Discovery BoxDaniel 4:13--5:11
Context4:13 While I was watching in my mind’s visions 1 on my bed,
a holy sentinel 2 came down from heaven.
4:14 He called out loudly 3 as follows: 4
‘Chop down the tree and lop off its branches!
Strip off its foliage
and scatter its fruit!
Let the animals flee from under it
and the birds from its branches!
4:15 But leave its taproot 5 in the ground,
with a band of iron and bronze around it 6
surrounded by the grass of the field.
Let it become damp with the dew of the sky,
and let it live with 7 the animals in the grass of the land.
4:16 Let his mind 8 be altered from that of a human being,
and let an animal’s mind be given to him,
and let seven periods of time 9 go by for 10 him.
4:17 This announcement is by the decree of the sentinels;
this decision is by the pronouncement of the holy ones,
so that 11 those who are alive may understand
that the Most High has authority over human kingdoms, 12
and he bestows them on whomever he wishes.
He establishes over them even the lowliest of human beings.’
4:18 “This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare its 13 interpretation, for none of the wise men in 14 my kingdom are able to make known to me the interpretation. But you can do so, for a spirit of the holy gods is in you.”
4:19 Then Daniel (whose name is also Belteshazzar) was upset for a brief time; 15 his thoughts were alarming him. The king said, “Belteshazzar, don’t let the dream and its interpretation alarm you.” But Belteshazzar replied, “Sir, 16 if only the dream were for your enemies and its interpretation applied to your adversaries! 4:20 The tree that you saw that grew large and strong, whose top reached to the sky, and which could be seen 17 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 18 used to live, and in whose branches birds of the sky used to nest – 4:22 it is you, 19 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 20 from human society, 21 and you will live 22 with the wild animals. You will be fed 23 grass like oxen, 24 and you will become damp with the dew of the sky. Seven periods of time will pass by for you, before 25 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 26 rules. 4:27 Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps your prosperity will be prolonged.” 27
4:28 Now all of this happened 28 to King Nebuchadnezzar. 4:29 After twelve months, he happened to be walking around on the battlements 29 of the royal palace of Babylon. 4:30 The king uttered these words: “Is this not the great Babylon that I have built for a royal residence 30 by my own mighty strength 31 and for my majestic honor?” 4:31 While these words were still on the king’s lips, 32 a voice came down from heaven: “It is hereby announced to you, 33 King Nebuchadnezzar, that your kingdom has been removed from you! 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 34 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 35 this pronouncement about 36 Nebuchadnezzar came true. 37 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. 38
4:34 But at the end of the appointed time 39 I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up 40 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. 41
He does as he wishes with the army of heaven
and with those who inhabit the earth.
No one slaps 42 his hand
and says to him, ‘What have you done?’
4:36 At that time my sanity returned to me. I was restored 43 to the honor of my kingdom, and my splendor returned to me. My ministers and my nobles were seeking me out, and I was reinstated 44 over my kingdom. I became even greater than before. 4:37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all his deeds are right and his ways are just. He is able to bring down those who live 45 in pride.
5:1 King Belshazzar 46 prepared a great banquet 47 for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in front of 48 them all. 49 5:2 While under the influence 50 of the wine, Belshazzar issued an order to bring in the gold and silver vessels – the ones that Nebuchadnezzar his father 51 had confiscated 52 from the temple in Jerusalem 53 – so that the king and his nobles, together with his wives and his concubines, could drink from them. 54 5:3 So they brought the gold and silver 55 vessels that had been confiscated from the temple, the house of God 56 in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, together with his wives and concubines, drank from them. 5:4 As they drank wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
5:5 At that very moment the fingers of a human hand appeared 57 and wrote on the plaster of the royal palace wall, opposite the lampstand. 58 The king was watching the back 59 of the hand that was writing. 5:6 Then all the color drained from the king’s face 60 and he became alarmed. 61 The joints of his hips gave way, 62 and his knees began knocking together. 5:7 The king called out loudly 63 to summon 64 the astrologers, wise men, and diviners. The king proclaimed 65 to the wise men of Babylon that anyone who could read this inscription and disclose its interpretation would be clothed in purple 66 and have a golden collar 67 placed on his neck and be third ruler in the kingdom.
5:8 So all the king’s wise men came in, but they were unable to read the writing or to make known its 68 interpretation to the king. 5:9 Then King Belshazzar was very terrified, and he was visibly shaken. 69 His nobles were completely dumbfounded.
5:10 Due to the noise 70 caused by the king and his nobles, the queen mother 71 then entered the banquet room. She 72 said, “O king, live forever! Don’t be alarmed! Don’t be shaken! 5:11 There is a man in your kingdom who has within him a spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, he proved to have 73 insight, discernment, and wisdom like that 74 of the gods. 75 King Nebuchadnezzar your father appointed him chief of the magicians, astrologers, wise men, and diviners. 76
[4:13] 1 tn Aram “the visions of my head.”
[4:13] 2 tn Aram “a watcher and a holy one.” The expression is a hendiadys; so also in v. 23. This “watcher” is apparently an angel. The Greek OT (LXX) in fact has ἄγγελος (angelo", “angel”) here. Theodotion simply transliterates the Aramaic word (’ir). The term is sometimes rendered “sentinel” (NAB) or “messenger” (NIV, NLT).
[4:14] 3 tn Aram “in strength.”
[4:14] 4 tn Aram “and thus he was saying.”
[4:15] 5 tn Aram “the stock of its root.” So also v. 23. The implication here is that although the tree is chopped down, it is not killed. Its life-giving root is spared. The application to Nebuchadnezzar is obvious.
[4:15] 6 sn The function of the band of iron and bronze is not entirely clear, but it may have had to do with preventing the splitting or further deterioration of the portion of the tree that was left after being chopped down. By application it would then refer to the preservation of Nebuchadnezzar’s life during the time of his insanity.
[4:15] 7 tn Aram “its lot be.”
[4:16] 7 tn Aram “its heart.” The metaphor of the tree begins to fade here and the reality behind the symbol (the king) begins to emerge.
[4:16] 8 sn The seven periods of time probably refer to seven years.
[4:16] 9 tn Aram “over” (also in vv. 23, 25, 32).
[4:17] 9 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] 10 tn Aram “the kingdom of man”; NASB “the realm of mankind”; NCV “every kingdom on earth.”
[4:18] 11 tc The present translation reads פִּשְׁרֵהּ (pishreh, “its interpretation”) with the Qere and many medieval Hebrew
[4:19] 13 tn Aram “about one hour.” The expression refers idiomatically to a brief period of time of undetermined length.
[4:20] 15 tn Aram “its sight.”
[4:21] 17 tn Aram “the beasts of the field” (also in vv. 23, 25, 32).
[4:22] 19 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.
[4:25] 21 tn The Aramaic indefinite active plural is used here like the English passive. So also in v. 28, 29,32.
[4:25] 22 tn Aram “from mankind.” So also in v. 32.
[4:25] 23 tn Aram “your dwelling will be.” So also in v. 32.
[4:25] 24 tn Or perhaps “be made to eat.”
[4:25] 25 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.
[4:26] 23 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).
[4:27] 25 tn Aram “if there may be a lengthening to your prosperity.”
[4:29] 29 tn The word “battlements” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied from context. Many English versions supply “roof” here (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); cf. NLT “on the flat roof.”
[4:30] 32 tn Aram “by the might of my strength.”
[4:31] 33 tn Aram “in the mouth of the king.”
[4:31] 34 tn Aram “to you they say.”
[4:33] 39 tn Aram “was fulfilled.”
[4:33] 40 tn The words “feathers” and “claws” are not present in the Aramaic text, but have been added in the translation for clarity.
[4:34] 40 tn Aram “lifted up my eyes.”
[4:35] 41 tc The present translation reads כְּלָא (kÿla’), with many medieval Hebrew
[4:35] 42 tn Aram “strikes against.”
[4:36] 43 tc The translation reads הַדְרֵת (hadret, “I returned”) rather than the MT הַדְרִי (hadri, “my honor”); cf. Theodotion.
[4:36] 44 tc The translation reads הָתְקְנֵת (hotqÿnet, “I was established”) rather than the MT הָתְקְנַת (hotqÿnat, “it was established”). As it stands, the MT makes no sense here.
[5:1] 47 sn As is clear from the extra-biblical records, it was actually Nabonidus (ca. 556-539
[5:1] 48 sn This scene of a Babylonian banquet calls to mind a similar grandiose event recorded in Esth 1:3-8. Persian kings were also renowned in the ancient Near Eastern world for their lavish banquets.
[5:1] 49 sn The king probably sat at an elevated head table.
[5:1] 50 tn Aram “the thousand.”
[5:2] 49 tn Or perhaps, “when he had tasted” (cf. NASB) in the sense of officially initiating the commencement of the banquet. The translation above seems preferable, however, given the clear evidence of inebriation in the context (cf. also CEV “he got drunk and ordered”).
[5:2] 50 tn Or “ancestor”; or “predecessor” (also in vv. 11, 13, 18). The Aramaic word translated “father” can on occasion denote these other relationships.
[5:2] 52 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[5:2] 53 sn Making use of sacred temple vessels for an occasion of reveling and drunkenness such as this would have been a religious affront of shocking proportions to the Jewish captives.
[5:3] 51 tc The present translation reads וְכַסְפָּא (vÿkhaspa’, “and the silver”) with Theodotion and the Vulgate. Cf. v. 2. The form was probably accidentally dropped from the Aramaic text by homoioteleuton.
[5:3] 52 tn Aram “the temple of the house of God.” The phrase seems rather awkward. The Vulgate lacks “of the house of God,” while Theodotion and the Syriac lack “the house.”
[5:5] 53 tn Aram “came forth.”
[5:5] 54 sn The mention of the lampstand in this context is of interest because it suggests that the writing was in clear view.
[5:5] 55 tn While Aramaic פַּס (pas) can mean the palm of the hand, here it seems to be the back of the hand that is intended.
[5:6] 55 tn Aram “[the king’s] brightness changed for him.”
[5:6] 56 tn Aram “his thoughts were alarming him.”
[5:6] 57 tn Aram “his loins went slack.”
[5:7] 57 tn Aram “in strength.”
[5:7] 58 tn Aram “cause to enter.”
[5:7] 59 tn Aram “answered and said.”
[5:7] 60 sn Purple was a color associated with royalty in the ancient world.
[5:7] 61 tn The term translated “golden collar” here probably refers to something more substantial than merely a gold chain (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT) or necklace (cf. NASB).
[5:8] 59 tc Read וּפִשְׁרֵהּ (ufishreh) with the Qere rather than וּפִשְׁרָא (ufishra’) of the Kethib.
[5:9] 61 tn Aram “his visage altered upon him.” So also in v. 10.
[5:10] 63 tn Aram “words of the king.”
[5:10] 64 tn Aram “the queen” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). In the following discourse this woman is able to recall things about Daniel that go back to the days of Nebuchadnezzar, things that Belshazzar does not seem to recollect. It is likely that she was the wife not of Belshazzar but of Nabonidus or perhaps even Nebuchadnezzar. In that case, “queen” here means “queen mother” (cf. NCV “the king’s mother”).
[5:10] 65 tn Aram “The queen.” The translation has used the pronoun “she” instead because repetition of the noun here would be redundant in terms of English style.
[5:11] 65 tn Aram “[there were] discovered to be in him.”
[5:11] 66 tn Aram “wisdom like the wisdom.” This would be redundant in terms of English style.
[5:11] 67 tc Theodotion lacks the phrase “and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods.”
[5:11] 68 tc The MT includes a redundant reference to “your father the king” at the end of v. 11. None of the attempts to explain this phrase as original are very convincing. The present translation deletes the phrase, following Theodotion and the Syriac.
