth, starting from the head to the toes. They represent the Golden age through the Silver, Bronze and Iron periods. Parallels can also be drawn from Greek (Hesiod
, Works and Days), Latin (Ovid
, Metamorphosis) and Persian (Bahman Yasht) writings. The mention of clay however is unexpected due to its weakness in substance. There is an irony, or potential humor, that can be drawn by the description of the clay serving as a support for the weightier metals.
Verses 46-49:
Nebuchadnezzar prostrated himself and worshiped Daniel, commanding offerings and incense to him. This suggests that the King viewed Daniel as divine. The King acknowledges the God of Daniel and honors Him. However, Nebuchadnezzar never converts. This parallels the narrative of Antiochus IV Epiphanes
who made death-bed promises, as indicated in 2 Maccabees
9:17. Daniel is then given gifts and is promoted to rule over the whole province of Babylon as Chief Governor over the wise men. Daniel takes this opportunity to have his companions: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
appointed over the affairs of the province. The mention and promotion of the companions builds anticipation for the events they will face in the proceeding chapter, where their allegiance is tested.
John Phillips, D.Min.
, even compares each of the metal’s specific gravity
as being significant to the prophecy. Gold
has a specific gravity of 19.3, silver
at 10.51, brass
at 8.5, iron
at 7.6 and clay
at 1.9.
As Babylon
David P. Jeremiah
points out that the chief deity of Babylon was Marduk
who was considered to be the “god of gold”. The historian Herodotus
described the image of Marduk as a golden statue seated upon a golden throne before a golden table and a golden alter. Pliny
also notes that the robes of Marduk’s priests were interlaced with gold.
Mark Mangano, Ph.D., who was a professor at Minnesota Bible College, points out that the use of the word “another”, in v.39, suggests that the Neo-Babylonian Empire
had been implied in the identification of Nebuchadnezzar with the “head of gold”. The Neo-Babylonian Empire had been founded by Nabopolassar
(626-605 BCE), the father of Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar was followed by Amel-Marduk
(562-560 BCE), the Evil-Merodach of the Book of 2 Kings 25:27-30, Neriglissar
(560-556 BCE), Labashi-Marduk
(556 BCE), and Nabonidus
(556-539 BCE), the final king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire
.
Christian theologian John Walvoord
, also concurs that the Babylonian empire is this head of gold.
However, John Phillips contests that it was only Nebuchadnezzar who was the head of gold. He rejects the idea that the Babylonian empire was part of the head of gold, because he points out the following: The father, Nabopolassar didn't achieve what his son Nebuchadnezzar did, and that was conquering Jerusalem. Evil-Merodach only sat on the Babylonian throne for two years. Neriglassar only had the kingdom for three years and accomplished little beyond building a palace that ended up falling into Persian hands. Though Nabonidus reigned fifteen years, his reign was overshadowed by the Medes and Persians. Finally, Phillips views Belshazzar as being a dissolute young prince who imagined Babylon to be impregnable.
Jerome
postulates that since clay and iron do not bond together, this kingdom is intrinsically weak. Unity is impossible and the kingdom is vulnerable because it seeks to unite elements that do not coalesce
.
. The alternate view considers that the empires were separate in relation to the Daniel narrative.
Supporters of this view since classical antiquity
through the middle ages
are: Flavius Josephus, Hippolytus, Augustine
, Thomas Aquinas
, and Martin Luther
. Jewish expositors have also held this view, such as: Japet Ibn Ali, Saadia
, Rashi
, Abraham Ibn Ezra
. Modern scholars who hold this view are: E. J. Young, Seventh-day Adventist
Gerhard Pfandl, and John F. Walvoord
. Evangelicals, such as Henrietta C. Mears
, and Billy Graham
also share this view.
of king Antiochus IV Epiphanes
. These scholars argue that Daniel had believed that the Median empire followed Babylon, and was then displaced by Persia. Therefore, in their analysis of the narrative, the Median and Persian Empires should be viewed as separate. Those who subscribe to the Maccabean thesis are: Hartman, Alexander Di Lella, Lacocque, Montgomery, Norman Porteous, and John J. Collins
. Conservative Christian scholars who also share this view are: H. H. Rowley, Gurney, Ernest C. Lucas, and J. H. Walton.
The proposed identities are:
("they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another") in the second view refers to the unsuccessful marriage alliances between the Seleucids and Ptolemies. According to scholars who hold to this view, only these two successors to the Greek Kingdom were of interest to the author and his Jewish readers since these two dynasties had direct relation to Jewish affairs. They often fought over the ownership of Judea and the control of Jews in the 2nd century BC.
, Joseph Smith
, in 1830.
Spencer Kimball
explained in 1976, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was restored in 1830. ...This is the kingdom, set up by the God of heaven, that would never be destroyed nor superseded, and the stone cut out of the mountain without hands that would become a great mountain and would fill the whole earth." Kimball agreed with the view of most Christians that the third kingdom represented that of Alexander the Great, the fourth represented the Roman Empire, and the feet of iron and clay represented a group of European nations, which were the great political powers at the time the Latter Day Saint movement
was founded.
' interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, the statue is said to represent the following kingdoms:
The Anglo-American power is seen as the last dominant world power, emerging from a part of the Roman Empire
(the iron legs) first as the British Empire
, and then with the formation of the United States of America, to develop into the present-day special relationship
between the United States and the United Kingdom
. However the prophecy comments on the general state of human rule in addition to the last dominant human world power. This state is represented by the iron-and-clay, feet and toes of the statue. The iron and clay represent three characteristics of human rule, in general, during the time of the end (Vss 41-43): 1) These are incompatible materials, in that they do not mix. This represents the traditional authoritarian rule uneasy coexisting with democratic rule. 2) The "lack of sticking together" describes the political fragmentation throughout human rule in the last days. 3) The focus of the clay as "the offspring of mankind" represents the common people having a say in how they are ruled during this time.
The "kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and ... not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever", in verse 44 of the prophecy, is said by Witnesses to be the heavenly kingdom established by God, with Jesus as appointed King, which will ultimately bring to an end human rulership. This Kingdom will rule the earth. It is a special government sponsored by God's Universal Sovereignty (the mountain in vs 35) to restore humans to perfection and restore the physical earth to its original and intended state of paradise.
Jehovah's Witnesses also believe that the sequence of world powers in Nebuchadnezzar's dream parallels that given in the vision in the Book of Revelation Chapter 17, verse 10 which speaks of "seven kings: five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet arrived". (Egypt, Assyria
, Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece having "fallen" by the time Revelation was written; Rome was the world power at the time - "one is" - while the British Empire and subsequent emergence of the United States and their later alliance was then yet to come, hence "the other has not yet arrived".)
As the iron and clay are materials that simply cannot be used together to form a durable structure, Adventist scholars interpret this as the many short-lived successes throughout European history by various people to form a large empire or to form Europe into one large entity, such as the Holy Roman Empire, Napoleonic France, Nazi Germany, The European Union
. Some propose a future religo-political power developed and enforced by a global superpower—the United States of America.
is that it is a pseudepigraph
dated to the mid-2nd century BC, concerned primarily with the Maccabean era and the reign of the Seleucid king Antiochus Epiphanes. The vision of
the four kingdoms: Babylon, Media, Persia, and Greece, are associated with the theory that the book of Daniel terminates in the Hellenist era, and the "kingdom" represented by the stone may refer to the Hasmonean
dynasty. This dynasty was set up by the Maccabees after their defeat of the Seleucid forces.
However, many Christian scholars do not accept this interpretation, largely because Jesus
is said in Matthew 24 to have quoted Daniel as a prophet who foretold future events. Some scholars believe that Jesus placed the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy at the fall of Jerusalem
in AD 70,; others think he was describing the "end of the age" (Matt. 24:3), immediately preceding Judgement Day. Therefore, their identification of the metals in the statue with empires tends to differ somewhat from the above-mentioned view of the scholars. Instead, the vision is considered to be about the development of Babylon and its successors, from the time of Nebuchadnezzar all the way to the future day when God's eternal Kingdom
will be established.
The identification of the gold head is not disputed, as the text clearly indicates that it represents Nebuchadnezzar himself, and by extension, the Babylonian Empire. However, in this view, the second kingdom, represented by the chest and arms of silver, is identified with the combined Medo-Persian empire (which commenced when the Persian king Cyrus the Great defeated Babylon.) The third kingdom, represented by the belly of bronze, is thought to be the Hellenic
empire of Alexander and his successors. The fourth kingdom of iron legs becomes the Roman Republic
. Finally, the fifth kingdom, represented by the iron and clay feet, becomes the Roman Empire
.
In Christian interpretations, the Kingdom of God (represented by the stone that destroys the statue) may be considered in a spiritual sense, as the kingdom set up by Jesus through his death and resurrection during the time of the Roman empire; or alternatively as the literal and physical kingdom that Jesus will set up at his second coming
, in which case the feet and toes of part iron and part clay must represent the nations which take the place of the Roman empire until the end of time.
Aside from certain scholarly views that maintain the book was written in the time of Antiochus IV, the chapter itself claims to take place in the "second year of Nebuchadnezzar". This could refer to 604 BC, the second year he reigned in Babylon, or it might also possibly mean 587 BC, the second year of his reign over Judah
after deposing his last puppet, king Zedekiah
.
, discovered in the Judean desert
, contain some passages in Daniel 2:
Book of Daniel
The Book of Daniel is a book in the Hebrew Bible. The book tells of how Daniel, and his Judean companions, were inducted into Babylon during Jewish exile, and how their positions elevated in the court of Nebuchadnezzar. The court tales span events that occur during the reigns of Nebuchadnezzar,...
in the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
. The chapter's source text is predominantly written in Aramaic. According to the text, Nebuchadnezzar is the king of Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
who is troubled by his dreams. He demands an interpretation for his dreams or will have his mystic interpreters executed. Daniel seeks Divine Wisdom to interpret the King's dreams and praises God with a short psalm. God gives Daniel a vision in the night to reveal the King's dream. Able to satisfy the King, Daniel is promoted over the whole province of Babylon.
Chiastic effect
G.T.M. Prinsloo offers this outline to see the chiastic effectChiastic structure
Chiastic structure is a literary device for chiasmus applied to narrative motifs, turns of phrase, or whole passages. Various structures of chiasmus are commonly seen in ancient literature to emphasize, parallel, or contrast concepts or ideas...
for Daniel chapter 2:
A. Introduction (v.1)
-
- B. The king and his unwise courtiers (vv.2-12)
- C. Daniel and Arioch (vv.13-16)
- D. Daniel and his friends pray to God (vv.17-23)
- C'. Daniel and Arioch (vv.24-25)
- C. Daniel and Arioch (vv.13-16)
- B'. The king and Daniel, the wise courtier (vv.26-47)
- B. The king and his unwise courtiers (vv.2-12)
A'. Result (vv.48-49)
Literary criticism
The literary structure of the Book of Daniel illustrates the use of Aramaic in Daniel chapter 2. The first three verses of the source text are written in Hebrew. In verse 4, the Hebrew text says, "Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic"NKJV The actual source text is then written in Aramaic once they begin speaking to the King. It has been suggested that this was done on purpose to cue the reader, that what is to follow next in the reading, is now in Aramaic. It is also an indication that this was the language that the wise men spoke as this was, after all, the official language in use at that time. The text continues in Aramaic to the end of Chapter 7. Then starting with Chapter 8:1, the source text returns to being written in Hebraic Masoretic textMasoretic Text
The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible and is regarded as Judaism's official version of the Tanakh. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and...
to the end of the book.
The lack of continuity with other portions of Daniel are sometimes cited as evidence of editorial activity. Danna N. Fewell even suggests that the biblical text compromises the narrator’s reliability as an accurate storyteller. However, John E. Goldingay suggests that these instances of repetitiveness and the lack of continuity in Daniel chapter 2, is the "responsibility of the author as a redactor".
Redaction criticism
With the second chapter being set in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign,[v.1] it appears to conflict with Chapter 1, where Daniel and his companions were supposed to go through a three year training course in the Babylonian academy.[1:5] Their final examination wouldn’t be due until the end of that three-year period.[1:18] However, literary irony could be drawn from the narrative in that Daniel was a mere trainee in the Babylonian academy, who was able to outperform the King’s full-fledged experts. A common motifMotif (narrative)
In narrative, a motif is any recurring element that has symbolic significance in a story. Through its repetition, a motif can help produce other narrative aspects such as theme or mood....
in similar stories of the same literary genre
Literary genre
A literary genre is a category of literary composition. Genres may be determined by literary technique, tone, content, or even length. Genre should not be confused with age category, by which literature may be classified as either adult, young-adult, or children's. They also must not be confused...
, is the novice making fools of the experts. From the perspective of redaction criticism
Redaction criticism
Redaction criticism, also called Redaktionsgeschichte, Kompositionsgeschichte, or Redaktionstheologie, is a critical method for the study of Bible texts. Redaction criticism regards the author of the text as editor of his or her source material...
, the focus would be on the theological motif in that attention is not given to Daniel’s gifts, nor his Chaldean education. Rather, events unfold due to the Divine Wisdom and power that belongs to God alone.[v.13-19] This is indicated when Daniel urged his companions to seek God’s mercy for the interpretation of the King’s dreams and from Daniel’s doxology
Doxology
A doxology is a short hymn of praises to God in various Christian worship services, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns...
.[v.20-23]
Numerous other solutions have been proposed for the seeming anachronism, as early as Flavius Josephus. Jerome
Jerome
Saint Jerome was a Roman Christian priest, confessor, theologian and historian, and who became a Doctor of the Church. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...
and several others suggested the second year of Nebuchadnezzar was counted not from his rule over Babylon alone, but from his universal rule following his conquest of Egypt. One recent study proposes the second year dates from the consolidation of the Babylonian kingdom when Nebuchadnezzar appointed Zedekiah
Zedekiah
Zedekiah or Tzidkiyahu was the last king of Judah before the destruction of the kingdom by Babylon. He was installed as king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon, after a siege of Jerusalem to succeed his nephew, Jeconiah, who was overthrown as king after a reign of only three months and...
, placing the dream in 595 BCE.
Form criticism
According to form criticsForm criticism
Form criticism is a method of biblical criticism that classifies units of scripture by literary pattern and that attempts to trace each type to its period of oral transmission. Form criticism seeks to determine a unit's original form and the historical context of the literary tradition. Hermann...
, Daniel 2 is made up numerous literary subgenres
Literary genre
A literary genre is a category of literary composition. Genres may be determined by literary technique, tone, content, or even length. Genre should not be confused with age category, by which literature may be classified as either adult, young-adult, or children's. They also must not be confused...
: a court tale, a dream report, a legend, an aretalogy
Aretalogy
Aretalogy is a form of sacred biography where a deity's attributes are listed, in the form of poem or text, in the first person.-Usage:Often each line starts with the standard "I am …". Usually, aretalogies are self praising. They are found in the sacred texts of later Egypt, Mesopotamia and in...
, a doxology
Doxology
A doxology is a short hymn of praises to God in various Christian worship services, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns...
, and a midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
. In regards to the theme of interpreting kings’ dreams and being promoted to prominence, parallels can be drawn between Daniel in Nebuchadnezzar’s court and Joseph in Pharaoh’s court. Form-critical scholars attribute this to a shared folklore pattern of a success story where the lower-class hero solves a problem for the higher-class person and is then rewarded for doing so.
King troubled by dreams
The second chapter of Daniel introduces the time setting “in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar”.KJV The king is distressed by his dreams [v.1] and summons his interpreters.[v.2] A dialogue, in Aramaic, occurs between the king and Chaldeans [v.3] where they request from the King that he relate his dream to them.[v.4] However, the King threatens the Chaldeans that they show him his dream and interpret it, less they be executed.[v.5] Should they fulfill his request, he promises gifts. The King imposes on the Chaldeans the impossible demand, that they show him the dream and interpret it.[v.6] The Chaldeans request a second time for the King to relate the dream to them.[v.7] The King responds by charging them for buying time,[v.8] and charging them for conspiracy to lie. The impossible demand was renewed.[v.9] The Chaldeans deny that any man can do it, and deny that any king has ever asked it [v.10] and assert that only the gods can do it.[v.11] The dialogue concludes with the King acting in fury and demanding the execution of all the wise men in Babylon.[v.12]Daniel and Arioch
After Daniel is introduced as one of the wise men,[v.13] dialogue occurs between Daniel and the captain of the king’s guard, AriochArioch
Arioch is a Hebrew name that means "fierce lion". It originally appears in the Book of Genesis chapter 14 as the name of the "King of Ellasar", part of the confederation of kings who did battle with the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and with Abraham in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim...
.[v.14] Daniel’s prudence is noticed and he requests an explanation of the things that are happening. The captain responds with an indirect report.[v.15] Daniel requests for an appointment with the King.[v.16] Daniel makes known the King’s decree to his three companions [v.17] and instructs them to pray for God’s mercy to receive revelation of the King’s dream.[v.18] God then reveals the mystery to Daniel in a vision that night.[v.19]
Daniel’s doxology
Daniel’s doxologyDoxology
A doxology is a short hymn of praises to God in various Christian worship services, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns...
is a benediction
Benediction
A benediction is a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually at the end of worship service.-Judaism:...
that affirms God’s Divine wisdom and might.[v.20] It illustrates the control of times, power over kings, distribution of wisdom and knowledge,[v.21] and the Revelation of mysteries. The acknowledgement of darkness is contrasted with the association of light.[v.22] A declaration of thanks and praise is given for what God has given to Daniel, namely: wisdom, strength and the revelation of the King’s dream.[v.23]
Daniel approaches the King
In verses 24-30, Daniel goes to the king and asks for a chance to tell him what the dream was and its interpretation. Daniel then prays for the GodGod
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
of Heaven to reveal the dream and the interpretation. Daniel then explains it to Nebuchadnezzar as presaging what shall be "in the last days
Eschatology
Eschatology is a part of theology, philosophy, and futurology concerned with what are believed to be the final events in history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity, commonly referred to as the end of the world or the World to Come...
" (Aramaic
Aramaic language
Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...
:) (28).
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream
The description of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream describes a "great image, whose brightness [was] excellent... and the form thereof [was] terrible."[v.31] A general description of the personified image is given from head to toe: whose head was made of fine gold, a chest and arms of silver, a belly of brass,[v.32] legs of iron, and feet made partly of iron and partly of clay.[v.33] The vision is then continued by relating the Vision of stone, its characterization: "not cut by hands", and its action that causes a dispersion of the statue’s metals.[v.34] The stone grows to fill the whole Earth.[v.35] Thus concludes the presentation of the dream followed by its interpretation, by the formula: “this is the dream”.[v.36]Daniel's interpretation
The king, Nebuchadnezzar, is the head of gold.[v.37-38] There will be another kingdom who will rise, succeeding Nebuchadnezzar, but inferior.[v.39] Followed by a Third kingdom who will rule over the whole earth.[v.39] Then, a Fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron and will crush all others.[v.40] The kingdom of iron becomes divided,[v.41] being partly strong like iron, and partly weak like clay.[v.42] The intermarriage between the two parts will fail.[v.43]Daniel’s promotion
The second chapter of Daniel concludes with the king expressing homage to Daniel for relating his dream and interpreting it.[v.46] The king also relates his own doxology by affirming that God is God of gods for revealing the mystery of his dream.[v.47] The king honors Daniel and promotes him as chief governor over the whole province of Babylon.[v.48] At Daniel’s request, the companions are also promoted. Daniel remains at the king’s court.[v.49]Narrative analysis
The narrative plot of Daniel chapter 2 is one of contest on a human level and a spiritual level. On the human level of understanding, the narrative conflict is the king’s dreams that cause him to rival against his corps of royal advisors. Daniel’s role is one of contest against the royal advisors to interpret the king’s dream. On a spiritual level, the narrative plot is the conflict between YahwehYahweh
Yahweh is the name of God in the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jews and Christians.The word Yahweh is a modern scholarly convention for the Hebrew , transcribed into Roman letters as YHWH and known as the Tetragrammaton, for which the original pronunciation is unknown...
, the God of Israel as the true God, verses the pantheon
Pantheon (gods)
A pantheon is a set of all the gods of a particular polytheistic religion or mythology.Max Weber's 1922 opus, Economy and Society discusses the link between a...
of idolized Babylonian gods
Babylonian religion
Babylonian religion is the religious practice of the Babylonians, from the Old Babylonian period in the Middle Bronze Age until the rise of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in the Early Iron Age....
. The cosmic dimension of the contest, to interpret the king’s dream, is the ultimate source of knowledge and wisdom: the God of the Hebrews or the occult lore of the Babylonian wise men.
Commentaries on verses
Verses 1-12:Introduces Nebuchadnezzar’s volatile behavior. The king of Babylon experienced dreams that troubled him and kept him awake at nights. He demands an interpretation of the dreams and threatens a violent execution if he is not satisfied. The text implies a hint of distrust toward his magicians’ abilities to interpret his dreams. According to Artimedorus’s “Oneirocritica
Oneirocritica
Oneirocritica is an ancient Greek treatise on dream interpretation written by Artemidorus in the 2nd century AD, and is the first extant Greek work on the subject, in five books...
”: Dreams, especially those of kings, were regarded as portents. Because this class of servants failed to interpret his dreams, the King orders their deaths throughout all of Babylon. It is suggested that the King’s order to have these wise men of Babylon killed, foreshadow
Foreshadow
Foreshadow is a Polish record label.The label formarly included such artists as As All Die, Moss, Niko Skorpio, Oktor, Quercus, The River, Transcendent Device, Váli. Current artists include Dream System, Nadja, and Newbreed....
s his irrational behavior in Daniel chapter 4.
Verses 13-19:
Daniel seeks divine aid, which suggests that he and his colleagues were not present at the earlier meeting with the king. The captain of the King’s guard, Arioch
Arioch
Arioch is a Hebrew name that means "fierce lion". It originally appears in the Book of Genesis chapter 14 as the name of the "King of Ellasar", part of the confederation of kings who did battle with the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and with Abraham in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim...
is unattested in historical criticism
Historical criticism
Historical criticism, or historical-critical method, and also known as higher criticism, is a branch of literary criticism that investigates the origins of ancient text in order to understand "the world behind the text"....
. He is willing to disregard the king’s order to kill all the wise men of Babylon, in order to help Daniel. This appears to contrast with verse 24 where Daniel requires Arioch’s intervention in order to see the King. This discrepancy along with the reintroduction of Daniel’s companions in verse 17, suggests that verses 13-23 are later additions to the story. Daniel urged his companions to seek God’s mercy to reveal the mystery or secret of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The term Mystery is frequently found in the scrolls from Qumran
Qumran
Qumran is an archaeological site in the West Bank. It is located on a dry plateau about a mile inland from the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, near the Israeli settlement and kibbutz of Kalia...
, the Dead Sea Scrolls
Dead Sea scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 texts from the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical documents found between 1947 and 1956 on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, from which they derive their name...
, that often indicates a secret that can be learned through Divine wisdom. Daniel receives a vision in the night, to interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.
Verses 20-23:
The doxology of Daniel is a short psalm that emphasizes the Divine as a repository of wisdom. Hymns and prayers are frequently inserted into postexilic narratives. Daniel's praise of God and His ability to depose kings, serves to foreshadow
Foreshadow
Foreshadow is a Polish record label.The label formarly included such artists as As All Die, Moss, Niko Skorpio, Oktor, Quercus, The River, Transcendent Device, Váli. Current artists include Dream System, Nadja, and Newbreed....
the end of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign.
Verses 31-35:
The personified giant image in the King's dream, was made up of metals of decreasing worth, starting from the head to the toes. They represent the Golden age through the Silver, Bronze and Iron periods. Parallels can also be drawn from Greek (Hesiod
Hesiod
Hesiod was a Greek oral poet generally thought by scholars to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. His is the first European poetry in which the poet regards himself as a topic, an individual with a distinctive role to play. Ancient authors credited him and...
, Works and Days), Latin (Ovid
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...
, Metamorphosis) and Persian (Bahman Yasht) writings. The mention of clay however is unexpected due to its weakness in substance. There is an irony, or potential humor, that can be drawn by the description of the clay serving as a support for the weightier metals.
Verses 46-49:
Nebuchadnezzar prostrated himself and worshiped Daniel, commanding offerings and incense to him. This suggests that the King viewed Daniel as divine. The King acknowledges the God of Daniel and honors Him. However, Nebuchadnezzar never converts. This parallels the narrative of Antiochus IV Epiphanes
Antiochus IV Epiphanes
Antiochus IV Epiphanes ruled the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death in 164 BC. He was a son of King Antiochus III the Great. His original name was Mithridates; he assumed the name Antiochus after he ascended the throne....
who made death-bed promises, as indicated in 2 Maccabees
2 Maccabees
2 Maccabees is a deuterocanonical book of the Bible, which focuses on the Jews' revolt against Antiochus IV Epiphanes and concludes with the defeat of the Syrian general Nicanor in 161 BC by Judas Maccabeus, the hero of the work....
9:17. Daniel is then given gifts and is promoted to rule over the whole province of Babylon as Chief Governor over the wise men. Daniel takes this opportunity to have his companions: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are characters in the biblical Hebrew book of Daniel Chapters 1 – 3, known for their exclusive devotion to God. In particular, they are known for being saved by divine intervention from the Babylonian execution of being burned alive in a fiery furnace...
appointed over the affairs of the province. The mention and promotion of the companions builds anticipation for the events they will face in the proceeding chapter, where their allegiance is tested.
Image of kingdoms
Daniel's interpretation of the body parts, of the personified image, are symbolic of nations. These kingdoms will be world empires who “will rule over the whole earth”. The identification of the kingdoms, following Nebuchadnezzar, are symbolized by inferior metals: silver, bronze, iron/clay, which imply gradual decline.John Phillips, D.Min.
Doctor of Ministry
The Doctor of Ministry degree is, according to The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada , a doctoral level degree oriented toward ministerial leadership often in an area of applied theology, such as missions, evangelism, church leadership, pastoral psychology or the...
, even compares each of the metal’s specific gravity
Specific gravity
Specific gravity is the ratio of the density of a substance to the density of a reference substance. Apparent specific gravity is the ratio of the weight of a volume of the substance to the weight of an equal volume of the reference substance. The reference substance is nearly always water for...
as being significant to the prophecy. Gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
has a specific gravity of 19.3, silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
at 10.51, brass
Brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...
at 8.5, iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
at 7.6 and clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
at 1.9.
Head of gold
The king, Nebuchadnezzar, is the head of gold.[v.37-38]As Babylon
David P. Jeremiah
David Jeremiah
For the article on the retired U.S. Navy admiral and former Acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, see David E. Jeremiah.David P. Jeremiah is a conservative evangelical Christian author, evangelist, and currently the senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church, an evangelical...
points out that the chief deity of Babylon was Marduk
Marduk
Marduk was the Babylonian name of a late-generation god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon, who, when Babylon became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of Hammurabi , started to...
who was considered to be the “god of gold”. The historian Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
described the image of Marduk as a golden statue seated upon a golden throne before a golden table and a golden alter. Pliny
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
also notes that the robes of Marduk’s priests were interlaced with gold.
Mark Mangano, Ph.D., who was a professor at Minnesota Bible College, points out that the use of the word “another”, in v.39, suggests that the Neo-Babylonian Empire
Neo-Babylonian Empire
The Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire was a period of Mesopotamian history which began in 626 BC and ended in 539 BC. During the preceding three centuries, Babylonia had been ruled by their fellow Akkadian speakers and northern neighbours, Assyria. Throughout that time Babylonia...
had been implied in the identification of Nebuchadnezzar with the “head of gold”. The Neo-Babylonian Empire had been founded by Nabopolassar
Nabopolassar
Nabopolassar was the king of the Babylonia and played a key role in the demise of the Assyrian Empire following the death of the last powerful Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal...
(626-605 BCE), the father of Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar was followed by Amel-Marduk
Amel-Marduk
Amel-Marduk Amel-Marduk Amel-Marduk (Akk.: Amēl-Marduk, 'man of Marduk' (died 560 BC) was the son and successor of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon. He reigned only two years, 562 - 560 BC.- Biography :...
(562-560 BCE), the Evil-Merodach of the Book of 2 Kings 25:27-30, Neriglissar
Neriglissar
Nergal-sharezer or Neriglissar was King of Babylon from 560 to 556 BC. He was the son-in-law of Nebuchadrezzar II, whose son and heir, Amel-Marduk, Nergal-sharezer murdered and succeeded. A Babylonian chronicle describes his western war in 557/556...
(560-556 BCE), Labashi-Marduk
Labashi-Marduk
Labashi-Marduk, was king of Babylon , and son of Neriglissar. Labashi-Marduk succeeded his father when still only a boy, after the latter's four-year reign. Most likely due to his very young age, he was unfit to rule, and was murdered in a conspiracy only nine months after his inauguration...
(556 BCE), and Nabonidus
Nabonidus
Nabonidus was the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, reigning from 556-539 BCE.-Historiography on Nabonidus:...
(556-539 BCE), the final king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire
Neo-Babylonian Empire
The Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire was a period of Mesopotamian history which began in 626 BC and ended in 539 BC. During the preceding three centuries, Babylonia had been ruled by their fellow Akkadian speakers and northern neighbours, Assyria. Throughout that time Babylonia...
.
Christian theologian John Walvoord
John Walvoord
John F. Walvoord was a Christian theologian, pastor, and president of Dallas Theological Seminary from 1952 to 1986. He was the author of over 30 books, focusing primarily on eschatology and theology including The Rapture Question, and was co-editor of The Bible Knowledge Commentary with Roy B....
, also concurs that the Babylonian empire is this head of gold.
However, John Phillips contests that it was only Nebuchadnezzar who was the head of gold. He rejects the idea that the Babylonian empire was part of the head of gold, because he points out the following: The father, Nabopolassar didn't achieve what his son Nebuchadnezzar did, and that was conquering Jerusalem. Evil-Merodach only sat on the Babylonian throne for two years. Neriglassar only had the kingdom for three years and accomplished little beyond building a palace that ended up falling into Persian hands. Though Nabonidus reigned fifteen years, his reign was overshadowed by the Medes and Persians. Finally, Phillips views Belshazzar as being a dissolute young prince who imagined Babylon to be impregnable.
Chest and arms of silver
This will be another kingdom who will rise, succeeding Nebuchadnezzar, but inferior.[v.39]Belly and thighs of bronze
This is the third kingdom who will rule over the whole earth.[v.39]Legs of iron
A fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron and will crush all others.[v.40]Feet of iron and clay
The feet made of iron and clay show that this kingdom becomes divided,[v.41] being partly strong like iron, and partly weak like clay.[v.42] The intermarriage between the two parts will fail.[v.43]Jerome
Jerome
Saint Jerome was a Roman Christian priest, confessor, theologian and historian, and who became a Doctor of the Church. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...
postulates that since clay and iron do not bond together, this kingdom is intrinsically weak. Unity is impossible and the kingdom is vulnerable because it seeks to unite elements that do not coalesce
Coalesce
Coalesce is a metalcore band from Kansas City, Missouri.-Formation and early years :The band formed on January 17, 1994, with Jes Steineger on vocals and guitar, Stacy Hilt on bass, and Jim Redd on drum. Sean Ingram joined the band to fill the vocal position in April 1994...
.
Vision of the stone
God will set up a kingdom that will shatter the other kingdoms and it will stand forever.[v.44] The stone is described as being cut out of the mountain without hands and reiterates how it will break into pieces the image of metal, in this particular order: the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold. It concludes with an affirmation of divine revelation and a certainty of the interpretation.[v.45]Interpretations of idol image
Over the centuries, scholars have proposed two alternative views regarding the identification of the four kingdoms in Daniel 2. The oldest view holds that the Median and Persian empires were combined as one, as Medo-PersiaAchaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire , sometimes known as First Persian Empire and/or Persian Empire, was founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who overthrew the Median confederation...
. The alternate view considers that the empires were separate in relation to the Daniel narrative.
Traditional view
The following view has traditionally been more prevalent among Christian scholars, who identify the four kingdoms with unified Medo-Persia:- Head of gold - BabylonBabyloniaBabylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...
- Breast and arms of silver- Medo-PersiaAchaemenid EmpireThe Achaemenid Empire , sometimes known as First Persian Empire and/or Persian Empire, was founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who overthrew the Median confederation...
- Belly and thighs of brass- Hellenistic GreeceHellenistic civilizationHellenistic civilization represents the zenith of Greek influence in the ancient world from 323 BCE to about 146 BCE...
- Legs of iron - RomeRoman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
- Feet partly of iron and partly of molded clay - The divided Roman Empire
Supporters of this view since classical antiquity
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
through the middle ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
are: Flavius Josephus, Hippolytus, Augustine
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
, Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...
, and Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
. Jewish expositors have also held this view, such as: Japet Ibn Ali, Saadia
Saadia Gaon
Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon was a prominent rabbi, Jewish philosopher, and exegete of the Geonic period.The first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Arabic, he is considered the founder of Judeo-Arabic literature...
, Rashi
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
, Abraham Ibn Ezra
Abraham ibn Ezra
Rabbi Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra was born at Tudela, Navarre in 1089, and died c. 1167, apparently in Calahorra....
. Modern scholars who hold this view are: E. J. Young, Seventh-day Adventist
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
Gerhard Pfandl, and John F. Walvoord
John Walvoord
John F. Walvoord was a Christian theologian, pastor, and president of Dallas Theological Seminary from 1952 to 1986. He was the author of over 30 books, focusing primarily on eschatology and theology including The Rapture Question, and was co-editor of The Bible Knowledge Commentary with Roy B....
. Evangelicals, such as Henrietta C. Mears
Henrietta Mears
Henrietta Cornelia Mears was a Christian educator and author who had a significant impact on evangelical Christianity in the 20th century....
, and Billy Graham
Billy Graham
William Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian evangelist. As of April 25, 2010, when he met with Barack Obama, Graham has spent personal time with twelve United States Presidents dating back to Harry S. Truman, and is number seven on Gallup's list of admired people for...
also share this view.
Maccabean thesis view
Adherents of the Maccabean thesis view the four successive empires as culminating with the Seleucid Greek periodSeleucid Empire
The Seleucid Empire was a Greek-Macedonian state that was created out of the eastern conquests of Alexander the Great. At the height of its power, it included central Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, today's Turkmenistan, Pamir and parts of Pakistan.The Seleucid Empire was a major centre...
of king Antiochus IV Epiphanes
Antiochus IV Epiphanes
Antiochus IV Epiphanes ruled the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death in 164 BC. He was a son of King Antiochus III the Great. His original name was Mithridates; he assumed the name Antiochus after he ascended the throne....
. These scholars argue that Daniel had believed that the Median empire followed Babylon, and was then displaced by Persia. Therefore, in their analysis of the narrative, the Median and Persian Empires should be viewed as separate. Those who subscribe to the Maccabean thesis are: Hartman, Alexander Di Lella, Lacocque, Montgomery, Norman Porteous, and John J. Collins
John J. Collins
John J. Collins is the Holmes Professor of Old Testament Criticism & Interpretation at Yale Divinity School. He is noted for his research in the Hebrew Bible, as well as the apocryphal works of the Second Temple period including the sectarian works found in Dead Sea Scrolls and their relation to...
. Conservative Christian scholars who also share this view are: H. H. Rowley, Gurney, Ernest C. Lucas, and J. H. Walton.
The proposed identities are:
- Head of gold - Babylonian Empire
- Breast and arms of silver - Median Empire
- Belly and thighs of copper - Persian Empire
- Legs of iron - Seleucid EmpireSeleucid EmpireThe Seleucid Empire was a Greek-Macedonian state that was created out of the eastern conquests of Alexander the Great. At the height of its power, it included central Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, today's Turkmenistan, Pamir and parts of Pakistan.The Seleucid Empire was a major centre...
- Feet partly of iron and partly of molded clay - The Seleucids and the Ptolemies
("they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another") in the second view refers to the unsuccessful marriage alliances between the Seleucids and Ptolemies. According to scholars who hold to this view, only these two successors to the Greek Kingdom were of interest to the author and his Jewish readers since these two dynasties had direct relation to Jewish affairs. They often fought over the ownership of Judea and the control of Jews in the 2nd century BC.
Mormon interpretation
The story in Daniel 2 has significant meaning to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who believe that the true church was restored to the earth in the "latter days" through a modern prophetProphet
In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...
, Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith was founder of what later became known as the Latter Day Saint movement or Mormons.Joseph Smith may also refer to:-Latter Day Saints:* Joseph Smith, Sr. , father of Joseph Smith...
, in 1830.
Spencer Kimball
Spencer Kimball
Spencer Kimball is a computer programmer most notable for his early work on the GNU Image Manipulation Program .In 1995, while students at the University of California at Berkeley, Kimball and his classmate Peter Mattis developed the first version of The GIMP as a class project...
explained in 1976, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was restored in 1830. ...This is the kingdom, set up by the God of heaven, that would never be destroyed nor superseded, and the stone cut out of the mountain without hands that would become a great mountain and would fill the whole earth." Kimball agreed with the view of most Christians that the third kingdom represented that of Alexander the Great, the fourth represented the Roman Empire, and the feet of iron and clay represented a group of European nations, which were the great political powers at the time the Latter Day Saint movement
Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...
was founded.
Jehovah's Witnesses interpretation
In the Jehovah's WitnessesJehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
' interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, the statue is said to represent the following kingdoms:
- The gold head - Babylon
- The silver breast and arms - Medo-Persia
- The copper belly and thighs - Greece
- The iron legs - Rome
- The feet partly of iron and partly of molded clay - The Anglo-American World Power
The Anglo-American power is seen as the last dominant world power, emerging from a part of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
(the iron legs) first as the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
, and then with the formation of the United States of America, to develop into the present-day special relationship
Special relationship
The Special Relationship is a phrase used to describe the exceptionally close political, diplomatic, cultural, economic, military and historical relations between the United Kingdom and the United States, following its use in a 1946 speech by British statesman Winston Churchill...
between the United States and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. However the prophecy comments on the general state of human rule in addition to the last dominant human world power. This state is represented by the iron-and-clay, feet and toes of the statue. The iron and clay represent three characteristics of human rule, in general, during the time of the end (Vss 41-43): 1) These are incompatible materials, in that they do not mix. This represents the traditional authoritarian rule uneasy coexisting with democratic rule. 2) The "lack of sticking together" describes the political fragmentation throughout human rule in the last days. 3) The focus of the clay as "the offspring of mankind" represents the common people having a say in how they are ruled during this time.
The "kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and ... not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever", in verse 44 of the prophecy, is said by Witnesses to be the heavenly kingdom established by God, with Jesus as appointed King, which will ultimately bring to an end human rulership. This Kingdom will rule the earth. It is a special government sponsored by God's Universal Sovereignty (the mountain in vs 35) to restore humans to perfection and restore the physical earth to its original and intended state of paradise.
Jehovah's Witnesses also believe that the sequence of world powers in Nebuchadnezzar's dream parallels that given in the vision in the Book of Revelation Chapter 17, verse 10 which speaks of "seven kings: five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet arrived". (Egypt, Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
, Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece having "fallen" by the time Revelation was written; Rome was the world power at the time - "one is" - while the British Empire and subsequent emergence of the United States and their later alliance was then yet to come, hence "the other has not yet arrived".)
Seventh-day Adventist interpretation
The Seventh-day Adventist interpretation of the statue is inherited from the Millerite movement.| Chapter | Parallel sequence of prophetic elements as understood by Historicists | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past | Present | Future | ||||
| Daniel 2 | Head Gold (Babylon) |
Chest & 2 arms Silver (Media-Persia) |
Belly and thighs Bronze (Greece) |
2 Legs Iron Pagan & Papal Rome |
2 Feet with toes Clay & Iron Global religio-political Government |
Rock God's unending kingdom left to no other people |
As the iron and clay are materials that simply cannot be used together to form a durable structure, Adventist scholars interpret this as the many short-lived successes throughout European history by various people to form a large empire or to form Europe into one large entity, such as the Holy Roman Empire, Napoleonic France, Nazi Germany, The European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. Some propose a future religo-political power developed and enforced by a global superpower—the United States of America.
Criticism of vision
The criticism of the book of DanielCriticism of the Bible
This article is about criticism of the Bible as a source of information or ethical guidance. It will vary slightly depending on whether the focus is on the Old Testament, the letters of New Testament or the Canonical gospels...
is that it is a pseudepigraph
Pseudepigraphy
Pseudepigrapha are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed authorship is unfounded; a work, simply, "whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past." The word "pseudepigrapha" is the plural of "pseudepigraphon" ; the Anglicized forms...
dated to the mid-2nd century BC, concerned primarily with the Maccabean era and the reign of the Seleucid king Antiochus Epiphanes. The vision of
the four kingdoms: Babylon, Media, Persia, and Greece, are associated with the theory that the book of Daniel terminates in the Hellenist era, and the "kingdom" represented by the stone may refer to the Hasmonean
Hasmonean
The Hasmonean dynasty , was the ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during classical antiquity. Between c. 140 and c. 116 BCE, the dynasty ruled semi-autonomously from the Seleucids in the region of Judea...
dynasty. This dynasty was set up by the Maccabees after their defeat of the Seleucid forces.
However, many Christian scholars do not accept this interpretation, largely because Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
is said in Matthew 24 to have quoted Daniel as a prophet who foretold future events. Some scholars believe that Jesus placed the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy at the fall of Jerusalem
Siege of Jerusalem (70)
The Siege of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD was the decisive event of the First Jewish-Roman War. The Roman army, led by the future Emperor Titus, with Tiberius Julius Alexander as his second-in-command, besieged and conquered the city of Jerusalem, which had been occupied by its Jewish defenders in...
in AD 70,; others think he was describing the "end of the age" (Matt. 24:3), immediately preceding Judgement Day. Therefore, their identification of the metals in the statue with empires tends to differ somewhat from the above-mentioned view of the scholars. Instead, the vision is considered to be about the development of Babylon and its successors, from the time of Nebuchadnezzar all the way to the future day when God's eternal Kingdom
Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven is a foundational concept in the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.The term "Kingdom of God" is found in all four canonical gospels and in the Pauline epistles...
will be established.
The identification of the gold head is not disputed, as the text clearly indicates that it represents Nebuchadnezzar himself, and by extension, the Babylonian Empire. However, in this view, the second kingdom, represented by the chest and arms of silver, is identified with the combined Medo-Persian empire (which commenced when the Persian king Cyrus the Great defeated Babylon.) The third kingdom, represented by the belly of bronze, is thought to be the Hellenic
Hellenistic civilization
Hellenistic civilization represents the zenith of Greek influence in the ancient world from 323 BCE to about 146 BCE...
empire of Alexander and his successors. The fourth kingdom of iron legs becomes the Roman Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
. Finally, the fifth kingdom, represented by the iron and clay feet, becomes the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
.
In Christian interpretations, the Kingdom of God (represented by the stone that destroys the statue) may be considered in a spiritual sense, as the kingdom set up by Jesus through his death and resurrection during the time of the Roman empire; or alternatively as the literal and physical kingdom that Jesus will set up at his second coming
Second Coming
In Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
, in which case the feet and toes of part iron and part clay must represent the nations which take the place of the Roman empire until the end of time.
Aside from certain scholarly views that maintain the book was written in the time of Antiochus IV, the chapter itself claims to take place in the "second year of Nebuchadnezzar". This could refer to 604 BC, the second year he reigned in Babylon, or it might also possibly mean 587 BC, the second year of his reign over Judah
Kingdom of Judah
The Kingdom of Judah was a Jewish state established in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. It is often referred to as the "Southern Kingdom" to distinguish it from the northern Kingdom of Israel....
after deposing his last puppet, king Zedekiah
Zedekiah
Zedekiah or Tzidkiyahu was the last king of Judah before the destruction of the kingdom by Babylon. He was installed as king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon, after a siege of Jerusalem to succeed his nephew, Jeconiah, who was overthrown as king after a reign of only three months and...
.
Dead sea scrolls
The following Dead sea scrollsDead Sea scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 texts from the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical documents found between 1947 and 1956 on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, from which they derive their name...
, discovered in the Judean desert
Judean desert
The Judaean Desert is a desert in Israel and the West Bank that lies east of Jerusalem and descends to the Dead Sea. It stretches from the northeastern Negev to the east of Beit El, and is marked by terraces with escarpments. It ends in a steep escarpment dropping to the Dead Sea and the Jordan...
, contain some passages in Daniel 2:
- 1QDana (2:2-6)
- 4QDana (2:9-11, 19-49)
Appendix
Over the centuries Bible Scholars have identified specific kingdoms as fulfillment of the symbols in the image as illustrated in the following table.| Interpretations of the kingdoms of Daniel 2 by Biblical Expositors of the Early Church Period: 100-457 AD | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BPGR= Babylon - Media/Persia - Greece - Rome. [BPGR] = Implies... | ||||
| 4 metals | Feet/toes | Stone Kgdm | ||
| Josephus Josephus Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of... |
c. 100 | BPG[R] | Mess. Kgdm. | |
| Yochanan ben Zakai Yochanan ben Zakai Johanan ben Zakai , also known as Johanan B. Zakkai was one of the tannaim, an important Jewish sage in the era of the Second Temple, and a primary contributor to the core text of Rabbinical Judaism, the Mishnah. He is widely regarded as one of the most important Jewish figures of his time... |
1st cent. | [BPGR] | ||
| Akiva ben Joseph | d. 132 | BPGR | ||
| Sibyllines | 3rd cent. | BPGR | ||
| Hippolytus | d. 238 | BPGR | 10 Kgdms | 2nd Adv. |
| Tertullian Tertullian Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian , was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was a notable early Christian apologist and... |
c. 240 | [BPGR] | 10 Kgdms | 2nd Adv. |
| Origen Origen Origen , or Origen Adamantius, 184/5–253/4, was an early Christian Alexandrian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Church. As early as the fourth century, his orthodoxy was suspect, in part because he believed in the pre-existence of souls... |
c. 254 | [Allegorizes | all | Prophecies] |
| Cyprian Cyprian Cyprian was bishop of Carthage and an important Early Christian writer, many of whose Latin works are extant. He was born around the beginning of the 3rd century in North Africa, perhaps at Carthage, where he received a classical education... |
c. 258 | Nearing | ||
| Irenaeus Irenaeus Saint Irenaeus , was Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, then a part of the Roman Empire . He was an early church father and apologist, and his writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology... |
c. 292 | BPGR | 10-fold div. | After div. |
| Porphyry Porphyry (philosopher) Porphyry of Tyre , Porphyrios, AD 234–c. 305) was a Neoplatonic philosopher who was born in Tyre. He edited and published the Enneads, the only collection of the work of his teacher Plotinus. He also wrote many works himself on a wide variety of topics... |
c. 304 | [Not Prophecy | but | History] |
| Victorinus Victorinus Marcus Piavonius Victorinus was emperor of the secessionist Gallic Empire from 269 to 271, following the brief reign of Marius. He was murdered by a jealous husband whose wife he tried to seduce.-Reign:... |
c. 304 | |||
| Lactantius Lactantius Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius was an early Christian author who became an advisor to the first Christian Roman emperor, Constantine I, guiding his religious policy as it developed, and tutor to his son.-Biography:... |
c. 330 | [BPGR] | Divisions | |
| Eusebius of Caesarea Eusebius of Caesarea Eusebius of Caesarea also called Eusebius Pamphili, was a Roman historian, exegete and Christian polemicist. He became the Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine about the year 314. Together with Pamphilus, he was a scholar of the Biblical canon... |
c. 340 | BPGR | 10 Kgdms | Kgdm. God |
| Aphrahat Aphrahat Aphrahat was a Syriac-Christian author of the 4th century from the Adiabene region of Northern Mesopotamia, which was within the Persian Empire, who composed a series of twenty-three expositions or homilies on points of Christian doctrine and practice... |
c. 350 | BPGR | Divisions | at 2nd Adv. |
| Cyril of Alexandria Cyril of Alexandria Cyril of Alexandria was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444. He came to power when the city was at its height of influence and power within the Roman Empire. Cyril wrote extensively and was a leading protagonist in the Christological controversies of the later 4th and 5th centuries... |
w. 386 | [BPGR] | Etern. Kgdm. | |
| John Chrysostom John Chrysostom John Chrysostom , Archbishop of Constantinople, was an important Early Church Father. He is known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and his ascetic... |
w. 407 | BPGR | Divisions | Chr. Kgdm. |
| Sulpicius Severus Sulpicius Severus Sulpicius Severus was a Christian writer and native of Aquitania. He is known for his chronicle of sacred history, as well as his biography of Saint Martin of Tours.-Life:... |
c. 420 | [BPG]R | Pres. Divis. | Fut. Kgdm. |
| Jerome Jerome Saint Jerome was a Roman Christian priest, confessor, theologian and historian, and who became a Doctor of the Church. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia... |
w. 420 | BPGR | Pres. Divis. | After Destr. |
| Polychronius | w. 430 | BP-Alex. | Alex. Succ. | |
| Isidore of Pelusium Isidore of Pelusium Isidore of Pelusium was born in Egypt to a prominent Alexandrian family. He became an ascetic, and moved to a mountain near the city of Pelusium, in the tradition of the Desert Fathers.... |
w. 450 | BPGR | ||
| Theodoret Theodoret Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus was an influential author, theologian, and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus, Syria . He played a pivotal role in many early Byzantine church controversies that led to various ecumenical acts and schisms... |
w. 457 | BPGR | Divisions | at 2nd Adv. |
| Biblical Expositors of the Early Medieval Period: 400-1200 AD | ||||
| 4 metals | Feet/toes | Stone Kgdm | ||
| Augustine | d. 430 | [BPGR] | Cath. Ch. | |
| Andreas Andreas Andreas is a common male name in Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Flanders, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. The name derives from the Greek noun ἀνήρ – with genitive ἀνδρός –, which means "man" . See article on Andrew for more information... |
7st Cent. | [BPGR] | Multi. Kgdms. | |
| Sargis D'Aberga | 7st Cent. | BPGR | ||
| Venerable Bede Bede Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria... |
d. 735 | [BPGR] | Church | |
| Berengaud | 9th Cent. | [BPG]R | ||
| Eliezer Eliezer For the mathematician and Tamil activist see C.J. Eliezer; for the AI researcher and writer on rationality see Eliezer Yudkowsky; for the Levite priest of the Hebrew Bible, see Eleazar... |
8-9th Cent. | BPGR | Mess. Kgdm. | |
| Saadia Saadia Saadia is a Jewish name and Arabic name. it can refer to several people:*Saadia Gaon - Ninth century rabbi, philosopher, and exegete of the Geonic period.*Saadia Afzaal - Pakistani journalist and television news anchor.... |
d. 942 | BPG-Gog | ||
| Jephet ibn Ali | 10th Cent. | BPGR | Rome & Arabs | Mess. Kgdm. |
| Rashi Rashi Shlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh... |
d. 1105 | B PGR | Divisions | Mess. Kgdm. |
| Abraham ibn Ezra Abraham ibn Ezra Rabbi Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra was born at Tudela, Navarre in 1089, and died c. 1167, apparently in Calahorra.... |
d. 1167 | BPG[R] | Rome & Ishm. | Mess. Kgdm. |
| Peter Comestor | d. 1178 | BPGR | Divisions | Kgdm. of God |
| Joachim of Floris | d. 1202 | BPGR-Sar. | Final Kgdm. | Heavenly |
| Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis... |
d. 1274 | BPGR | ||
| Biblical Expositors of the Reformation Era: 1522-1614 AD | ||||
| 4 metals | Feet/toes | Stone Kgdm | ||
| Martin Luther Martin Luther Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517... |
1522 | BPGR | Mod. Kgdms. | Christ's Kgdm. |
| Johann Oecolampadius | 1530 | BPGR | Kgdm. of God | |
| Philipp Melanchthon Philipp Melanchthon Philipp Melanchthon , born Philipp Schwartzerdt, was a German reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the Lutheran Reformation, and an influential designer of educational systems... |
1543 | BPGR | Mod. Kgdms. | Messian Kgdm. |
| Georg Joye | 1545 | [BPG]R | Divisions | Everlasting |
| Hugh Latimer Hugh Latimer Hugh Latimer was a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, Bishop of Worcester before the Reformation, and later Church of England chaplain to King Edward VI. In 1555, under Queen Mary, he was burnt at the stake, becoming one of the three Oxford Martyrs of Anglicanism.-Life:Latimer was born into a... |
1553 | BPGR | Divisions | |
| Virgil Solis Virgil Solis Virgil Solis or Virgilius Solis , a member of a prolific family of artists, was a German draughtsman and printmaker in engraving, etching and woodcut who worked in Nuremberg. His prints were sold separately or formed the illustrations of books; many prints signed by him are probably by assistants... |
1560 | BPGR | ||
| Anglican Formulas | c. 1563 | Future Kgdm. | ||
| Nikolaus Selnecker Nikolaus Selnecker Nikolaus Selnecker was a German musician and theologian. He is now known mainly as a hymn writer. He is also known as one of the principal authors of the Formula of Concord along with Jakob Andreä and Martin Chemnitz.At a young age he was an organist in Nuremberg... |
1579 | BPGR | ||
| Thomas Brightman Thomas Brightman Thomas Brightman was an English clergyman and biblical commentator. His exegesis of the Book of Revelation, published posthumously, proved influential. According to William M... |
1614 | [BPG]R | ||
| Biblical Expositors of the Post-Reformation Era—Europe: 1600-1800 AD | ||||
| 4 metals | Stone Kgdm | |||
| George Downham | 1603 | [BPG]R | Kgdm. of Chr. | |
| Hugh Broughton Hugh Broughton Hugh Broughton was an English scholar and theologian.-Early life:He was born at Owlbury, Bishop's Castle, Shropshire. He calls himself a Cambrian, implying Welsh blood in his veins. He was educated by Bernard Gilpin at Houghton-le-Spring and at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he matriculated... |
1607 | BPG-Alex. Succ. | ||
| Joseph Mede Joseph Mede Joseph Mede was an English scholar with a wide range of interests. He was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he became a Fellow from 1613. He is now remembered as a biblical scholar. He was also a naturalist and Egyptologist... |
1631 | BPGR | Kgdm. of Chr. | |
| John Tillinghast John Tillinghast John Tillinghast was an English clergyman and Fifth-monarchy man. He is known for his confrontation with Oliver Cromwell, and millenarian writings.-Life:... |
1655 | BPGR | Kgdm. of Chr. | |
| Henry More Henry More Henry More FRS was an English philosopher of the Cambridge Platonist school.-Biography:Henry was born at Grantham and was schooled at The King's School, Grantham and at Eton College... |
1664 | [BPG]R | ||
| William Sherwin William Sherwin (minister) William Sherwin was an English minister. The Dictionary of National Biography suggests that he was either silenced in 1660 or ejected in 1662. He wrote a number of works on biblical and theological themes. His son became a notable engraver.-References:... |
1670 | [BPG]R | Kgdm. of Chr. | |
| Thomas Beverly | 1684 | [BPGR] | Kgdm. of Chr. | |
| Pierre Jurieu Pierre Jurieu Pierre Jurieu was a French Protestant leader.-Life:He was born at Mer, in Orléanais, where his father was a Protestant pastor. He studied at the Academy of Saumur and the Academy of Sedan under his grandfather, Pierre Du Moulin, and under Leblanc de Beaulieu... |
1687 | BPGR | Kgdm. of Chr. | |
| Johannes Cocceius | 1701 | BPGR | ||
| Heinrich Horch | 1712 | BPGR | Kgdm. of Chr. | |
| Matthew Henry Matthew Henry Matthew Henry was an English commentator on the Bible and Presbyterian minister.-Life:He was born at Broad Oak, a farmhouse on the borders of Flintshire and Shropshire. His father, Philip Henry, had just been ejected under the Act of Uniformity 1662... |
1714 | BPGR | Kgdm. of Chr. | |
| Sir Isaac Newton | 1727 | BPGR | Kgdm. of Chr. | |
| John Willison John Willison John Willison was an evangelical minister of the Church of Scotland and a writer of Christian literature.His father was laird of a small property near Stirling, where John Willison was born. He was inducted to the parish of Brechin as minister in 1703... |
1745 | [BPGR] | Kgdm. of Chr. | |
| Thomas Newton Thomas Newton Thomas Newton was an English cleric, biblical scholar and author. He served as the Bishop of Bristol from 1761 to 1782.... |
1754 | BPGR | Kgdm. of Chr. | |
| Hans Wood | 1787 | [BPGR] | Kgdm. of Chr. | |
| Christian G. Thube | 1789 | BPGR | Kgdm. of Chr. | |
| James Ebenezer Bicheno James Ebenezer Bicheno James Ebenezer Bicheno was a British author and colonial official.Bicheno was the son of the Rev. James Bicheno, minister of the Baptist Church in Newbury, Berkshire. He was called to the bar in 1822 but seems to have spent most of his time until 1832 in writing and natural history pursuits,... |
1793 | BPGR | ||
| Edward King | 1798 | [BPGR] | ||
| Jean G. de la Flechere | 1800 | BPGR | ||
| Biblical Expositors of the Post-Reformation Era—America: 1600-1800 AD | ||||
| 4 metals | Feet/Toes | Stone Kgdm. | ||
| Anne Bradstreet Anne Bradstreet Anne Dudley Bradstreet was New England's first published poet. Her work met with a positive reception in both the Old World and the New World.-Biography:... |
1642 | BPGR | Future | |
| Ephriam Huit | 1644 | BPGR | Church-State | Christ's Kgdm. |
| Thomas Parker Thomas Parker (minister) Thomas Parker was an English nonconforming clergyman and founder of Newbury, Massachusetts.-Life:He was born probably at Stanton St. Bernard, Wiltshire, the only son of the Reverend Robert Parker, M.A. and Dorothy Stephens. He was admitted into Magdalen College, Oxford, but left when his father... |
1646 | BPGR | Intermarriage | Kgdm. of Saints |
| John Davenport | 1653 | BPGR | Christ | |
| Samuel Hutchinson | 1667 | BPGR | 2nd Advent | |
| Increase Mather Increase Mather Increase Mather was a major figure in the early history of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Province of Massachusetts Bay . He was a Puritan minister who was involved with the government of the colony, the administration of Harvard College, and most notoriously, the Salem witch trials... |
1669 | BPGR | Not Yet | |
| Nicholas Noyes Nicholas Noyes Nicholas Noyes was a colonial minister in Salem, Massachusetts during the time of the Salem witch trials. He was the second minister, called the "Teacher", to Rev. John Higginson... |
1698 | BPGR | God's Kgdm. | |
| Cotton Mather Cotton Mather Cotton Mather, FRS was a socially and politically influential New England Puritan minister, prolific author and pamphleteer; he is often remembered for his role in the Salem witch trials... |
1702 | BPGR | God.s Kgdm. | |
| William Burnet William Burnet (administrator) William Burnet was a British civil servant and colonial administrator who served as governor of New York and New Jersey and Massachusetts .-Early life:... |
1724 | Div. Europe | Christ's Kgdm. | |
| Paul Dudley | 1731 | BPGR | ||
| Jonathan Edwards | 1739 | BPGR | 10 Kgdms. | |
| David Imri | 1756 | BPGR | ||
| Ezekiel Cheever | 1757 | BPGR | Christ's Kgdm. | |
| Samuel Gatchel | 1781 | [BPGR] | ||
| Benjamin Gale | 1788 | BPGR | Church-State | God's Kgdm. |
| Samuel Hopkins | 1793 | God's Kgdm. | ||
| Samuel Osgood Samuel Osgood Samuel Osgood was an American merchant and statesman born in North Andover Massachusetts, parent town of the Andovers. His family home still stands at 440 Osgood Street in North Andover... |
1794 | BPGR | Present | 2nd Advent |
| David Austin | 1794 | BPGR | Church-State | Soon |
| Joshua Spalding | 1796 | BPGR | Christ's Kgdm. | |
| Biblical Expositors of the 19th Century Advent Awakening: 1800-1845 AD | ||||
| 4 metals | Feet/Toes | Stone Kgdm. | ||
| Manuel Lacunza Manuel Lacunza Manuel Diaz Lacunza S.J. was a Jesuit priest who used the pen-name Juan Josafat Ben-Ezra for his main work on the interpretation of the prophecies of the Bible.- Biography :... |
1799 | 4 Kgdms. | Divided Europe | Christ's Kgdm. |
| William Hales William Hales William Hales was an Irish clergyman and scientific writer.He was born in Cork, Ireland, the son of Samuel Hales, the curate at the cathedral church there.... |
1803 | BPGR | Christ's Kgdm. | |
| George Stanley Faber George Stanley Faber George Stanley Faber was an Anglican theologian and prolific author.... |
1804 | BPGR | 10 Divisions | |
| Thomas Scott Thomas Scott (commentator) The Rev. Thomas Scott was an influential preacher and author who is principally known for his best-selling work A Commentary On The Whole Bible and The Force of Truth, and as one of the founders of the Church Missionary Society.- Life :... |
1805 | BPGR | Secular w/Eccl | God's Kgdm. |
| Adam Clarke Adam Clarke Adam Clarke was a British Methodist theologian and Biblical scholar, born in the townland of Moybeg Kirley near Tobermore in Ireland... |
1810 | BPGR | Divisions | God's Kgdm. |
| Samuel Toovey | 1813 | BPGR | God's Kgdm. | |
| Captain Maitland | 1813 | BPGR | 10 Divisions | |
| William Cuninghame | 1813 | BPGR | ||
| James H Frere | 1815 | BPGR | 10 Divisions | God's Kgdm. |
| Lewis Way | 1818 | BPGR | Divided Kgdms | Christ's Kgdm. |
| Francis Mason (archdeacon) Francis Mason (archdeacon) Francis Mason was an English churchman, archdeacon of Norfolk and author of Of the Consecration of the Bishops in the Church of England , a defence of the Church of England and the first serious rebuttal of the Nag's Head Fable put about as denigration of Matthew Parker and Anglican... |
1820 | BPGR | God's Kgdm. | |
| Jonathan Bayford | 1820 | BPGR | Divided Europe | Messiah's Kgdm. |
| Joseph Wolff Joseph Wolff Joseph Wolff , Jewish Christian missionary, was born at Weilersbach, near Bamberg, Germany. He travelled widely, and was known as the Eccentric Missionary, according to Fitzroy Maclean's Eastern Approaches... |
1822 | BPGR | Christ's Kgdm. | |
| John Fry | 1822 | BPGR | Divisions | |
| Edward Cooper | 1825 | BPGR | God's Kgdm. | |
| S. R. Maitland | 1826 | BPGR | Future | Future |
| Edward Irving Edward Irving *For Edward Irving, the Canadian geologist, see Edward A. Irving.Edward Irving was a Scottish clergyman, generally regarded as the main figure behind the foundation of the Catholic Apostolic Church.-Youth:... |
1826 | BPGR | God's Kgdm. | |
| Edward T. Vaughan | 1828 | BPGR | Christ's Kgdm. | |
| Thomas Keyworth | 1828 | BPGR | 10 Kgdms. | |
| Gerald T. Noel | 1828 | BPGR | 10 Divisions | God's Kgdm. |
| Alexander Keith | 1828 | BPGR | ||
| Alfred Addis | 1829 | BPGR | Divided Europe | God's Kgdm. |
| Jonathon Hooper | 1829 | BPGR | Western Kgdms. | God's Kgdm. |
| William W. Pym | 1829 | BPGR | God's Kgdm. | |
| Henry Drummond (1786–1860) | 1830 | BPGR | ||
| William Jones | 1830 | BPGR | Divisions | |
| Edward N. Hoare | 1830 | BPGR | 10 Kgdms. | 2nd Advent |
| Samuel Lee (linguist) | 1830 | Preterist | ||
| William Anderson | 1830 | BPGR | Christ's Kgdm. | |
| James Begg James Begg James Begg was a Free Church of Scotland minister.He was editor for The Bulwark or The Reformation Journal for 21 years from its beginning July, 1851. He also wrote frequently to The Witness, Hugh Miller's newspaper.- External links :* * at the National Portrait Gallery*... |
1831 | BPGR | Intermarriages | God's Kgdm. |
| William Digby | 1831 | BPGR | ||
| William Thorp | 1831 | BPGR | ||
| John Cox | 1832 | BPGR | Christ's Kgdm. | |
| Joseph d'A. Sirr | 1833 | BPGR | Divisions | God's Kgdm. |
| Matthew Habershon | 1834 | BPGR | Christ's Kgdm. | |
| Bp Dan Wilson | 1836 | BPGR | Christ's Kgdm. | |
| Edward Bickersteth | 1836 | BPGR | ||
| François Samuel Robert Louis Gaussen | 1837 | BPGR | Church-State | Christ's Kgdm. |
| J. H. Richter | 1839 | BPGR | Listed | Christ's Kgdm. |
| James Henthorn Todd James Henthorn Todd James Henthorn Todd was a biblical scholar, educator, and Irish historian. He is noted for his efforts to place religious disagreements on a rational historical footing, for his advocacy of a liberal form of Protestantism, and for his endeavours as an educator, librarian, and scholar in Irish... |
1840 | Futurist | ||
| John Henry Newman | 1841 | Futurist | ||
| Thomas Rawson Birks Thomas Rawson Birks Thomas Rawson Birks , theologian and controversialist, was born on 28 September 1810 at Staveley in Derbyshire, England. He figured in the debate to try to resolve theology and science. He rose to be a Knightbridge Professor of Moral Philosophy... |
1843 | BPGR | Mingle | |
| Jonathan Cumming | 1843 | BPGR | ||
| William Miller William Miller (preacher) William Miller was an American Baptist preacher who is credited with beginning the mid-nineteenth century North American religious movement now known as Adventism. Among his direct spiritual heirs are several major religious denominations, including Seventh-day Adventists and Advent Christians... |
1843 | BPGR | Divided Europe | God's Kgdm. |
| E. B. Elliot | 1844 | BPGR | Christ's Kgdm. | |
| James A. Wylie | 1844 | BPGR | Divided Europe | God's Kgdm. |
| Joseph Baylee | 1845 | BPGR | Divided Europe | Christ's Kgdm. |