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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Nebuchadnezzar a true believer? | Dan 2:47 | Hank | 6167 | ||
Daniel 2:47 might lead one to think that Nebuchadnezzar was a true believer in the God of Israel. But was he? Did this most powerful pagan of his time continue to cling to his Babylonian gods? | ||||||
2 | Nebuchadnezzar a true believer? | Dan 2:47 | Ray | 6281 | ||
Hi Hank, I don't want to talk about Neb here or your question but I would like to speak to the verse of Daniel 2:47. I was thinking of the question of whether God was a god or not. Or whether Jesus was a king or not. I do not think of Him as a god nor a king. In this verse we read a variance from king of kings which was in Daniel somewhere speaking of Nebuchadnezzar and "King of kings and Lord of lords" is usually spoken of our God. Here it says "Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings..." Carry my thinking to Daniel 3:15b, "and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?" How can it be that Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, verse 16, didn't need to say, "There is no god who can deliver..." It's because there is only one God who can deliver. In other words, that is my reasoning to make it a capital God in Daniel 3:15 and 29. Look at 2 Chronicles 32:14 with me a minute. "Who was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed who could deliver his people out of my hand, that your (God) should be able to deliver you from my hand?" Looking at "people" see verse 17, "As the gods of the nations of the lands have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah shall not deliver (His) people from my hand." A good verse to memorize with a correct (I believe) capitalization is 2 Chron 32:7, "Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria, nor because of all the multitude which is with him; for the *One* with us is greater than the one with him. With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles."NASB (I don't agree with the NKJ here.) So I would tell people "Capitalize your God for He is mighty and He is able." |
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3 | Nebuchadnezzar a true believer? | Dan 2:47 | Hank | 6283 | ||
Hello, Ray. Regarding the issue of capitalization of the word "god" in Daniel 3:15, why should it be capitalized? Nebuchadnezzar is not talking about the God of Israel here, but about a god in general, any god -- a generic god, if you will. This king was a polythestic pagan. He recognized many gods. In 2:47 the king is answering Daniel when he says, "Your God is a God of gods." God is capitalized in this instance because clearly the word is used in reference to the one true God, the God of Israel. The "gods" in the phrase "God of gods" is in reference to pagan deities. --Hank | ||||||
4 | Nebuchadnezzar a true believer? | Dan 2:47 | Ray | 6304 | ||
Hi Hank, Thanks for responding. My response is the same as I wrote, "Is God a generic god?" The king knew already about the God of heaven because Daniel told him that He had made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place according to his dreams. Daniel 2:28 The fact is that Daniel and company were delivered. Now you tell me, "Who was the god who was able to deliver? Daniel 3:15 and 29. |
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5 | Nebuchadnezzar a true believer? | Dan 2:47 | Hank | 6307 | ||
Well, Ray, to attempt to answer your question, "Who was the god who was able to deliver?" -- It seems fair to say that all Christians would hold that it could only have been God, the God of Israel, who alone was able then and is able now, to deliver. Nebchadnezzar however, being a pagan steeped in the Babylonian religion of polytheism, obviously did not view the situation in the same perspective that we can today, given the facts some thousands of years later. In Daniel 3:15 Nebuchadnezzar, in asking "what god?" is probably using "god" in a paganistic sense, i.e., what god among other gods. The Chaldee word used here for "god" is elahh, and can mean God or god. In 3:29, the king is clearly speaking of the God of Shadrach, Meshack and Abed-nego. But this presents no proof that the same meaning should be attached to 3:15....Both the NASB and NKJV render "god" in 3:15 and "God" in 3:29. The KJV renders "God" in both verses. I believe the two modern versions, in rendering "god" in 3:15 and "God" in 3:29 more accurately reflect the sense indicated by the context....In any event, the matter doesn't appear to be of any great moment, no matter which meaning of "god" Nebuchadnezzar may have had in mind. And I see this as the only issue involved here. --Hank | ||||||
6 | Nebuchadnezzar a true believer? | Dan 2:47 | Ray | 6330 | ||
Hi Hank, Again, thanks for responding. I hadn't realized that the KJV had Daniel 3:15 and 29 as a capitalized "God." I have to make a correction though in that you said that NASB had god capitalized in verse 29; it is however in the NKJ as you stated. If you don't care which God Nebuchadnezzar was thinking of then you shouldn't care whether he was a believer or not. On the other hand, if Nebuchadnezzar had the only true God in mind, it would be a very good scriptural witness to the fact that there is *only one* true God. The God who is able. In other words, Nebuchadnezzar had many gods at the start, and now he can know that he can not know many Gods, for only One is able. |
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