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 those who are alive may understand

that the Most High has authority over human kingdoms,

and he bestows them on whomever he wishes.

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

Daniel 4:24-25

4:24 this is the interpretation, O king! It is the decision of the Most High that this has happened to my lord the king. 4:25 You will be driven from human society, and you will live with the wild animals. You will be fed grass like oxen, and you will become damp with the dew of the sky. Seven periods of time will pass by for you, before you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.

Daniel 4:34

4:34 But at the end of the appointed time I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up 10  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.


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

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

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

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

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

tn Or perhaps “be made to eat.”

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.

tn Aram “until.”

tn Aram “days.”

10 tn Aram “lifted up my eyes.”