4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic : " O king , live forever ! Tell the dream to your servants , and we will declare the interpretation ." 5 The king replied to the Chaldeans , "The command from me is firm : if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation , you will be torn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap . 6 "But if you declare the dream and its interpretation , you will receive from me gifts and a reward and great honor ; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation ." 7 They answered a second time and said , "Let the king tell the dream to his servants , and we will declare the interpretation ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Daniel 2:4-7
Commentary on Daniel 2:1-13
(Read Daniel 2:1-13)
The greatest men are most open to cares and troubles of mind, which disturb their repose in the night, while the sleep of the labouring man is sweet and sound. We know not the uneasiness of many who live in great pomp, and, as others vainly think, in pleasure also. The king said that his learned men must tell him the dream itself, or they should all be put to death as deceivers. Men are more eager to ask as to future events, than to learn the way of salvation or the path of duty; yet foreknowledge of future events increases anxiety and trouble. Those who deceived, by pretending to do what they could not do, were sentenced to death, for not being able to do what they did not pretend to.