Daniel 4:31

31 "While the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, 'King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you,

Daniel 4:31 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 4:31

While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice
from heaven
Before the king had done speaking in the above boasting manner, an articulate voice from heaven was heard by him, and all about him, formed by the angels, and much like what the Jews call Bath Kol; see ( Acts 12:21-23 ) , so Abydenus ^F7, in the account he gives of Nebuchadnezzar's oration to the people, relates, that when the king had spoke it, (paracrhma hfanisto) , immediately he disappeared:

saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken, the kingdom is
departed from thee;
that is, the administration of it; for he was not deposed, or declared to be no longer king; his office was not taken away from him, and another king set upon the throne; only the administration was taken into other hands, either of his wife or son, or his nobles; he being unfit for it, till such time as his reason returned to him.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Apud Euseb. ut supra. (Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 41. p. 457.)

Daniel 4:31 In-Context

29 "Twelve months later he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon.

30 "The king reflected and said, 'Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?'

31 "While the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, 'King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you,

32 and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.'

33 "Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "fell"
• [b]. Or "kingdom"