Daniel 4:20-26

4:20 The tree that you saw that grew large and strong, whose top reached to the sky, and which could be seen ¹  in all the land, 4:21 whose foliage was attractive and its fruit plentiful, and from which there was food available for all, under whose branches wild animals ²  used to live, and in whose branches birds of the sky used to nest – 4:22 it is you, ³  O king! For you have become great and strong. Your greatness is such that it reaches to heaven, and your authority to the ends of the earth. 4:23 As for the king seeing a holy sentinel coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave its taproot in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze around it, surrounded by the grass of the field. Let it become damp with the dew of the sky, and let it live with the wild animals, until seven periods of time go by for him’ – 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 ⁴  from human society, ⁵  and you will live ⁶  with the wild animals. You will be fed ⁷  grass like oxen, ⁸  and you will become damp with the dew of the sky. 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. 4:26 They said to leave the taproot of the tree, for your kingdom will be restored to you when you come to understand that heaven ¹⁰  rules.

¹ tn Aram “its sight.”

² tn Aram “the beasts of the field” (also in vv. 23, 25, 32).

³ sn Much of modern scholarship views this chapter as a distortion of traditions that were originally associated with Nabonidus rather than with Nebuchadnezzar. A Qumran text, the Prayer of Nabonidus, is often cited for parallels to these events.

⁴ tn The Aramaic indefinite active plural is used here like the English passive. So also in v. 28, 29,32.

⁵ tn Aram “from mankind.” So also in v. 32.

⁶ tn Aram “your dwelling will be.” So also in v. 32.

⁷ tn Or perhaps “be made to eat.”

⁸ 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.

⁹ tn Aram “until.”

¹⁰ sn The reference to heaven here is a circumlocution for God. There was a tendency in Jewish contexts to avoid direct reference to God. Cf. the expression “kingdom of heaven” in the NT and such statements as “I have sinned against heaven and in your sight” (Luke 15:21).