Daniel 4:17
Context4:17 This announcement is by the decree of the sentinels;
this decision is by the pronouncement of the holy ones,
so that 1 those who are alive may understand
that the Most High has authority over human kingdoms, 2
and he bestows them on whomever he wishes.
He establishes over them even the lowliest of human beings.’
Daniel 4:24-25
Context4:24 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 3 from human society, 4 and you will live 5 with the wild animals. You will be fed 6 grass like oxen, 7 and you will become damp with the dew of the sky. Seven periods of time will pass by for you, before 8 you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.
Daniel 4:34
Context4:34 But at the end of the appointed time 9 I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up 10 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.
[4:17] 1 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] 2 tn Aram “the kingdom of man”; NASB “the realm of mankind”; NCV “every kingdom on earth.”
[4:25] 3 tn The Aramaic indefinite active plural is used here like the English passive. So also in v. 28, 29,32.
[4:25] 4 tn Aram “from mankind.” So also in v. 32.
[4:25] 5 tn Aram “your dwelling will be.” So also in v. 32.
[4:25] 6 tn Or perhaps “be made to eat.”
[4:25] 7 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.