Daniel 4:34

The King Praises and Extols the Most High God

34 "But at the end of {that period}, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and [then] my reason returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and {the one who lives forever} I praised and I honored. "For his sovereignty [is] [an] everlasting sovereignty, and his kingdom [continues] from generation to generation.

Daniel 4:34 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 4:34

And at the end of the days
Of the time fixed in the dream; that is, at the end of seven years, as Jarchi rightly interprets it; this according to Bishop Usher F14, Dean Prideaux F15, and Mr. Whiston F16, was in the year of the world 3442 A.M., and before Christ 563, in the forty second year of his reign; after which he lived but one year, reigning from the death of his father forty three years, and according to the Jewish accounts forty five; they reckoning from the beginning of his partnership in the kingdom with his father, and his first coming with an army into Syria.

I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven:
for, during the seven years he ate grass like an ox, his eyes were fixed upon the earth, looking out for his food, and especially if he went on all four, as the beasts do; but now standing upright, in his erect form as a man, he looked upwards; though this phrase does not merely design his looking up to the heavens, and viewing them from his bodily eyes; but his sense and consideration of the divine Majesty in heaven, his praying to him, lifting up the eyes being a prayer gesture, and his devotion towards him;

and mine understanding returned to me;
his understanding as a man, which he had been deprived of during this time; and so came to know in what state and condition he was, by whom brought into it, and for what reason;

and I blessed the most High;
the most high God, he whose name alone is Jehovah, the God of gods, who is higher than the highest; him the king blessed for returning his understanding and reason to him, and restoring him to his senses; for which he had just cause to be thankful, for a greater blessing cannot be enjoyed;

and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever;
the living and true God, the author of life to all that have it, and who upholds in it; who lives in and of himself, and for evermore; which no mere man, even the most exalted and dignified, does:

whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from
generation to generation; (See Gill on Daniel 4:3).


FOOTNOTES:

F14 Annales Vet. Test. A. M. 3442.
F15 Connexium part. 1. p. 106.
F16 Chronological Tables, cent. 10.

Daniel 4:34 In-Context

32 and you will be driven away from {human society} and your dwelling [will be] with the animals of the field and they will cause you to graze [the] grass like oxen, and seven times will pass over you, until you acknowledge that the Most High [is] sovereign over the kingdom of humankind and that he gives it to whom he wills.'
33 {Immediately} the word was fulfilled {concerning} Nebuchadnezzar, and he was expelled from {human society} and he ate grass like oxen, and his body was bathed with the dew of heaven until his hair [was] like [the hair of] an eagle and his nails grew like [a] bird's [claws].
34 "But at the end of {that period}, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and [then] my reason returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and {the one who lives forever} I praised and I honored. "For his sovereignty [is] [an] everlasting sovereignty, and his kingdom [continues] from generation to generation.
35 And all the dwellers of the earth are regarded as nothing, and he does {according to} his desire in the host of heaven and [among] the dwellers of earth, and there is not [one] who can hold back his hand, or {ask him}, 'What are you doing?'
36 "{At that time} my reason returned to me, and [also] the glory of my kingdom and my majesty and splendor returned to me, and my advisers and my lords searched [me] out, and I was established over my kingdom and abundant greatness was added to me.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Literally "the day"
  • [b]. Literally "[the one] living forever"
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