Daniel 4:31

31 The words were still in his mouth when a voice from heaven said, "King Nebuchadnezzar, these things will happen to you: Your royal power has been taken away 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 as he was walking on the roofn of his palace in Babylon,

30 he said, "I have built this great Babylon as my royal home. I built it by my power to show my glory and my majesty."

31 The words were still in his mouth when a voice from heaven said, "King Nebuchadnezzar, these things will happen to you: Your royal power has been taken away from you.

32 You will be forced away from people. You will live with the wild animals and will be fed grass like an ox. Seven years will pass before you learn this lesson: The Most High God rules over every kingdom on earth and gives those kingdoms to anyone he chooses."

33 Immediately the words came true. Nebuchadnezzar was forced to go away from people, and he began eating grass like an ox. He became wet from dew. His hair grew long like the feathers of an eagle, and his nails grew like the claws of a bird.