369 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And wheresoever the children of men dwell,.... Not in every part of the habitable world, but in every part of his large dominion inhabited by men: the beasts of the field, and the fowls of the heaven, hath he given into thine hand; all parks, chases, and forests (so that none might hunt or hawk without his permission), as well as the persons and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee,.... This is the kingdom of the Medes and Persians, signified by the breasts and arms of silver, an inferior metal to gold; this rose up, not immediately after the death of Nebuchadnezzar, but after his successors, when Belshazzar his grandson was slain, and Babylon taken by Cyrus; now...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron,.... This is not the kingdom of the Lagidae and Seleucidae, the successors of Alexander, as some have thought; for these are designed by the thighs in the third kingdom; and, besides, the kingdom of Christ was to arise in the time of this fourth kingdom, which it did not in that; nor the kingdom of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potter's clay, and part of iron,.... That is, some of the toes of the feet were of iron, and others of them of clay: these toes, which are ten, as the toes of men are, design the ten kings or kingdoms, into which the western Roman empire was divided, by the coming in of the Goths, and Hunns, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay,.... Or some of them of iron, and so were strong and powerful, as some of these kingdoms were; and some of clay, and so were weak and easily crushed, and did not stand long: so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken; this is not unfitly interpreted by some of the two...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay,.... That is, iron among the clay; otherwise iron and clay will not mix and cement together, as is affirmed in the latter part of the verse; but as some of these toes were of iron, and others of clay, or some part of them were iron, and some part of them of clay, they shall mingle themselves with...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And in the days of these kings, c. Not of the Babylonian, Persian, and Grecian kings nor, indeed, of the old Roman kings, or emperors; but in the days of these ten kings, or kingdoms, into which the Roman empire is divided, signified by the ten toes, of different power and strength. Indeed the kingdom of Christ began to be set up in the times of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands,.... [See comments on Daniel 2:34] and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; of which the image was made he had seen in his dream; and which represented the several monarchies of the world in succession, and described their...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel,.... Imagining there was something of divinity in him, that he could so exactly tell him his dream, which was past and gone; and give him the interpretation of it, respecting things to come, which he concluded none but God could do; and therefore, after the manner of the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The king answered unto Daniel,.... By which it appears that Daniel interposed and expostulated with the king, and prevented the oblation to him as a god, and instructed him in the knowledge of the true God he ought to worship; as the following confession of the king more clearly shows: and said, of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then the king made Daniel a great man,.... Advanced him to posts of great honour and dignity he was a great man before in spiritual things, in which he was made great by the Lord; and now he was made a great man in worldly things, through the providence of God; those that honour him he will honour: and gave him many great gifts: gifts great in...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then Daniel requested of the king,.... Being in his favour, he improved it to the advantage of his friends, whom he did not forget in his elevated state; but made suit to the king for them to be put into places of trust and honour, which the king listened to: and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Daniel 3 In this chapter an account is given of a golden image made by Nebuchadnezzar; its size; and where placed, Daniel 3:1, a summons to all his princes, governors, and officers, to attend the dedication of it, Daniel 3:2, a proclamation commanding men of all nations to fall down and worship it, at hearing the sound of music,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold,.... Not of solid gold; but either of a plate of gold, and hollow within; or of wood overlaid with gold; for otherwise it must have took up a prodigious quantity of gold to make an image of such dimensions as follow; this be ordered his statuaries or workmen to make for him; whether this image was for...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes,.... He sent letters, or dispatched messengers, into the several provinces of his empire, and parts of his dominions, to convene all the peers of his realm, and governors of provinces, and all officers, civil, military, and religious, expressed by various names and titles: the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then the princes, the governors, and captains,.... And all the rest of the officers before mentioned, having received their orders from the king, in obedience to them, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; at great expense, and with much fatigue and trouble, they came from all parts to attend...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then an herald cried aloud,.... That his voice might be heard all over the plain; or if it should be thought that one was not sufficient to be heard throughout, which probably was the case, and where; so great a number being assembled together, all could not hear one man, the singular may be put for the plural; and many being set in different...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet,.... So called of the horn of which it was made; a sort of trumpet; so the Jews had trumpets of rams' horns: flute; or pipe, or whistle, so called for its hissing noise; it is used of the shepherd's pipe or whistle; see Zechariah 10:8, harp; an instrument of music used by David, and much in use...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth,.... Who refuses to worship it, or wilfully neglects it; which would be interpreted a contempt of it, and of the king's command: shall in the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; such as were used to burn stones in for lime, as Jarchi observes: the music was to draw, the furnace...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Therefore at that time,.... Such a severe edict being published, threatening with so terrible a punishment: when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music; not only at Babylon, and that lived near the plain of Dura, but in all places where it was played: all the people, the nations, and...