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 4:32-35

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.”

4:33 Now in that very moment ¹⁰  this pronouncement about ¹¹  Nebuchadnezzar came true. ¹²  He was driven from human society, he ate grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until his hair became long like an eagle’s feathers, and his nails like a bird’s claws. ¹³ 

4:34 But at the end of the appointed time ¹⁴  I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up ¹⁵  toward heaven, and my sanity returned to me.

I extolled the Most High,

and I praised and glorified the one who lives forever.

For his authority is an everlasting authority,

and his kingdom extends from one generation to the next.

4:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. ¹⁶ 

He does as he wishes with the army of heaven

and with those who inhabit the earth.

No one slaps ¹⁷  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 tn Aram “hour.”

¹¹ tn Or “on.”

¹² tn Aram “was fulfilled.”

¹³ tn The words “feathers” and “claws” are not present in the Aramaic text, but have been added in the translation for clarity.

¹⁴ tn Aram “days.”

¹⁵ tn Aram “lifted up my eyes.”

¹⁶ tc The present translation reads כְּלָא (kÿla’), with many medieval Hebrew MSS, rather than כְּלָה (kÿlah) of BHS.

¹⁷ tn Aram “strikes against.”