Nebuchadnezzar the king
. This and the two following verses are annexed to the preceding
chapter in the Hebrew Bible, and in the Septuagint and Vulgate
Latin versions; as if the author of the division of the chapters
thought that Nebuchadnezzar proposed by this public proclamation
to celebrate the praise of the Lord, on account of the wonderful
deliverance of the three Jews from the fiery furnace; whereas
they are a preface to a narrative of a dream, and an event which
concerned himself, and most properly begin a new chapter, as they
do in the Syriac and Arabic versions. The edict begins, not with
pompous and extravagant titles, as was the manner of the eastern
monarchs, and still is, but only plainly "Nebuchadnezzar the
king"; for he was now humbled under the mighty hand of God;
whether his conversion was real is not evident; yet, certain it
is, he expresses himself in stronger language concerning the
divine Being and his works, and under a deeper sense of his
sovereignty and majesty, than ever he did before. This
proclamation is directed unto all people, nations, and
languages, that dwell in all the earth;
belonging to his kingdom, as Aben Ezra; and these were many;
besides the Babylonians, Assyrians, and Chaldeans, also the Medes
and Persians, the Egyptians, the Jews, and the nations round
about them; and also the Spaniards, Moors, and Thracians, with
others: but there is no reason to limit this to his own subjects,
though first designed; for it was his desire that all people
whatever in the known world might read, hear, and consider, what
the grace of God had done unto him, with him, and for him, and
learn to fear and reverence him: peace be multiplied unto
you:
a wish for all kind of outward happiness and prosperity, and an
increase of it; thus it becomes a prince to wish for all his
subjects, and even for all the world; for there cannot be a
greater blessing than peace, nor a greater judgment than war.
This phrase is borrowed from the common salutation in eastern
countries, and is used often in the New Testament for spiritual
and eternal peace.