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Dan 2:36-38 KJV
(36) This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
(37) Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
(38) And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
God gave the kingdom to Nebuchadnezzar. He is the head of gold. There's no mention of his father (Nabopolassar) being included in the symbolism. Into his hand God gave human beings, wild animals, and birds. He was to be their ruler.
Jer 25:8-11 KJV
(8) Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words,
(9) Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.
(10) Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.
(11) And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
It is stated in this passage the person to whom the nations were to serve seventy years - King Nebuchadnezzar. Going further into the next verses of the same chapter, it can be read:
Jer 25:28-29 KJV
(28) And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.
(29) For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.
Our God was already beginning to bring disaster on the city that is called by His name during King Nebuchadnezzar's 1st year (verse 1).
According to my knowledge, there's no verse in the Bible that explicitly or implicitly tells of a Babylonian kingdom that is to be served for 70 years except that of Nebuchadnezzar's, his son's, and his grandson's.
Jer 27:5-7 KJV
(5) I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.
(6) And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.
(7) And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.
The question now is - when did the kingdom represented by the head of gold in Daniel 2 start? As for me, it was when Nebuchadnezzar ascended the throne, and that was on 605/604 BC according to many sources. This year is supported by VAT 4956. See http://www.lavia.org/english/archivo/VAT4956en.htm. The Bible itself supports this date, read Daniel's 1290 and 1335 Days. However, many students of the Bible don't believe this year as the starting point of the 70 year period because of Ptolemy's Canon and the other ancient archeological artifacts which are said to be pointing to 539 BC as the year of Babylon's fall. But I’m not a believer in the infallibility of this date regarding the said matter. What I can say for now is that if we are going to "assume" 605/604 BC as the beginning of the 70 year period and look at the Statue of Daniel 2 in the perspective of time (by units of week), there's an interesting thing that can be seen. "Week" is, by the way, the most used unit of time in the book of Daniel.
If the Beast of Revelation 13 (7th head with ten horns) comes out in the Jewish year 2016/2017 AD, then, it can be concluded that the part of the statue, from its shoulders down to its legs (not including its feet of iron and clay), corresponds chronologically to a week of prophetic years whose days are converted further into years. Here's how it is:
"Week" = 7 prophetic years
7 prophetic years = 7 x 360 days = 2520 days
2520 days = 2 x 1260 days (1260 days is not uncommon in the Bible.)
Now, the “week” that corresponds to the part of the statue, from its shoulders down to its legs, could possibly include an intercalary month (30 days) whose days are also converted further into years.
2520 years plus 30 years is 2550 years.
2550 days = 1260 + 1290 days (1290 days is used in Daniel 12:12.)
Ten weeks of years and a week of 2550 years from 605/604 BC would be thus:
HEAD OF GOLD 70 weeks: 605/604 BC to 536/535 BC
BREAST AND ARMS OF SILVER
BELLY AND THIGHS OF BRASS 1 week (2550 years): 535/534 BC to 2015/2016 AD (without year ‘0’)
LEGS OF IRON
FEET OF IRON AND CLAY ?: 2016/2017 to ?
Jewish year 2015/2016 will end in April 8, 2016, just a few days at the time of this writing. Even if the coming out of the Beast does not occur on 2016/2017, I still don't believe in the infallibility of 539 BC as the year of Babylon's downfall. Here’s a word from http://becomingone.org/cp/cp2.htm.
Nabonidus' 18th Year
cp169» The date 539 B.C. for the fall of Babylon is incorrect because the date 539 BC was deduced from the date 605 by adding the supposed total of the reigns of the kings who reigned from 605:
· "1 The date 539 for the Fall of Babylon has been reckoned from the latest dates on the contracts of each king in this period, counting from the end of Nabopolassar's reign in 605 B.C., viz., Nebuchadrezzar, 43: Amel-Marduk, 2: Nergal-shar-usur, 4: Labashi-Marduk (accession only): Nabonidus, 17 = 66 (Clay, Pennsylv. Bab. Exp., Series A, VIII, 4. See also Pinches, T.S.B.A. VI, 486;" Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. III, 1929, p. 224, footnote 1).
The problem here is that there is proof that Nabonidus ruled into his 18th year.
cp170» The length of reigns for the kings during this period was taken primarily from Ptolemy's list of kings, but also from business clay tablets, from two astronomical clay tablets, from chronicle-like tablets, and from their interrelationship with Biblical texts (see CP2 & 3).
cp171» But the English translation of the Nabonidus Chronicle, that is, the text that shows when and how Nabonidus and Babylon fell, has the year of king Nabonidus in square brackets, with indicates that the text was "restored" (The Ancient Near East: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures, [1958] Edited by James B. Pritchard, pp. 203-04, vi; see Smith's BHT, p. 117; and see Grayson, ABC, p. 109, note, iii 5). This means that the year for the fall of Babylon and thus the last year of the supposed last king of Babylon, king Nabonidus, was "restored" to the text by using the king's list of Ptolemy, since the last year of the king was either damaged or not in the original text. Of further interest is that the Uruk King List is damaged for the number of years for Nabonidus: "[x] + 15 years: Nabonidus" (Pritchard, The Ancient Near East, 1969, p.566 or 130). We therefore cannot use it to ascertain the total years of Nabonidus' reign.
cp172» Josephus says Nabonidus reigned 17 years, but Josephus also mistakenly said Evil-Merodach reigned 18 years when Ptolemy's Canon says he ruled 2 years (Antiquities of the Jews, book 10, chap. 11). "Again, the numbering of regnal years does not need to agree with history. Charles II of England actually became king on 29, May 1660, but his regnal years were counted from the death of Charles I on 30 January 1649. Ancient rulers, too, could for various reason antedate the beginning of their reigns. On the other hand, a disputed succession could confuse the scribes. Twelve years after the death of Philip Arrhidaeus, in 305 BC, a cuneiform document was dated: 'King Philip, year 19'" (Bickerman [1968], p. 90).
cp173» In a clay tablet found in Georges Contenau, Contrats Neo-Babyloniens, the date for the contract is the sixth month, sixth day, 18th year of Nabonidus (see above under, "Reading dates into..."). Sometimes when certain cities hadn't received word yet of the new king, or there was a revolt, they kept using the would-be year of the old king until it was clear who was in power (Parker & Dubberstein, p. 11, 18, 20). But the fact that this clay tablet recorded Namonidus ruling into his sixth month of his 18th year makes this very unlikely. The 16th day in the seventh month (Tashritu) was the time Babylon fell according to the Nabonidus Chronicle. Thus the last known recorded date of the reign of Nabonidus fits the supposition that Nabonidus may have reigned into his 18 year. There is also at least one other tablet that has Nebonidus ruling after the traditional date for the fall of Babylon (10th day 8th month 17th year, Parker & Dubberstein, p.13).
The reader could read the whole topic from which the word above was taken - http://becomingone.org/cp/cp2.htm
Good Day to All
(36) This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
(37) Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
(38) And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
God gave the kingdom to Nebuchadnezzar. He is the head of gold. There's no mention of his father (Nabopolassar) being included in the symbolism. Into his hand God gave human beings, wild animals, and birds. He was to be their ruler.
Jer 25:8-11 KJV
(8) Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words,
(9) Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.
(10) Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.
(11) And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
It is stated in this passage the person to whom the nations were to serve seventy years - King Nebuchadnezzar. Going further into the next verses of the same chapter, it can be read:
Jer 25:28-29 KJV
(28) And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.
(29) For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.
Our God was already beginning to bring disaster on the city that is called by His name during King Nebuchadnezzar's 1st year (verse 1).
According to my knowledge, there's no verse in the Bible that explicitly or implicitly tells of a Babylonian kingdom that is to be served for 70 years except that of Nebuchadnezzar's, his son's, and his grandson's.
Jer 27:5-7 KJV
(5) I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.
(6) And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.
(7) And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.
The question now is - when did the kingdom represented by the head of gold in Daniel 2 start? As for me, it was when Nebuchadnezzar ascended the throne, and that was on 605/604 BC according to many sources. This year is supported by VAT 4956. See http://www.lavia.org/english/archivo/VAT4956en.htm. The Bible itself supports this date, read Daniel's 1290 and 1335 Days. However, many students of the Bible don't believe this year as the starting point of the 70 year period because of Ptolemy's Canon and the other ancient archeological artifacts which are said to be pointing to 539 BC as the year of Babylon's fall. But I’m not a believer in the infallibility of this date regarding the said matter. What I can say for now is that if we are going to "assume" 605/604 BC as the beginning of the 70 year period and look at the Statue of Daniel 2 in the perspective of time (by units of week), there's an interesting thing that can be seen. "Week" is, by the way, the most used unit of time in the book of Daniel.
If the Beast of Revelation 13 (7th head with ten horns) comes out in the Jewish year 2016/2017 AD, then, it can be concluded that the part of the statue, from its shoulders down to its legs (not including its feet of iron and clay), corresponds chronologically to a week of prophetic years whose days are converted further into years. Here's how it is:
"Week" = 7 prophetic years
7 prophetic years = 7 x 360 days = 2520 days
2520 days = 2 x 1260 days (1260 days is not uncommon in the Bible.)
Now, the “week” that corresponds to the part of the statue, from its shoulders down to its legs, could possibly include an intercalary month (30 days) whose days are also converted further into years.
2520 years plus 30 years is 2550 years.
2550 days = 1260 + 1290 days (1290 days is used in Daniel 12:12.)
Ten weeks of years and a week of 2550 years from 605/604 BC would be thus:
HEAD OF GOLD 70 weeks: 605/604 BC to 536/535 BC
BREAST AND ARMS OF SILVER
BELLY AND THIGHS OF BRASS 1 week (2550 years): 535/534 BC to 2015/2016 AD (without year ‘0’)
LEGS OF IRON
FEET OF IRON AND CLAY ?: 2016/2017 to ?
Jewish year 2015/2016 will end in April 8, 2016, just a few days at the time of this writing. Even if the coming out of the Beast does not occur on 2016/2017, I still don't believe in the infallibility of 539 BC as the year of Babylon's downfall. Here’s a word from http://becomingone.org/cp/cp2.htm.
Nabonidus' 18th Year
cp169» The date 539 B.C. for the fall of Babylon is incorrect because the date 539 BC was deduced from the date 605 by adding the supposed total of the reigns of the kings who reigned from 605:
· "1 The date 539 for the Fall of Babylon has been reckoned from the latest dates on the contracts of each king in this period, counting from the end of Nabopolassar's reign in 605 B.C., viz., Nebuchadrezzar, 43: Amel-Marduk, 2: Nergal-shar-usur, 4: Labashi-Marduk (accession only): Nabonidus, 17 = 66 (Clay, Pennsylv. Bab. Exp., Series A, VIII, 4. See also Pinches, T.S.B.A. VI, 486;" Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. III, 1929, p. 224, footnote 1).
The problem here is that there is proof that Nabonidus ruled into his 18th year.
cp170» The length of reigns for the kings during this period was taken primarily from Ptolemy's list of kings, but also from business clay tablets, from two astronomical clay tablets, from chronicle-like tablets, and from their interrelationship with Biblical texts (see CP2 & 3).
cp171» But the English translation of the Nabonidus Chronicle, that is, the text that shows when and how Nabonidus and Babylon fell, has the year of king Nabonidus in square brackets, with indicates that the text was "restored" (The Ancient Near East: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures, [1958] Edited by James B. Pritchard, pp. 203-04, vi; see Smith's BHT, p. 117; and see Grayson, ABC, p. 109, note, iii 5). This means that the year for the fall of Babylon and thus the last year of the supposed last king of Babylon, king Nabonidus, was "restored" to the text by using the king's list of Ptolemy, since the last year of the king was either damaged or not in the original text. Of further interest is that the Uruk King List is damaged for the number of years for Nabonidus: "[x] + 15 years: Nabonidus" (Pritchard, The Ancient Near East, 1969, p.566 or 130). We therefore cannot use it to ascertain the total years of Nabonidus' reign.
cp172» Josephus says Nabonidus reigned 17 years, but Josephus also mistakenly said Evil-Merodach reigned 18 years when Ptolemy's Canon says he ruled 2 years (Antiquities of the Jews, book 10, chap. 11). "Again, the numbering of regnal years does not need to agree with history. Charles II of England actually became king on 29, May 1660, but his regnal years were counted from the death of Charles I on 30 January 1649. Ancient rulers, too, could for various reason antedate the beginning of their reigns. On the other hand, a disputed succession could confuse the scribes. Twelve years after the death of Philip Arrhidaeus, in 305 BC, a cuneiform document was dated: 'King Philip, year 19'" (Bickerman [1968], p. 90).
cp173» In a clay tablet found in Georges Contenau, Contrats Neo-Babyloniens, the date for the contract is the sixth month, sixth day, 18th year of Nabonidus (see above under, "Reading dates into..."). Sometimes when certain cities hadn't received word yet of the new king, or there was a revolt, they kept using the would-be year of the old king until it was clear who was in power (Parker & Dubberstein, p. 11, 18, 20). But the fact that this clay tablet recorded Namonidus ruling into his sixth month of his 18th year makes this very unlikely. The 16th day in the seventh month (Tashritu) was the time Babylon fell according to the Nabonidus Chronicle. Thus the last known recorded date of the reign of Nabonidus fits the supposition that Nabonidus may have reigned into his 18 year. There is also at least one other tablet that has Nebonidus ruling after the traditional date for the fall of Babylon (10th day 8th month 17th year, Parker & Dubberstein, p.13).
The reader could read the whole topic from which the word above was taken - http://becomingone.org/cp/cp2.htm
Good Day to All
