109 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then Nebuchadnezzar spake and said,.... In the presence of his princes and prime ministers of state, and made the following confession, to the praise and glory of the true God; which was extorted from him at this time through the force of conviction; for it does not appear to be a thorough conversion; nor did he relinquish his gods, and the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Therefore I make a decree,.... Or, a "decree is made by me" (w); which is as follows: that every people, nation, and language, which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; anything indecent, blasphemous, or by way of contempt: he does not give orders that their God should be worshipped or signify that he would...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders!.... They are great, very great, exceeding great; so great that it cannot be said, nor even conceived how great they are, what a display of wisdom, power, and goodness is in them; they are wonderful beyond expression and conception; and so strong and mighty as not to be resisted and made void...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers,.... [See comments on Daniel 2:2], and I told the dream before them, but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof; because they could not; before they pretended, if the dream was told, they could give the interpretation of it; but now, though it was...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians,.... So he called him, either because he excelled them in knowledge, and was greater than they, as Jacchiades; though not of their rank and order, which Daniel would have scorned to have been among, and reckoned of; so that this would have been no compliment, but a grief unto him; or because he was appointed...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
This matter is by the decree of the watchers,.... That is, the cutting down the tree, and what is signified by it, was with the advice, consent, and approbation of the watchers, by whom is generally understood angels; not that they were the authors of this decree, but approvers of it; and were ready, not only to subscribe it, but to execute it; it...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers,.... Or, "with strength" (n); with a strong voice, as loud as he could; which is expressive of the fright he was in, and of his eagerness and impatience of information; laying aside all decency, and forgetting his royal majesty, like a man out of his senses, quite...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then came in all the king's wise men,.... The whole college of them, the persons before described; over whom, in Nebuchadnezzar's time, Daniel was the chief of the governors, Daniel 2:48, these came in readily, in hope of getting both riches and honour: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof; for...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house,.... Not the wife of Belshazzar, as Porphyry would have it; but rather the queen mother, as Jacchiades, the widow of Evilmerodach his father, whose name was Nitocris; and is spoken of, by Herodotus (q), as a very prudent woman; and as this seems to be by...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
There is a man in thy kingdom,.... She does not say in his court; very probably, after the death of Nebuchadnezzar, perhaps in one of the former reigns, he was removed from his offices; for, had he been in one, very likely the queen would have described him by it; and this seems to receive confirmation by the question Belshazzar put to him upon...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
I make a decree, that in every dominion of my kingdom,.... In every province of his large empire; this explains who are meant by all people, nations, c. before mentioned namely, such as were within his dominions; for to no other could his decree reach: this decree is very different from that he had made a few days before, forbidding any man to ask...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
I saw in the night visions,.... Very probably the same night in which he had the dream and vision of the four beasts; but this that follows, being a new object presented, is introduced and prefaced after this manner; as well as, being something wonderful and worthy of attention, has a "behold" prefixed to it: and, behold one like the Son of man...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom,.... That is, a large, powerful, and glorious kingdom; not but that he had a kingdom before, but now it will be more extensive, and appear in greater glory: this will be fulfilled when the kingdoms of this world shall become his, and all nations shall serve and worship him, Revelation...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he shall speak great words against the most High,.... Or, "at the side of the most High" (p); setting himself up as a rival, and upon an equality with him; taking the names and characters of holiness, infallibility, yea, of deity itself, unto him; claiming a power to forgive sin, which is peculiar to God; and preferring his own laws,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
They have set up kings, but not by me,.... Not by his authority, order, and command; not by asking advice of him, or his leave, but of themselves, and of their own, accord: this refers to the case of Jeroboam their first king, after their separation from the house of David, and from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin; for though his becoming king of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
He hath showed me, O man, what [is] good,.... This is not the answer of the prophet to the body of the people, or to any and every one of the people of Israel; but of Balaam to Balak, a single man, that consulted with him, and put questions to him; particularly what he should do to please the Lord, and what righteousness he required of him, that...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms,.... The Persian monarchy, which consisted of various kingdoms and nations, and was destroyed under Darius Codomannus by Alexander the great, who fought with him three pitched battles, and overcame him; but the thing was of the Lord, according to his purpose and will, and by his power and providence; and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked,.... When he saw another vision, as follows: and, behold, there came four chariots; by which are meant, not the four Gospels; rather the apostles of Christ, who had their commission from Christ; were sent into all the world by him, and carried his name and Gospel thither; were the instruments...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And in the third chariot white horses,.... Which, as referring to Gospel preachers, may denote the purity of their lives and doctrines, and their conquests and victories over the souls of men by the ministry of the word; and, as applicable to angels, may express the purity of their nature and actions, the joyful messages they bring to the heirs of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Now when Jesus was born,.... Several things are here related respecting the birth of Christ, as the place where he was born, in Bethlehem of Judea; so called to distinguish it from another Bethlehem in the tribe of Zabulon, Joshua 19:15. Here Christ was to be born according to a prophecy hereafter mentioned, and accordingly the Jews expected he...