What does Daniel mean by “wisdom and might are his” in this passage?

When Daniel says “wisdom and might are his,” he is giving all credit for understanding and power to God. Daniel has just had the king’s secret dream revealed to him, but he knows this did not come from his own skill. He is saying that every bit of wisdom people have and every bit of strength or authority they hold really comes from God. God knows what no one else knows, and he rules over events and rulers. Daniel’s words pull the spotlight away from himself and put it on God as the true source of insight and power.

What does it mean that God changes the times and seasons and sets up kings?

In this passage, Daniel is saying that God is in charge of history. “He changeth the times and the seasons” means that God brings different periods and situations in the world, whether times of peace, war, growth, or decline. “He removeth kings, and setteth up kings” means that no ruler stays in power apart from God allowing it. Kingdoms rise and fall under his hand, not by accident or blind luck. Daniel is standing in front of the most powerful king on earth and saying that even this king’s throne depends on God, not the other way around.

Why did God reveal Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to Daniel in a night vision?

God revealed the dream to Daniel after Daniel and his friends had prayed for mercy. The night vision shows that God hears prayer and chooses to answer in his own way and time. A night vision fits the situation, since Nebuchadnezzar’s trouble also came at night through a dream. By revealing the dream to Daniel, God shows that he alone can uncover what is hidden and that human wisdom cannot reach into these secrets. It also sets Daniel apart as God’s servant in a foreign land, so that both the king and the wise men see that this answer clearly comes from the God of heaven.

Why does Daniel ask Arioch to spare the wise men of Babylon?

Daniel says to Arioch, “Destroy not the wise men of Babylon,” even though their practices were sinful and they had failed the king. He is not approving their religion, but he is showing mercy and fairness. The king’s command came from anger and fear, not from careful justice. Daniel knows that God is saving his own life and the lives of his friends, and he lets that mercy flow out toward others. This shows a heart that cares about people, even those who do not share his faith. He trusts that God’s revelation, not their death, will show who the true God is.

What does this passage teach about God revealing deep and secret things?

Daniel says that God “revealeth the deep and secret things” and that he knows what is in the darkness. This means that nothing is hidden from God’s sight, even the thoughts of a king lying on his bed. Human wisdom reaches its limit quickly, but God’s knowledge has no limit. In this story, God shows that by telling Daniel both what the king dreamed and what it means. Daniel did not guess or work it out; God simply made it known. This teaches that understanding of God’s plans and of the future belongs to God, and he gives it when and how he chooses.

Why does Daniel stress that the secret was not revealed because of his own wisdom?

Daniel tells the king plainly that the secret was not revealed to him because he was wiser than anyone else. He wants to make sure the king does not start honoring Daniel as if he were some kind of wonder-worker. Instead, Daniel calls himself a servant and points back to God as the real interpreter. He says the dream was revealed “for their sakes” and so that the king would know the thoughts of his own heart. In other words, God gave this insight to help others and to reach the king, not to make Daniel look great. It is a clear picture of humility.

What does this passage show about the power of prayer in hard times?

This part of the story follows right after Daniel and his friends prayed together for mercy so they would not die with the rest of the wise men. God’s answer comes in the form of the night vision, and Daniel’s first response is praise, not pride. This shows that praying in faith, even under threat of death, is not wasted. God may not always answer in the same way, but here he uses prayer as the path to reveal his plan, save lives, and honor his name before a pagan king. It encourages believers to seek God together, trusting that he hears and can act.

How can Daniel’s humility before the king guide believers today?

Daniel stands before a powerful ruler with information that could raise his own status, yet he keeps giving all credit to God. He admits that no wise man, astrologer, or magician could explain the dream, and then says, “But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets.” He never lets the king think this wisdom started with him. For believers today, this points to a way of living where any gifts, insight, or success are seen as given by God. Instead of using spiritual gifts to draw attention to ourselves, we can follow Daniel’s pattern and use them to point others to God’s greatness.

What was happening with Nebuchadnezzar when God revealed this dream’s meaning?

Nebuchadnezzar had been troubled by a dream about the future and demanded that his wise men both tell him the dream and explain it. When they could not, he ordered all the wise men in Babylon to be killed, which included Daniel and his friends. While the king was angry and afraid, Daniel sought time, gathered his companions, and prayed. In that tense moment, God revealed the dream and its meaning to Daniel at night. By the time Daniel stands before the king, he can describe what the king had thought on his bed and what would happen in the days to come, showing that God rules even in the middle of human fear and threats.

What does this passage teach about God’s control over the future and the “latter days”?

Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar that God is making known “what shall be in the latter days” and “what should come to pass hereafter.” This shows that the future is not random to God. He has a clear plan that moves through different kingdoms and reaches into the distant future. While this part of the story does not yet unpack all the details, it makes one thing clear: only God can open up what lies ahead. The king’s dream and its meaning come from God’s choice to reveal a piece of his plan, not from human guesswork or fortune-telling.

Dan.2.19

Daniel 2:19

KJV

¶ Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

The Dream Revealed to Daniel

¶ Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king’s guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon:

He answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.

Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation.

Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:

That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

The Secret Is Revealed to Daniel

19 ¶ Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:

And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:

He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.

I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter.

¶ Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation.

Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation.

The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?

Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;

But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;

As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.

But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.

The King’s Dream

¶ Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.

This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,

His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.

Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.

Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

The Interpretation—Babylon the First Kingdom

¶ This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.

Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.

And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.

Medo-Persia and Greece

And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

Rome

And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.

And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.

And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.

And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

The Divine Kingdom

And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

Cross References

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