Daniel 2:20-23 YLT
20" Daniel hath answered and said, `Let the name of God be blessed from age even unto age, for wisdom and might -- for they are His.
21 And He is changing times and seasons, He is causing kings to pass away, and He is raising up kings; He is giving wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those possessing understanding.
22 He is revealing deep and hidden things; He hath known what [is] in darkness, and light with Him hath dwelt.
23 Thee, O God of my fathers, I am thanking and praising, for wisdom and might Thou hast given to me; and now, Thou hast caused me to know that which we have sought from Thee, for the king's matter Thou hast caused us to know.'"
This is a very relieved, very grateful Daniel and his friends exulting in the faithfulness of God. There are some examples on the internet of people who have made this into a song, but it is asking a lot for anyone to recreate what would have been in the heart of a man who was going to be killed if God did not come through and do what had never been done, reveal another person's dream without that person giving even one clue as to what the dream was. And just to add to it, Daniel also fearlessly gives the interpretation of the dream and although it acknowledged that God had made the current king of Babylon great, it also pointed to the very temporary nature of any and all of man's kingdoms. Ultimately it belittled such kingdoms and reserved praise only for the Kingdom that would come from God to the chosen people (Daniel 2:44) and here I must mention that "the Message" paraphrase is "clear as mud" on a very important point.
NASB "And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever."Daniel 2:44
The Message “But throughout the history of these kingdoms, the God of heaven will be building a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will this kingdom ever fall under the domination of another. In the end it will crush the other kingdoms and finish them off and come through it all standing strong and eternal. It will be like the stone cut from the mountain by the invisible hand that crushed the iron, the bronze, the ceramic, the silver, and the gold. “The great God has let the king know what will happen in the years to come. This is an accurate telling of the dream, and the interpretation is also accurate.”
The Kingdom that God establishes is given to the chosen people, the Jews, the people of Daniel's race. Only Daniel and Ezra use the word in this verse translated "people". (this section of Daniel is in Aramaic in the original, one of the rare times the writings are not in Hebrew) Each time it is translated "people", but for some reason that is very muddled and not at all clear in the Message. We can use and enjoy the Message as a supplement to our Bible reading but it is not adequate for true, deep study of God's word to us. IMO
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