33. driven from men—as a maniac fancying himself a wild beast. It is possible, a conspiracy of his nobles may have co-operated towards his having been "driven" forth as an outcast. hairs . . . eagles' feathers—matted together, as the hair-like, thick plumage of the ossifraga eagle. The "nails," by being left uncut for years, would become like "claws." read more
5. The fulfillment of threatened discipline 4:28-33 read more
No sooner had the king articulated his pride, than he heard a voice from heaven pronouncing the punishment that Daniel had warned might come upon him. Immediately something snapped in his mind and he became like an animal. "Hair as eagle feathers" pictures hair that is neglected and matted as well as long. He did not think to trim his fingernails and toenails, either. His judgment is a sobering reminder that we are all but a breath or a heartbeat from insanity, or death, but for God’s grace. It... read more
Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream and its fulfilmentIn the form of a proclamation Nebuchadnezzar records his experience of the power of the Most high God (Daniel 4:1-3). He had a dream which none of his wise men could interpret (Daniel 4:4-7). He then called Daniel, and told him the dream, in which he had seen a lofty and spreading tree, which at the bidding of an angel had been cut down, its stump being bound among the grass for seven ’times’ (Daniel 4:8-18). Daniel explained that the tree was... read more
(33) The thing fulfilled.—The malady of Nebuchadnezzar has frequently formed the subject of discussion, and it is now for the most part agreed that it was a form of mania known as lycanthropy. The peculiar features of it mentioned in this verse are partially connected with the life which the sufferer’s delusion forced him to lead. It appears, however, from the account in Daniel, that he retained his consciousness, as “he lifted up his eyes to heaven” (Daniel 4:34) before “his understanding”... read more
Daniel 4:4-5 'Remember,' Mr. F. W. H. Myers once wrote to a friend, 'that first of all a man must, from the torpor of a foul tranquillity, have his soul delivered unto war.' Reference. IV. 4, 5, 7. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, vol. ii. p. 183. Daniel 4:22-30 Can we believe that He whose words were so terrible against the pride of Egypt and Babylon, against that haughty insolence in men on which not Hebrew prophets only, but the heathen poets of Greece, looked with such... read more
THE BABYLONIAN CEDAR, AND THE STRICKEN DESPOTTHRICE already, in these magnificent stories, had Nebuchadrezzar been taught to recognise the existence and to reverence the power of God. In this chapter he is represented as having been brought to a still more overwhelming conviction, and to an open acknowledgment of God’s supremacy, by the lightning-stroke of terrible calamity.The chapter is dramatically thrown into the form of a decree which, alter his recovery and shortly before his death, the... read more
CHAPTER 4 The Tree Vision of Nebuchadnezzar 1. The king’s proclamation (Daniel 4:1-3 ) 2. The king relates the tree vision (Daniel 4:4-18 ) 3. Daniel interprets the vision (Daniel 4:19-27 ) 4. The tree vision fulfilled, the king’s abasement and his restoration, (Daniel 4:28-37 ) Daniel 4:1-3 . This chapter is in form, at least in part, of a proclamation. This proclamation must have been written after the king had passed through the experience recorded in this chapter. Daniel 4:4-18 .... read more
FROM NEBUCHADNEZZAR TO CYRUS The effect of the interpretation of his dream on Nebuchadnezzar is the inflation of his pride. To be sure, he was grateful to Daniel (Daniel 2:46-49 ), to whom he offered worship, although the latter rejected it no doubt, as did Paul later (Acts 14:11-18 ). His apprehension of Daniel’s God, however, is yet only as one amongst the national or tribal gods, although greater than they. This is clear from what follows in Daniel 3:1-7 , which is an attempt “to unify... read more
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Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Daniel 4:1-37
Nebuchadnezzar’s madness (4:1-37)In this chapter Nebuchadnezzar recounts, for the benefit of his subjects, an experience that humbled his pride and brought him to acknowledge Yahweh as the one and only true God (4:1-3). It all began when Nebuchadnezzar had a puzzling dream. After getting no help from his Babylonian wise men, he told it to Daniel in the hope of discovering its meaning (4-9).The first thing that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream was a giant tree. It towered over the world and... read more