he said to them, “I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to understand it.”
Parallel translations
- WEB The king said to them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.
- KJV And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.
- NKJV And the king said to them, “I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.”
- NASB The king said to them, “I had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream.”
- NLT he said, “I have had a dream that deeply troubles me, and I must know what it means.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The king tells them he has had a dream and is anxious to understand it. His troubled spirit drives the whole confrontation.
Overview
Nebuchadnezzar's distress reveals a deep, unmet longing for certainty about the future. The wise men assume a routine interpretation request. The king, however, will demand something only the true God can supply.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Gen 41:15Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”
- Gen 40:8“We both had dreams,” they replied, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”
- Dan 4:5I had a dream, and it frightened me; while in my bed, the images and visions in my mind alarmed me.
- Dan 2:1In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams that troubled his spirit, and sleep escaped him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Daniel sees the stone cut without hands that shatters the kingdoms, and 'one like a son of man' given everlasting dominion — titles and visions Jesus claims as his own.
How Daniel 2:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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