24Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him.”
25Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means.”
26The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?”
Once Daniel had taken care of the essential business of thanking God for his mercy, he realized he had no time to lose. People’s lives were at stake. A lot of wise men were going to be killed if he didn’t speak up. He again contacted Arioch, the man responsible for carrying out the decree of execution, and asked to be brought before the king. “Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him.”
Here we get an interesting look at human nature. Arioch personally escorted Daniel into the king’s presence and claimed credit for finding an interpreter of the king’s dream. Actually, he had done nothing to find Daniel.
In the presence of the king, Daniel would naturally be called by his Babylonian name. The name Daniel identified him as an Israelite; Belteshazzar identified him as a servant of the powerful king of Babylon. The king seemed to be surprised that this young Israelite would be able to give an answer that the king’s veteran and experienced counselors had been unable to give. The king had to ask, “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?”