Daniel 5:21

21 "He was also 1driven away from mankind, and his heart was made like that of beasts, and his dwelling place was with the 2wild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until * he recognized that the 3Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that He sets over it whomever * He wishes.

Daniel 5:21 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 5:21

And he was driven from the sons of men
From their company, and from conversation with them; his madness was of that kind, that he chose rather to be with beasts than men; it drove him from men, and made him more desirous of being with beasts; or it was so intolerable, that his family, friends, and courtiers, were obliged to remove him from them, from his palace and court, and from all conversation with men, which he was incapable of through his frenzy and madness: and his heart was made like the beasts;
to have the same affections and desires as they have; to crave the same things they did, and like what they liked, and live as they lived: or, "he put his heart with the beasts" F24; either Nebuchadnezzar himself chose to be with them, and delighted in a beastly life; or God did it; he put such a heart into him, or so disposed it, that it became brutish; though to read the words impersonally, as before, seems best: and his dwelling was with the wild asses;
in a wilderness or field; or rather in some enclosed place, in one of his parks, where such creatures were kept for hunting; among these he dwelt, as being like them, having lost the use of his reason, and so was become stupid and sottish as they: and they fed him with grass like oxen;
as they are fed, and which he chose above any other food: and his body was wet with the dew of heaven;
being without clothes, and lying naked in some open place all night: till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and
that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will:
till he came to his senses, and was brought to see and own the sovereign dominion of the one, true, and living God, over all the kingdoms of the earth, and that they are at his dispose; ( Daniel 4:32 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F24 (ywv atwyx Me hbblw) "cor ejus cum bestiis posuit", Vatablus, Calvin; "animum suum cum bestis posuit", Cocceius.

Daniel 5:21 In-Context

19 "Because of the grandeur which He bestowed on him, all the peoples, nations and men of every language feared and trembled before him; whomever he wished he killed and whomever he wished he spared alive; and whomever he wished he elevated and whomever he wished he humbled.
20 "But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit became so proud that he behaved arrogantly, he was deposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken away from him.
21 "He was also driven away from mankind, and his heart was made like that of beasts, and his dwelling place was with the wild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he recognized that the Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that He sets over it whomever He wishes.
22 "Yet you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this,
23 but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear or understand. But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and all your ways, you have not glorified.

Cross References 3

  • 1. Job 30:3-7; Daniel 4:32, 33
  • 2. Job 39:5-8
  • 3. Exodus 9:14-16; Psalms 83:17, 18; Ezekiel 17:24; Dan 4:17, 34, 35

Footnotes 1

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California.  All rights reserved.