Daniel 4:16

4:16 Let his mind ¹  be altered from that of a human being,

and let an animal’s mind be given to him,

and let seven periods of time ²  go by for ³  him.

Daniel 5:22

5:22 “But you, his son ⁴  Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, ⁵  although you knew all this.

Daniel 5:20

5:20 And when his mind ⁶  became arrogant ⁷  and his spirit filled with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and his honor was removed from him.

Daniel 2:30

2:30 As for me, this mystery was revealed to me not because I possess more wisdom ⁸  than any other living person, but so that the king may understand ⁹  the interpretation and comprehend the thoughts of your mind. ¹⁰ 

Daniel 7:4

7:4 “The first one was like a lion with eagles’ wings. As I watched, its wings were pulled off and it was lifted up from the ground. It was made to stand on two feet like a human being, and a human mind ¹¹  was given to it. ¹² 

Daniel 5:21

5:21 He was driven from human society, his mind ¹³  was changed to that of an animal, he lived ¹⁴  with the wild donkeys, he was fed grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until he came to understand that the most high God rules over human kingdoms, and he appoints over them whomever he wishes.

¹ tn Aram “its heart.” The metaphor of the tree begins to fade here and the reality behind the symbol (the king) begins to emerge.

² sn The seven periods of time probably refer to seven years.

³ tn Aram “over” (also in vv. 23, 25, 32).

⁴ tn Or “descendant”; or “successor.”

⁵ tn Aram “your heart.”

⁷ tn Aram “heart.”

⁸ sn The point of describing Nebuchadnezzar as arrogant is that he had usurped divine prerogatives, and because of his immense arrogance God had dealt decisively with him.

¹⁰ tn Aram “not for any wisdom which is in me more than [in] any living man.”

¹¹ tn Aram “they might cause the king to know.” The impersonal plural is used here to refer to the role of God’s spirit in revealing the dream and its interpretation to the king. As J. A. Montgomery says, “it appropriately here veils the mysterious agency” (Daniel [ICC], 164-65).

¹² tn Aram “heart.”

¹³ tn Aram “heart of a man.”

¹⁴ sn The identity of the first animal, derived from v. 17 and the parallels in chap. 2, is Babylon. The reference to the plucking of its wings is probably a reference to the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity (cf. chap. 4). The latter part of v. 4 then describes the restoration of Nebuchadnezzar. The other animals have traditionally been understood to represent respectively Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome, although most of modern scholarship identifies them as Media, Persia, and Greece. For a biblical parallel to the mention of lion, bear, and leopard together, see Hos 13:7-8.

¹⁶ tn Aram “heart.”

¹⁷ tn Aram “his dwelling.”