Chapter 2 of Daniel opens with the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, a dream that agitated his spirit and broke his sleep. The king summoned the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and Chaldeans, demanding something unprecedented: not only to interpret the dream, but to tell him what he had dreamed in the first place. In the passage before us, we are in the midst of the negotiations between the wise men and the king: the Chaldeans' response, Nebuchadnezzar's fury and the death decree, and from there - Daniel's entrance onto the scene, his wonderful counsel to Arioch, his seclusion in prayer with his companions, and the revelation of the mystery in a night vision followed by his song of thanksgiving.
"There Is No Man on Earth" - An Unprecedented Demand
עֲנוֹ כַשְׂדָּאֵי קֳדָם מַלְכָּא וְאָמְרִין לָא אִיתַי אֱנָשׁ עַל יַבֶּשְׁתָּא דִּי מִלַּת מַלְכָּא יוּכַל לְהַחֲוָיָה, כָּל קֳבֵל דִּי כָל מֶלֶךְ רַב וְשַׁלִּיט מִלָּה כִדְנָה לָא שְׁאֵל לְכָל חַרְטֹם וְאָשַׁף וְכַשְׁדָּי׃ - The Chaldeans answered before the king and said, "There is no man on earth who can relate the king's matter, because no great king or ruler has ever asked such a thing of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean."
The Chaldeans approached the king and said: Your Majesty, your request is unreasonable, and it is not accepted practice even among kings. There is no man on earth who can state the king's matter - what you dreamed in your sleep. Furthermore, consider that there is no precedent in history for this: "Because no great king or ruler has ever asked such a thing of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean." Never has a king made such a demand of an astrologer, magician, or Chaldean. How can you demand of us something that is beyond human capability? If someone studied electronics, one would not ask him to repair a car - "I did not study that; it is outside my skill set" - and certainly no one would ask him to cure the sick. You are asking something that has never been asked of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean, for this is simply not their training - to know what is in a person's heart and what he dreamed.
Two Difficulties in the King's Request
וּמִלְּתָא דִי מַלְכָּה שָׁאֵל יַקִּירָה, וְאָחֳרָן לָא אִיתַי דִּי יְחַוִּנַּהּ קֳדָם מַלְכָּא, לָהֵן אֱלָהִין דִּי מְדָרְהוֹן עִם בִּשְׂרָא לָא אִיתוֹהִי׃ - "And the matter that the king asks is rare and difficult, and there is no other who can tell it before the king, except gods whose dwelling is not with flesh."
The matter that my lord the king asks is too weighty for us: "And there is no other who can tell it before the king" - no other human being in the world could tell it to the king. A profound argument is embedded here: one might be justified in being angry with a professional who fails at his job when there are others who can do it properly, which raises the complaint, "Why am I stuck with you?" But if there is no one in the world who can perform this task, what is the basis for anger? It is not merely that we cannot do it; no person on earth can do such a thing. You have no valid complaint against us that we are not skilled or wise enough, because no human being in the world possesses such wisdom.
And who can? "Except gods whose dwelling is not with flesh." This matter, they told the king, presents difficulties on two levels. First, you want us to tell you a secret, something known only to you - and that in itself is difficult. Second, and far more severe: you want us to tell you something that even you yourself do not know. Had you asked for a secret that only you know, that would be difficult; a secret that even you do not know is seven times harder. Why? Because the matter has not been conceptualized in reality at all. A thing that exists in reality, or at least in someone's active thought, has a form and presence here in this world; but this matter does not exist at all, having no form even in your own thought, since you do not recall it.
Two Realms of Deities - The Malbim's Explanation
The Malbim explains: they believed in two categories of deities, as seen in many ancient sources. There is the supreme, mighty, and exalted god above; and in contrast, there are lower spiritual forces down here with us whose "dwelling is with flesh" - dwelling among men, inhabiting the atmosphere close to humans, and conveying all sorts of information to those attuned to them. One who is close to these lower spirits is granted revelations of hidden things. But there are higher celestial deities who have no direct contact with mortals.
Therefore, they said to the king: to know the thoughts of men is within the capability of someone connected to the lower spirits that dwell alongside humanity. But what you are demanding of us is something that even they lack the power to know, and is accessible only to the higher celestial powers that do not consort with mortal flesh. And as astrologers, sorcerers, and magicians, with whom do we communicate? Only with the lower entities. We have no access to the sources of information possessed by the higher celestial powers, so there is no possibility of our knowing it. And what can the lower entities know? That which has taken shape in thought, for that has an imprint and an existence in this world; but what has not even taken shape in thought - what you yourself cannot recall - there is no chance that they could know.
From this we can appreciate the precision of their phrasing: "There is no man on earth [on dry land]" - there is no one on dry land who can state such a thing, for the realm of the lower deities corresponds to those on the earth. Who, then, could know? Only those celestial deities who are beyond the terrestrial sphere, the higher powers. This is also why never in history has any ruler demanded such a thing, because everyone understands that one cannot ask for what is impossible to implement. Since we have no grasp of the higher celestial powers, how can you demand from us something that is not present in this world? This is what they emphasized: "And there is no other who can tell it before the king, except gods whose dwelling is not with flesh" - among the spirits whose dwelling is with flesh, namely the lower forces, this knowledge does not exist; such secrets are known only to the celestial powers above.
"Ve'ochoran" - "Ve'Aharon": The Derashah of Chazal
Chazal expound: Do not read "ve'ochoran" (and another), but rather "ve'Aharon" (and Aaron). That is to say, they were telling the king: There was one who indeed could have known this - Aaron. Aaron was able, by means of the Urim VeTumim, to communicate with the higher divine realms, and he could have told you what you dreamed, for he had access to the sources of information on High. And so they said to him: After you destroyed the Beit HaMikdash, after the Shechinah departed - you come and demand that we make contact with the higher divine realms? Today we have no Urim VeTumim, and we have no power to do such a thing.
And Midrash Tanchuma states: At that moment the king said to them, "If so much wisdom was found in that house, in the Beit HaMikdash, and you advised me to destroy it?!" As soon as he heard this, he ordered them to be put to death.
"Malka benas u'ktzaf sagi" - Indiscriminate Anger
כָּל קֳבֵל דְּנָה מַלְכָּא בְּנַס וּקְצַף שַׂגִּיא, וַאֲמַר לְהוֹבָדָה לְכֹל חַכִּימֵי בָבֶל׃ - Because of this, the king became sullen and exceedingly furious, and he ordered all the wise men of Babylon destroyed.
"Kol kovel denah" - meaning, in response to this. When the king heard this answer, "malka benas" - he was sullen and agitated, similar to the verse regarding the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, "and behold, they were distraught [zo'afim]," which the Targum renders as "nesisin." The agitation was over the dream itself, whereas "u'ktzaf sagi" - the great fury was directed at the wise men, as he felt they were trying to deceive and trick him, offering no solution to the distress he was in.
And "the wise men of Babylon" included everyone: the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans. They were all supposed to know how to interpret dreams - and yet they did not. Notice that he was furious with all of them, even those who were never expected to know such things. One might be an expert in engineering, another in the natural sciences, another in statecraft, and so forth - what did he want from them? But Nebuchadnezzar in his rage made no distinction between wise and foolish; he drew no lines: "As far as I am concerned, you wise men are not delivering," and therefore he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon.
And what other wise men were in Babylon besides the Chaldeans? Chananyah, Mishael, and Azaryah, with Daniel at their head. The king was entirely unaware of Daniel's great wisdom in interpreting dreams - even though we saw in the previous chapter that Daniel understood all visions and dreams - and therefore he had not summoned him to attempt to interpret the dream. As far as the king was concerned, none of the wise men deserved to live, and so he commanded that they all be killed.
The Decree Goes Forth
וְדָתָא נֶפְקַת וְחַכִּימַיָּא מִתְקַטְּלִין, וּבְעוֹ דָּנִיֵּאל וְחַבְרוֹהִי לְהִתְקְטָלָה׃ - The decree went forth, and the wise men were being put to death, and they sought Daniel and his companions to be killed.
"Ve'data nafkat" - the law and royal decree went forth, as in the phrase "and the law was given in Shushan." "Ve'chakimaya mitkatlin" - they began rounding up the wise men to lead them to execution. "U've'o Daniyel ve'chavrohi le'hitkatala" - they sought Daniel and his companions as well to execute them, for the king wanted all the wise men killed, and Daniel and his companions were included among the wise men.
בֵּאדַיִן דָּנִיֵּאל הֲתִיב עֵטָא וּטְעֵם לְאַרְיוֹךְ רַב טַבָּחַיָּא דִּי מַלְכָּא, דִּי נְפַק לְקַטָּלָה לְחַכִּימֵי בָּבֶל׃ - Then Daniel responded with counsel and discretion to Arioch, the king's chief executioner, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon.
עָנֵה וְאָמַר לְאַרְיוֹךְ שַׁלִּיטָא דִי מַלְכָּא, עַל מָה דָתָא מְהַחְצְפָה מִן קֳדָם מַלְכָּא, אֱדַיִן מִלְּתָא הוֹדַע אַרְיוֹךְ לְדָנִיֵּאל׃ - He spoke up and said to Arioch, the king's officer, 'Why is the decree from before the king so urgent?' Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel.
Simply understood: Daniel responded with counsel and discretion to Arioch, the king's chief executioner, who had set out to put the wise men of Babylon to death; and he asked him, Arioch the king's officer, why the decree from the king was so harsh - or as some explain, so rushed and urgent - to put everyone to death; what was the reason for all this? "Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel" - Arioch recounted the entire sequence of events to Daniel.
Three Questions on the Verses - and Daniel's Counsel
Several things in these verses require explanation. First, at the beginning he is called "Arioch, chief executioner," and immediately afterward "Arioch, the king's officer" - once as the chief executioner and once as the king's officer. Second, what is the meaning of "responded with counsel and discretion"? What counsel and what discretion were there here? At most, he simply asked him what happened and what the matter was about. And third: Daniel was sitting in the king's gate - how could he not have been aware of everything taking place inside? He was not in another country; whatever occurred in the royal palace was well known to everyone in the surrounding area. It is an immense wonder to suggest that Daniel was unaware of the decree, of the wise men who were summoned, and of the dream that had caused such turmoil in the palace.
The Malbim offers a magnificent explanation. Until now, Daniel had not intervened, and rightly so: "I was not summoned and I was not called; there may also be mortal danger here, and this does not concern me - why should I put a healthy head into a sick bed?" But now, after the king had already decreed that everyone be executed, had Daniel suddenly stepped forward and said, "Wait a moment, my lord the king, I have a solution," they would have told him: "For this very thing you deserve to be executed! You saw the king eating his heart out for days, you saw him under such intense pressure - and you sat quietly on the sidelines without intervening? Give your interpretation, and afterward we will execute you." To watch the king suffer so deeply and say nothing to him is a capital offense.
Thus Daniel found himself in a dilemma: on the one hand, if I remain silent, they will kill me; on the other hand, if I speak up, they will kill me. How does one resolve this? Daniel approached the chief executioner and said: I have an idea for you. Let us tell the king that I never heard anything about the entire affair, and since I had not heard, no one can lodge a complaint against me: "Why didn't you come forward until now? You saw the king suffering and kept silent!" I knew nothing of the matter, and only now did I find out. This is the meaning of "He spoke up and said to Arioch, the king's officer, 'Why is the decree from before the king...?'" - as if to say: I know nothing at all, and you yourself are the one informing me that there is an issue with the king.
Consequently, they must grant me my own allotted time to try and interpret the dream. Otherwise, had he come forward now to interpret it, the king would have told him: "Time is up! I granted an extension until evening, stating that if they did not interpret my dream, I would kill everyone, and now all of a sudden you remember?" With an absolute monarch there is no "now you remember": a deadline was set, and once it passed, everyone is to be executed. Therefore, Daniel had to establish: Understand, my lord the king, that this deadline does not apply to me, for I knew nothing of the dream; and now that I have learned of it, you must grant me time of my own just as you granted them, since I was only just informed of the matter.
וְדָנִיֵּאל עַל וּבְעָה מִן מַלְכָּא דִּי זְמָן יִנְתִּן לֵהּ, וּפִשְׁרָא לְהַחֲוָיָה לְמַלְכָּא׃ - So Daniel went in and asked of the king that he grant him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation.
Notice the precise wording: Daniel went in and asked the king to grant him time "that he might tell the king the interpretation" - to state the interpretation. But what had the king demanded to know? The dream itself! Yet what did Daniel say to him? "Grant me time to tell you the interpretation"? The king could easily counter: "I did not ask for an interpretation; I have had plenty of interpretations from magicians who tried to deceive me!" But that is precisely the point: Daniel came and said, "I already know the dream; grant me time only for the interpretation, which I am currently working on." In this way, the king would indeed be willing to grant him time, for none of the others even knew what dream was being discussed; and here came a man saying: "I only lack the interpretation, for I already know the dream itself."
This also provides the answer to the first question, why in this verse he is not called "chief executioner" but rather "the king's officer." Daniel was saying to him: "You understand what the king is going through; you are the king's officer - beyond the fact that your duty is to carry out executions, which is why you came to summon me, to put me to death. I am not approaching you as the chief executioner, but as a royal officer who knows all the decrees and everything happening inside the royal palace. Therefore, through the counsel I am proposing to you - you, who truly know what is taking place in the royal court, can help me obtain an extension from the king to appear before him and present an interpretation for his dream, and through this, the king will not immediately kill all the wise men."
Returning Home: Seclusion and Enlisting Companions
אֱדַיִן דָּנִיֵּאל לְבַיְתֵהּ אֲזַל, וְלַחֲנַנְיָה מִישָׁאֵל וַעֲזַרְיָה חַבְרוֹהִי מִלְּתָא הוֹדַע׃ - Then Daniel went to his house, and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions.
Daniel went to his house and enlisted his companions, Chananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, informing them of the entire matter. Why did he go to his house? In order to be in seclusion. The way a person attains prophecy is through seclusion and communion with Hashem, may He be blessed. Therefore, he also informed his companions of the matter, so that they too would isolate themselves and commune with Hashem, may He be blessed, and thereby be worthy of having the divine spirit bestowed upon them to know the interpretation.
וְרַחֲמִין לְמִבְעֵא מִן קֳדָם אֱלָהּ שְׁמַיָּא עַל רָזָא דְּנָה, דִּי לָא יְהוֹבְדוּן דָּנִיֵּאל וְחַבְרוֹהִי עִם שְׁאָר חַכִּימֵי בָבֶל׃ - And to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this secret, that Daniel and his companions should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
Furthermore, they needed to plead for mercy from Hashem, and the plea of an individual asking for mercy cannot be compared to that of four righteous men asking for mercy. He therefore wished to gather all of them so that they too would plead for mercy "from before the God of heaven concerning this secret" - regarding this mystery.
However, one must examine the wording of the request carefully: "that Daniel and his companions should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon." Was he concerned about the wise men of Babylon? Why was it necessary to say that Daniel and his companions should not be killed "with" the rest of the wise men? The Malbim explains: It is written, "Do not gather my soul with sinners." The righteous pray not to die alongside the wicked and not to be buried alongside the wicked, for the very fact that a person passes away with the wicked or is buried with the wicked is a disgrace for him. Therefore they plead: Master of the Universe, have mercy on us so that we do not perish together with the rest of the wise men of Babylon, which would be a great disgrace. We are not speaking of the death of the wise men of Babylon - what do we care about them? They are all idolaters and sorcerers who commit the worst deeds, and we do not worry about their fate. We are concerned that we should not die with them, for it is a great indignity for us to die like the righteous alongside the wicked, and for the righteous to be gathered with the wicked. It is for this that we plead: Master of the Universe, have pity on us and do not bring us to such disgrace.
"In a Night Vision the Secret Was Revealed" - A Vision, Not a Dream
אֱדַיִן לְדָנִיֵּאל בְּחֶזְוָא דִי לֵילְיָא רָזָא גְלִי, אֱדַיִן דָּנִיֵּאל בָּרִךְ לֶאֱלָהּ שְׁמַיָּא׃ - Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision; then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision, and Daniel blessed the God of heaven. And why specifically to Daniel? Because, as we saw earlier, Daniel was uniquely gifted in the understanding of dreams and hidden matters, having been granted "understanding in all visions and dreams"; he possessed a higher spiritual level and greater preparation of soul than his companions.
Note the precise wording: "In a night vision the secret was revealed" - Hashem revealed the secret to him. This means it was far greater than what Nebuchadnezzar saw: for Nebuchadnezzar it was merely a dream, whereas here it was a vision - Hashem revealed Himself to him and uncovered the secret. Through this, Daniel thanked and blessed the God of heaven, and the subsequent verses are the prayer and thanksgiving he offered to Hashem, the God of heaven, Who reveals His hidden mysteries and secrets to the righteous.
The Song of Thanksgiving: "For Wisdom and Might Are His"
עָנֵה דָנִיֵּאל וְאָמַר לֶהֱוֵא שְׁמֵהּ דִּי אֱלָהָא מְבָרַךְ מִן עָלְמָא וְעַד עָלְמָא, דִּי חָכְמְתָא וּגְבוּרְתָא דִּי לֵהּ הִיא׃ - Daniel spoke and said: Blessed be the name of God from eternity to eternity, for wisdom and might are His.
Here we see Daniel's prayer and thanksgiving for the secret that Hashem delivered to him. The interpretation of the dream itself is not yet mentioned, as there is no need to state it twice: when Daniel approaches the king, the text will record the interpretation he received from Heaven. For now, the text informs us that Daniel received the solution, and he gives thanks and praise to Hashem, the God of heaven, to Whom belong wisdom and might.
Let us take note of the content of the praise: "Blessed be the name of God from eternity to eternity, for wisdom and might are His." That is to say, the source of all powers in the world is Hashem. He, may He be blessed, sustains reality at every single moment; might and wisdom - everything comes from Him, may He be blessed, and He is the ultimate source of wisdom. If there is any matter of wisdom in the world, it is from Him; and if there is any display of might, it all emanates and flows from the Supreme Emanator, blessed be He.
וְהוּא מְהַשְׁנֵא עִדָּנַיָּא וְזִמְנַיָּא, מְהַעְדֵּה מַלְכִין וּמְהָקֵים מַלְכִין, יָהֵב חָכְמְתָא לְחַכִּימִין וּמַנְדְּעָא לְיָדְעֵי בִינָה׃ - And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and sets up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who know understanding.
This verse elaborates on the preceding praise. We said that Hashem rules "from eternity to eternity," meaning forever - and now he adds that Hashem does not merely rule forever, meaning ruling within the framework of time, but He also changes the times and seasons. The entire operation of time and its changes, day and night, and the very duration of time, which is a creation in its own right - all stems from Hashem, blessed be He. And corresponding to what he said, "and might is His," he explains that Hashem sets up and removes kings, for this too comes from Him, blessed be He.
"He Gives Wisdom to the Wise" - Why Specifically to the Wise?
And corresponding to what he said, "for wisdom is His," he explains: "He gives wisdom to the wise." At first glance, this is difficult to understand - wisdom should have been given to fools, who are the ones in need of it; why give wisdom to the wise?
Rather, the Zohar says: if Hashem had given wisdom to fools, they would have used it for nonsense and vanity. What would a fool use his wisdom for? To invent a system to beat the lottery - and that is in the best case. In a worse case: to invent a sophisticated scheme for theft, through credit card fraud - one needs intelligence for that, but is that why you were given wisdom? Therefore, Hashem does not give wisdom to a fool, for a fool would use wisdom for vanity, for all sorts of devious "cleverness," to invent bombs and the like.
And to whom does He give it? To the wise. And what defines a wise person? A wise person is one who seeks wisdom and values it. He knows what wisdom is, he seeks it out and appreciates it - and to such a person Hashem gives wisdom. "The wise" refers to one who prepares a vessel to receive wisdom, who makes himself worthy of receiving it.
Chochmah, Binah, and Da'as
The Malbim explains: there is chochmah (wisdom), there is binah (understanding), and there is da'as (knowledge) - Chabad. And after these sacred concepts they established their name. What is chochmah? Chochmah is what Hashem gives to man, what a person receives from Hashem, in the words of the verse, "For Hashem gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding" - wisdom comes from Hashem.
And what is binah? It is taking the wisdom Hashem gave me and using it to deduce one thing from another. If someone was taught a specific thing, a person who lacks binah knows only what he was taught. If he is asked, "And what would happen in that case?" he replies, "I was not taught that." But after all, you were given binah, and binah is meant to draw comparisons between similar things and distinguish between different ones. Binah is understanding one concept from another: "I was not taught this explicitly, but I arrive at a logical deduction - if here it is so, surely in that case it is also so; or: if it is so here, there all the more so (kal vachomer) it must be so."
And after that comes da'as. What defines da'as? Da'as is what is called science (madda) - something that has the status of clear, established knowledge, like something perceived by the senses. As we explained in the previous chapter, the meaning of madda is axioms, which are foundational premises. For example, when a person goes to study science, they teach him about gravity; they do not say to him, "Sir, start experimenting: take an apple, drop it, and see where it falls - apparently there is gravity." There is no need to reinvent the laws; the recognized laws already exist from the established, ancient wisdom we received from the sages of previous generations - and this is called madda: the accepted foundations we possess.
Accordingly, once you have received wisdom from Hashem, and you come to deduce one thing from another and draw analogies between cases, and the matter becomes as clear and certain to you as science - absolute knowledge that cannot be refuted. Just as no one today can refute the law of gravity - it is an absolute and evident reality - so too, through binah, by deducing one matter from another, you arrive at knowledge so tangible and clear that it is to you like a law of nature: a clear and definitive matter that cannot be refuted - and that is the definition of da'as.
In summary:
In this passage we have seen the downfall of Babylonian wisdom: the Kasdim admit that there is no man on earth who can tell the dream, that this is reserved only for the supreme God whose dwelling is not with flesh, and in the words of Chazal - only Aharon with the Urim ve-Tumim could do so, and you yourself destroyed the Beit HaMikdash and destroyed that wisdom. The king, whose wrath does not distinguish between the wise and the foolish, decrees to execute all the wise men of Babylon, including Daniel and his companions. And here Daniel's wisdom comes to light: with counsel and discernment he approaches Aryoch not as the chief executioner, but as the royal officer, so that he can claim that he had only just learned of the matter and request additional time, and he is even precise to request time "to make known the interpretation" - implying that the dream is already known to him. From there he goes to his house to seclude himself, enlists his three companions in prayer, and asks that they not perish along with the wicked; then the secret is revealed to him in a night vision - a level far higher than Nevuchadnezzar's dream. From this bursts forth the song of thanksgiving: all wisdom and all might are from Him, blessed be He; He changes times and seasons, deposes kings and establishes kings, and gives wisdom to the wise - to those who seek wisdom, value it, and prepare themselves as a vessel to receive it, until wisdom becomes understanding, and understanding becomes clear, definitive knowledge.