Daniel 4:16

4:16 Let his mind ¹  be altered from that of a human being,

and let an animal’s mind be given to him,

and let seven periods of time ²  go by for ³  him.

Daniel 7:4

7:4 “The first one was like a lion with eagles’ wings. As I watched, its wings were pulled off and it was lifted up from the ground. It was made to stand on two feet like a human being, and a human mind ⁴  was given to it. ⁵ 

[4:16]  ¹ 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]  ² sn The seven periods of time probably refer to seven years.

[4:16]  ³ tn Aram “over” (also in vv. 23, 25, 32).

[7:4]  ⁴ tn Aram “heart of a man.”

[7:4]  ⁵ sn The identity of the first animal, derived from v. 17 and the parallels in chap. 2, is Babylon. The reference to the plucking of its wings is probably a reference to the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity (cf. chap. 4). The latter part of v. 4 then describes the restoration of Nebuchadnezzar. The other animals have traditionally been understood to represent respectively Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome, although most of modern scholarship identifies them as Media, Persia, and Greece. For a biblical parallel to the mention of lion, bear, and leopard together, see Hos 13:7-8.