Daniel 4:17

4:17 This announcement is by the decree of the sentinels;

this decision is by the pronouncement of the holy ones,

so that ¹  those who are alive may understand

that the Most High has authority over human kingdoms, ² 

and he bestows them on whomever he wishes.

He establishes over them even the lowliest of human beings.’

Daniel 4:25

4:25 You will be driven ³  from human society, ⁴  and you will live ⁵  with the wild animals. You will be fed ⁶  grass like oxen, ⁷  and you will become damp with the dew of the sky. Seven periods of time will pass by for you, before ⁸  you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.

Daniel 4:32

4:32 You will be driven from human society, and you will live with the wild animals. You will be fed grass like oxen, and seven periods of time will pass by for you before ⁹  you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.”

Daniel 4:35

4:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. ¹⁰ 

He does as he wishes with the army of heaven

and with those who inhabit the earth.

No one slaps ¹¹  his hand

and says to him, ‘What have you done?’

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¹ tc The present translation follows an underlying reading of עַל־דִּבְרַת (’al-divrat, “so that”) rather than MT עַד־דִּבְרַת (’ad-divrat, “until”).

² tn Aram “the kingdom of man”; NASB “the realm of mankind”; NCV “every kingdom on earth.”

³ tn The Aramaic indefinite active plural is used here like the English passive. So also in v. 28, 29,32.

⁴ tn Aram “from mankind.” So also in v. 32.

⁵ tn Aram “your dwelling will be.” So also in v. 32.

⁶ tn Or perhaps “be made to eat.”

⁷ sn Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity has features that are associated with the mental disorder known as boanthropy, in which the person so afflicted imagines himself to be an ox or a similar animal and behaves accordingly.

⁸ tn Aram “until.”

⁹ tn Aram “until.”

¹⁰ tc The present translation reads כְּלָא (kÿla’), with many medieval Hebrew MSS, rather than כְּלָה (kÿlah) of BHS.

¹¹ tn Aram “strikes against.”