Daniel 2:46

Fell upon his face. A mark of respect and reverence. Such expressions of respect are frequently noted in the OT (Gen. 17:3; 2 Sam. 9:6; 14:4).

Worshipped. Aramaic segad, a word that normally seems to imply actual worship.

The king was already upon his face; so it may mean more than “bow down”. Segad is used throughout eh. 3 to describe the worship of the golden image demanded by the king but refused by the Hebrews. The Hebrew words for “oblation” and “sweet odours,” combined with the word for “offer,” also strongly imply worship. Whether Daniel permitted these acts without remonstrance we are not told. The record says only that Nebuchadnezzar commanded that an oblation and sweet odors should be offered to Daniel, but does not say that the actions were carried out. Daniel may have tactfully called attention to what he had already positively affirmed, that the revelation came from the God of heaven and that he had not received it because of any superiority in wisdom (see on v. 30).

In the light of Peter’s refusal of the worship of Cornelius (Acts 10:25, 26), of Paul and Barnabas’ rejection of the adoration of the men of Lystra (Acts 14:11—18), and of the angel’s reproof of John when he fell at his feet to worship him (Rev. 19:10), many think it unlikely that Daniel would have permitted the king to worship him. Others reason that, inasmuch as God accepts sincerity of motive when men follow the best light they have, Daniel may have been directed not to interfere in the matter at this time. Many commentators follow the suggestion of Jerome that Nebuchadnezzar was not worshipping Daniel, but through Daniel was adoring Daniel’s God. They also call attention to Josephus’ record of how Alexander the Great bowed before the Jewish high priest, and when Pannenio, the king’s general, inquired concerning the meaning of this act, Alexander replied, “I did not adore him but that God who hath honored him with his high priesthood” (Antiquities xi. 8. 5). However, a strict reading of the second commandment of the Decalogue brings all such acts under most serious question.

As yet Nebuchadnezzar knew but little of the true God, and even less of how to worship Him. Thus far his acquaintance with God was limited to what he had seen of the divine character reflected in the life of Daniel and to what Daniel had told him of God. It is entirely possible that Nebuchadnezzar, seeing in Daniel the living representative of “the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh” (v. 11), intended the acts of worship he accorded Daniel to be in honor of Daniel’s God. With his limited knowledge of the true God, Nebuchadnezzar was doubtless doing the best he knew at the time to express his thankfulness and to honor the One whose wisdom and power had been so impressively demonstrated.

An oblation. The Hebrew word corresponding to the Aramaic word here used generally denotes a bloodless offering (see on eh. 9:21).

Sweet odours. That is, incense.