1 Chronicles 29:11-12

29:11 O Lord, you are great, mighty, majestic, magnificent, glorious, and sovereign ¹  over all the sky and earth! You have dominion and exalt yourself as the ruler ²  of all. 29:12 You are the source of wealth and honor; ³  you rule over all. You possess strength and might to magnify and give strength to all. ⁴ 

Psalms 47:2

47:2 For the sovereign Lord ⁵  is awe-inspiring; ⁶ 

he is the great king who rules the whole earth! ⁷ 

Psalms 47:8

47:8 God reigns ⁸  over the nations!

God sits on his holy throne!

Jeremiah 27:5-8

27:5 “I made the earth and the people and animals on it by my mighty power and great strength, ⁹  and I give it to whomever I see fit. ¹⁰  27:6 I have at this time placed all these nations of yours under the power ¹¹  of my servant, ¹²  King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I have even made all the wild animals subject to him. ¹³  27:7 All nations must serve him and his son and grandson ¹⁴  until the time comes for his own nation to fall. ¹⁵  Then many nations and great kings will in turn subjugate Babylon. ¹⁶  27:8 But suppose a nation or a kingdom will not be subject to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Suppose it will not submit to the yoke of servitude to ¹⁷  him. I, the Lord, affirm that ¹⁸  I will punish that nation. I will use the king of Babylon to punish it ¹⁹  with war, ²⁰  starvation, and disease until I have destroyed it. ²¹ 

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 ²²  those who are alive may understand

that the Most High has authority over human kingdoms, ²³ 

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 ²⁴  from human society, ²⁵  and you will live ²⁶  with the wild animals. You will be fed ²⁷  grass like oxen, ²⁸  and you will become damp with the dew of the sky. Seven periods of time will pass by for you, before ²⁹  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 ³⁰  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 ³¹  this pronouncement about ³²  Nebuchadnezzar came true. ³³  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. ³⁴ 

4:34 But at the end of the appointed time ³⁵  I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up ³⁶  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. ³⁷ 

He does as he wishes with the army of heaven

and with those who inhabit the earth.

No one slaps ³⁸  his hand

and says to him, ‘What have you done?’

[29:11]  ¹ tn The words “and sovereign” are added in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[29:11]  ² tn Heb “head.”

[29:12]  ³ tn Heb “wealth and honor [are] from before you.”

[29:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “and in your hand [is] strength and might and in your hand to magnify and to give strength to all.”

[47:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “the Lord Most High.” The divine title “Most High” (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures the Lord as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked.

[47:2]  ⁶ tn Or “awesome.” The Niphal participle נוֹרָא (nora’), when used of God in the psalms, focuses on the effect that his royal splendor and powerful deeds have on those witnessing his acts (Pss 66:3, 5; 68:35; 76:7, 12; 89:7; 96:4; 99:3; 111:9). Here it refers to his capacity to fill his defeated foes with terror and his people with fearful respect.

[47:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “a great king over all the earth.”

[47:8]  ⁷ tn When a new king was enthroned, his followers would acclaim him king using this enthronement formula (Qal perfect 3ms מָלַךְ, malakh, “to reign,” followed by the name of the king). See 2 Sam 15:10; 1 Kgs 1:11, 13, 18; 2 Kgs 9:13, as well as Isa 52:7. In this context the perfect verbal form is generalizing, but the declaration logically follows the historical reference in v. 5 to the Lord’s having ascended his throne.

[27:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “by my great power and my outstretched arm.” Again “arm” is symbolical for “strength.” Compare the similar expression in 21:5.

[27:5]  ¹⁰ sn See Dan 4:17 for a similar statement.

[27:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “have given…into the hand of.”

[27:6]  ¹² sn See the study note on 25:9 for the significance of the application of this term to Nebuchadnezzar.

[27:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “I have given…to him to serve him.” The verb “give” in this syntactical situation is functioning like the Hiphil stem, i.e., as a causative. See Dan 1:9 for parallel usage. For the usage of “serve” meaning “be subject to” compare 2 Sam 22:44 and BDB 713 s.v. עָבַד 3.

[27:7]  ¹³ sn This is a figure that emphasizes that they will serve for a long time but not for an unlimited duration. The kingdom of Babylon lasted a relatively short time by ancient standards. It lasted from 605 b.c. when Nebuchadnezzar defeated Necho at Carchemish until the fall of Babylon in 538 b.c. There were only four rulers. Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded by his son, Evil Merodach (cf. 52:31), and two other rulers who were not descended from him.

[27:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “until the time of his land, even his, comes.” The independent pronoun is placed here for emphasis on the possessive pronoun. The word “time” is used by substitution for the things that are done in it (compare in the NT John 2:4; 7:30; 8:20 “his hour had not yet come”).

[27:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “him.” This is a good example of the figure of substitution where the person is put for his descendants or the nation or subject he rules. (See Gen 28:13-14 for another good example and Acts 22:7 in the NT.)

[27:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “put their necks in the yoke of.” See the study note on v. 2 for the figure.

[27:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

[27:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “The nation and/or the kingdom which will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck in the yoke of the king of Babylon, by sword, starvation, and disease I will punish [or more literally, “visit upon”] that nation, oracle of the Lord.” The long complex Hebrew sentence has been broken up in conformity with contemporary English style and the figures interpreted for the sake of clarity. The particle אֵת, the sign of the accusative, before “which will not put…” is a little unusual here. For its use to introduce a new topic (here a second relative clause) see BDB 85 s.v. אֵת 3.α.

[27:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “with/by the sword.”

[27:8]  ¹⁹ tc The verb translated “destroy” (תָּמַם, tamam) is usually intransitive in the stem of the verb used here. It is found in a transitive sense elsewhere only in Ps 64:7. BDB 1070 s.v. תָּמַם 7 emends both texts. In this case they recommend תִּתִּי (titi): “until I give them into his hand.” That reading is suggested by the texts of the Syriac and Targumic translations (see BHS fn c). The Greek translation supports reading the verb “destroy” but treats it as though it were intransitive “until they are destroyed by his hand” (reading תֻּמָּם [tummam]). The MT here is accepted as the more difficult reading and support is seen in the transitive use of the verb in Ps 64:7.

[4:17]  ¹⁷ tc The present translation follows an underlying reading of עַל־דִּבְרַת (’al-divrat, “so that”) rather than MT עַד־דִּבְרַת (’ad-divrat, “until”).

[4:17]  ¹⁸ tn Aram “the kingdom of man”; NASB “the realm of mankind”; NCV “every kingdom on earth.”

[4:25]  ¹⁹ tn The Aramaic indefinite active plural is used here like the English passive. So also in v. 28, 29,32.

[4:25]  ²⁰ tn Aram “from mankind.” So also in v. 32.

[4:25]  ²¹ tn Aram “your dwelling will be.” So also in v. 32.

[4:25]  ²² tn Or perhaps “be made to eat.”

[4:25]  ²³ 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.

[4:25]  ²⁴ tn Aram “until.”

[4:32]  ²¹ tn Aram “until.”

[4:33]  ²³ tn Aram “hour.”

[4:33]  ²⁴ tn Or “on.”

[4:33]  ²⁵ tn Aram “was fulfilled.”

[4:33]  ²⁶ tn The words “feathers” and “claws” are not present in the Aramaic text, but have been added in the translation for clarity.

[4:34]  ²⁵ tn Aram “days.”

[4:34]  ²⁶ tn Aram “lifted up my eyes.”

[4:35]  ²⁷ tc The present translation reads כְּלָא (kÿla’), with many medieval Hebrew MSS, rather than כְּלָה (kÿlah) of BHS.

[4:35]  ²⁸ tn Aram “strikes against.”