4:34 But at the end of the appointed time 1 I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up 2 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.
“Three 3 more kings will arise for Persia. Then a fourth 4 king will be unusually rich, 5 more so than all who preceded him. When he has amassed power through his riches, he will stir up everyone against 6 the kingdom of Greece.
1 tn Aram “days.”
2 tn Aram “lifted up my eyes.”
3 sn Perhaps these three more kings are Cambyses (ca. 530-522
4 sn This fourth king is Xerxes I (ca. 486-465
5 tn Heb “rich with great riches.”
6 tn The text is difficult. The Hebrew has here אֶת (’et), the marker of a definite direct object. As it stands, this would suggest the meaning that “he will arouse everyone, that is, the kingdom of Greece.” The context, however, seems to suggest the idea that this Persian king will arouse in hostility against Greece the constituent elements of his own empire. This requires supplying the word “against,” which is not actually present in the Hebrew text.