How long after Daniel revealed and interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a great imposing image, the king made an image of gold, the text doesn’t say.[1] Nevertheless, the king did make an image of gold, which, like the image in his dream, was of a great height, and, no doubt, represented the head of gold, which signified King Nebuchadnezzar. It isn’t difficult to believe Nebuchadnezzar erected this image close to the time that Daniel interpreted the king’s dream. However, there is much discussion among Biblical scholars about the timing of this image’s construction. Some wish to put it near to the overthrow and destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple. Thus, the Septuagint makes the event of Daniel 3:1 to occur in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. However, there really is no textual support in the Hebrew for this reading. It makes more sense to say Nebuchadnezzar erected this golden image in honor of himself, and essentially pointed to himself as the king of kings, as represented in the golden head of the image, which he saw in his dream (Daniel 2:37; cp. 2:32). Read the rest of this entry »
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