Daniel: 4 Nebuchadnezzar’s Edict After Another Dream and Interpretation
1 Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. 2 I thought it good to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked for me. 3 How great are His signs, and how mighty His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation.
Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth… “Meaning, as far as his dominion extended.” (Geneva Study Bible) “This is a regular decree, and is one of the most ancient on record; and no doubt was copied from the state papers of Babylon. Daniel has preserved it in the original language.” (Clarke’s Commentary) “The Septuagint has inserted here a historical statement of the fact that Nebuchadnezzar did actually issue such an edict: 'And Nebuchadnezzar the king wrote an encyclical epistle - ἐπιστολὴν ἐγκύκλιον epistolēn egkuklion - to all those nations in every place, and to the regions, and to all the tongues that dwell in all countries, generations and generations.'... But nothing of this is in the original.” (Barnes' Notes) Yet indeed, the decree is part of the official Babylonian record.
Peace be multiplied unto you… Such language from Nebuchadnezzar the Conquerer, but perhaps a change was indeed being wrought in his soul. “Courtesy and kind language in great ones draweth all hearts unto them, as fair flowers do the eyes of beholders in the springtide.” (Trapp’s Commentary) “I thought it good,.... Or, ‘fair’ and beautiful, highly becoming me, what was my duty, and what might be profitable and beneficial to others, and make for the glory of the great God of heaven and earth…” (Gill's Exposition)
4 I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house, and flourishing in my palace. 5 I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts on my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. 6 Therefore I issued a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. 7 Then the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers came in, and I told them the dream; but they did not make known to me its interpretation.
8 But at last Daniel came before me (his name is Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god; in him is the Spirit of the Holy God), and I told the dream before him, saying:
9 "Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, because I know that the Spirit of the Holy God is in you, and no secret troubles you, explain to me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and its interpretation. 10 These were the visions of my head while on my bed: I was looking, and behold, A tree in the midst of the earth, And its height was great. 11 The tree grew and became strong; its height reached to the heavens, and it could be seen to the ends of all the earth. 12 Its leaves were lovely, its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, the birds of the heavens dwelt in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it. 13 I saw in the visions of my head while on my bed, and there was a watcher, a Holy One, coming down from heaven. 14 He cried aloud and said thus: 'Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts get out from under it, and the birds from its branches. 15 Nevertheless leave the stump and roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field. Let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let him graze with the beasts on the grass of the earth. 16 Let his heart be changed from that of a man, let him be given the heart of a beast, and let seven times pass over him. 17 This decision is by the decree of the watchers, and the sentence by the Word of the Holy Ones, in order that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, gives it to whomever He will, and sets over it the lowest of men.'
18 “This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare its interpretation, since all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, for the Spirit of the Holy God is in you."
19 Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished for a time, and his thoughts troubled him. So the king spoke, and said, "Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation trouble you." Belteshazzar answered and said, "My lord, may the dream concern those who hate you, and its interpretation concern your enemies! 20 The tree that you saw, which grew and became strong, whose height reached to the heavens and which could be seen by all the earth, 21 whose leaves were lovely and its fruit abundant, in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and in whose branches the birds of the heaven had their home-- 22 it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong; for your greatness has grown and reaches to the heavens, and your dominion to the end of the earth. 23 And inasmuch as the king saw a watcher, a Holy One, coming down from heaven and saying, 'Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave its stump and roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze in the tender grass of the field; let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let him graze with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him'; 24 this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king: 25 They shall drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen. They shall wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses. 26 And inasmuch as they gave the command to leave the stump and roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be assured to you, after you come to know that Heaven rules. 27 Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you; break off your sins by being righteous, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity.” 28 All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar.
“Because thou hast lived a brutish, epicurean life, and wert lifted up above the common race of mankind in thy heart, therefore thy fate shall be, not to be cast out to live among the basest and meanest sort of men, which were hard enough; no, not among herdsmen, as if that were too good for him; but among the beasts, to herd with them. This was such a thundering peal, that it was wonderful the king could endure to hear without wrath and fury boiling in his heart, yet the Lord withheld him.
How hard is it for lofty princes to learn this lesson, that God is the giver of all they have, and will call them to account severely for all they do, and make the kings and kingdoms of the world to know they are his, and not theirs, and that their tenure is but at the will of the Lord solely, who can alter and alienate the property of all their enjoyments, being the high Lord paramount above all!” (Matthew Poole's Commentary)
“Daniel was struck with amazement and terror at so heavy a judgment coming upon so great a prince, and gives advice with tenderness and respect. It is necessary, in repentance, that we not only cease to do evil, but learn to do good. Though it might not wholly prevent the judgment, yet the trouble may be longer before it comes, or shorter when it does come. And everlasting misery will be escaped by all who repent and turn to God.” (Henry’s Commentary)
“All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. All that was signified in the dream, his madness, the removal of him from the administration of government, and the brutal life he lived for seven years; for this was not a mere parable or fiction, as some have thought, framed to describe the state and punishment of a proud man, but was a real fact…” (Gill’s Exposition)
29 At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. 30 The king spoke, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?”
“From a human standpoint, Nebuchadnezzar had much of which to boast. Babylon was indeed the wonder of the ancient world; and something of the elaborate and expensive nature of the buildings there may be seen in the fact reported by Josephus, that in order to please his wife who had formerly lived in a mountainous country, he erected for her a mountain in Babylon, composed of magnificent stone terraces with trees, flowers, waterfalls, and many other wonders called ‘The Hanging Gardens of Babylon.’ Human pride, however, is terribly sinful; and no man should boast of anything. Whatever a man is, whatever he may be able to do, however magnificent his achievements, or whatever honors men may be willing to confer upon him, nevertheless no man is or has anything that is not a gift of God.” (Coffman Commentary) HOWEVER, FROM GOD’S PERSPECTIVE, “He did not repent and reform his life as he was exhorted to, and, having given him sufficient time to show whether he was disposed to follow the counsel of Daniel, God suddenly brought the heavy judgment upon him. Why he did not follow the counsel of Daniel is not stated, and cannot be known. It may have been that he was so addicted to a life of wickedness that he would not break off from it, even while he admitted the fact that he was exposed on account of it to so awful a judgment - as multitudes do who pursue a course of iniquity, even while they admit that it will be followed by poverty, disgrace, disease and death here, and by the wrath of God hereafter.” (Barnes Notes)
31 While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you! 32 And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.”
While the word was still in the king’s mouth…“In the very act of speaking, so that there could be no doubt as to the connection between the crime and the punishment. So in the case of the rich fool, God's voice of judgment suddenly broke in upon his voice of self-seeking covetousness. Compare also the stroke of God upon Herod, just after his ‘oration,’ wherein he gave not the glory to God, but suffered the people's blasphemous adulation, ‘It is the voice of a god, and not of a man’(Acts 12:21-23; Luke 12:19-20).” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown)
33 That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.
“The like befell the old world, Sodom, Pharaoh, Julian, etc. See 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3. As they say of the metal they make glass of, it is nearest melting when it shineth brightest; so are the wicked nearest destruction when at greatest lustre. And he was driven from men… By his own courtiers and subjects. In him it well appeared that mortality was but the stage of mutability. The like was to be seen in Nero, and many other Roman and Greek emperors; in Belisarius, Bajazet, our Richard II, and Henry VI, who, having been the most potent monarch for dominions that ever England had, was at last not the master of a mole hill, nor owner of his own liberty. Of Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter, grandchild to John of Gaunt, mention hath been made before. Within our remembrance, in the reign of King James, the Lord Cobham, having been a man of seven thousand pounds a year, and of a personal estate of thirty thousand pounds, came nevertheless to a miserable end; for before his death he was lousey for want of apparel and linen, and had starved, had not a trencher scraper, some time his servant at court, relieved him with scraps, in whose house he died, being so poor a place that he was forced to creep up a ladder through a little hole into his chamber. (a) The like strange change befell Sir Edward Greenill, of Milcot, in Warwickshire, whom I very well knew.” (Trapp’s Commentary)
34 And at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever: for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation. 35 All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, “What have You done?”
36 At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and splendor returned to me. My counselors and nobles resorted to me, I was restored to my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to me. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.
And at the end of the days,.... “Of the time fixed in the dream; that is, at the end of seven years, as Jarchi rightly interprets… ” ( Gill's Exposition)
Nebuchadnezzar was then allowed to have a right thought towards Yahweh, as this doxology reveals. And with good doctrine, his deeds were aligned accordingly... and this man, who had become a wild beast for seven years, was returned to his throne for a season. Indeed, Yahweh- the Eternal One- removes and establishes earthly kings (Daniel 2:21).