Daniel 4:32

_AND THEY SHALL DRIVE THEE FROM MEN, AND THY DWELLING SHALL BE WITH THE BEASTS OF THE FIELD: THEY SHALL MAKE THEE TO EAT GRASS AS OXEN, AND SEVEN TIMES SHALL PASS OVER THEE, UNTIL THOU KNOW THAT THE MOST HIGH RULETH IN THE KINGDOM OF MEN, AND GIVETH IT TO WHOMSOEVER HE WILL._ No JFB commentary on this verse....

It follows, — _They shall expel thee from among men, and thy habitation shall be with the beasts of the field _— _or _of the _country, _— _they shall make thee eat grass like oxen! _Some think Nebuchadnezzar to have been changed into a beast; but this is too harsh and absurd. We need not fancy any change of nature; but he was cut off from all intercourse with men, and with the exception of a human form, he did not differ from the brutes, — nay, such was his deformity in his exile that, as we shall afterwards see, he became a horrid spectacle; — all the hairs of his body stood up and grew like eagles’ feathers; his claws were like those of birds. In these points he was like the beasts, in others like the rest of mankind. It is uncertain whether God struck this king with madness, causing him to escape and he hid for a length of time, or whether he was cast forth by a tumult and conspiracy...

28-37 Pride and self-conceit are sins that beset great men. They are apt to take that glory to themselves which is due to God only. While the proud word was in the king's mouth, the powerful word came from God. His understanding and his memory were gone, and all the powers of the rational soul were broken. How careful we ought to be, not to do any thing which may provoke God to put us out of our senses! God resists the proud. Nebuchadnezzar would be more than a man, but God justly makes him less than a man. We may learn to believe concerning God, that the most high God lives for ever, and that his kingdom is like himself, everlasting, and universal. His power cannot be resisted. When men are brought to honour God, by confession of sin and acknowledging his sovereignty, then, and not till then, they may expect that God will honour them; not only restore them to the dignity they lost by t...

Verse Daniel 4:32. _THEY SHALL MAKE THEE, C._] Thou shalt be made _to eat_ _grass as oxen_. The madness that fell upon him induced him to forsake society, and to run to the woods and deserts, where he lived like a wild beast, his _hairs_ growing long and thick, so as to be a substitute for clothing and his _nails_ strong and hooked, that he might the better climb trees and grub up the ground, in order to get _roots_ and _earth-nuts_. It was the _mercy_ of God that thus _clothed_ and _accoutred_ him. His case seems much like that of the maniac in the Gospel, whose dwelling was among the tombs and in the mountains, and who shunned the society of men....

AND THEY SHALL DRIVE THEE FROM MEN ... - See the note at Daniel 4:25....

EXPOSITION DANIEL 4:1 THE MADNESS OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR. We follow here the division of chapters which we find in our English Version, and as, indeed, in all modern versions. The Aramaic concludes the third chapter with the three verses which are placed in our version at the beginning of the fourth chapter. The arrangement of the Aramaic is followed by the Septuagint, by Theodotion, and by Jerome. The Peshitta and Paulus Tellensis follow the more logical division. Luther divides the chapters logically enough, but carries on the numbering of the verses from the preceding chapter. It is difficult to see anything that can even seem to be a reason for this division. It may indicate a suspicion of these verses at the time the chapters were divided....

AND THEY SHALL DRIVE THEE FROM MEN,.... According to the interpretation of the dream given by Daniel, which this voice from heaven confirms; Daniel 4:25, where the same things are said as here....

CHAPTER 4 THE TREE VISION OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR _ 1. The king's proclamation (Daniel 4:1)_ 2. The king relates the tree vision (Daniel 4:4) 3. Daniel interprets the vision (Daniel 4:19) 4. The tree vision fulfilled, the king's abasement and his restoration, (Daniel 4:28) Daniel 4:1. This chapter is in form, at least in part, of a proclamation. This proclamation must have been written after the king had passed through the experience recorded in this chapter....

DANIEL 4. This chapter takes us again into the realm of Apocalyptic. Nebuchadnezzar dreams a fresh dream. This time he sees a gigantic tree, the top of which reached to heaven, full of leaves and fruit. Suddenly a holy one appears from heaven, and cries the command, Hew down the tree, strip off the branches, but leave the stump in the ground. That the dream refers to some individual is clear, for the holy one continues, Let his portion be with the beasts. Let his heart be changed from a man's, and _let_ a beast's heart be given unto him. Daniel, who is summoned to interpret the vision, informs the king that the dream refers to himself. He is the tree which is soon to be cut down. For his pride madness will overtake him, and his portion will be with the beasts of the field for seven years. There are two difficulties about this chapter, the one connected with the form, the other connected...

The fulfilment of the dream....