Dan 4:1 Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.

Introduction to Nebuchadnezzar's proclamation. A standard greeting for a proclamation that will go out through all of Nebuchadnezzar's domain. This unique chapter is the testimony of a Gentile king about how God changed his heart; Nebuchadnezzar is a good example of a witness (one who relates what he has seen and experienced).

Dan 4:2 I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me.

Statement of intent: to glorify God.

Dan 4:3 How great [are] his signs! and how mighty [are] his wonders! his kingdom [is] an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion [is] from generation to generation.

Statement of praise to God. Nebuchadnezzar immediately sets the stage; God's kingdom and dominion is completely unique in its eternal duration.

Dan 4:4 I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace:
Dan 4:5 I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.
Dan 4:6 Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise [men] of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream.
Dan 4:7 Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof.
Dan 4:8 But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name [was] Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom [is] the spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the dream, [saying],
Dan 4:9 O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods [is] in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.

Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the tree. Only Daniel can explain the dream to Nebuchadnezzar. His rest was the false rest and security of the ungodly; God soon shook him from his false peace. In verse 8, Nebuchadnezzar clearly says that Bel is my god, not the Lord God. What he had saw previously with Daniel and the three Hebrew young men was enough to impress him, but not enough to convert him. The dream was fairly easy to interpret; the wise men probably lacked courage more than insight (it says they did not make it known, not that they could not make it known).

Dan 4:10 Thus [were] the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof [was] great.
Dan 4:11 The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth:
Dan 4:12 The leaves thereof [were] fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it [was] meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it.
Dan 4:13 I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven;
Dan 4:14 He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches:
Dan 4:15 Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and [let] his portion [be] with the beasts in the grass of the earth:
Dan 4:16 Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him.
Dan 4:17 This matter [is] by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

Content of the dream: the rise and fall of a great tree. In the ancient world, a tree was a frequent symbol for a government or a ruler. The watcher (seemingly, a general or specific angelic being) explains the fate of the tree. In explaining his dream, Nebuchadnezzar saw the tree as an it; the angel explains it as a person. The bands of iron and bronze are either for the stump's confinement or its protection. In light of verse 17, the intent of the dream certainly isn't hard to interpret!

Dan 4:18 This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise [men] of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation: but thou [art] able; for the spirit of the holy gods [is] in thee.

Nebuchadnezzar calls upon Daniel for an interpretation of the dream. Though Nebuchadnezzar readily recognizes Daniel as a man filled with the Spirit of the Holy God, he himself has not yet yielded to the Holy God.

Dan 4:19 Then Daniel, whose name [was] Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream [be] to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies.
Dan 4:20 The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth;
Dan 4:21 Whose leaves [were] fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it [was] meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation:
Dan 4:22 It [is] thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.
Dan 4:23 And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and [let] his portion [be] with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him;
Dan 4:24 This [is] the interpretation, O king, and this [is] the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king:
Dan 4:25 That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
Dan 4:26 And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule.

Daniel's explanation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream. Daniel explains the rise and coming fall of Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel genuinely cared for Nebuchadnezzar, and was clearly affected by the meaning of the dream. He applies the point without ambiguity; "It is you, O king"; much like Nathan's statement, You are the man! (2 Samuel 12:7). When Daniel explained verse 25 to Nebuchadnezzar, the king probably couldn't have guessed just how literally it would be fulfilled.

Dan 4:27 Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquility.

Daniel, a good preacher, presses home the application: repent; perhaps it is not too late. The right reaction to the threat of judgment is a humble repentance, something that Nebuchadnezzar did not do. The repentance of Nineveh at the preaching of Jonah is a good example of radical repentance in light of a warning of judgment (Jonah 3).

Dan 4:28 All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.
Dan 4:29 At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.
Dan 4:30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?
Dan 4:31 While the word [was] in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, [saying], O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.
Dan 4:32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling [shall be] with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
Dan 4:33 The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' [feathers], and his nails like birds' [claws].

Fulfillment of the dream. Nebuchadnezzar is stricken with madness, and humbled. God gave Nebuchadnezzar twelve months to repent, and he had probably forgotten about the dream during that time - but God didn't forget.

Babylon was truly one of the spectacular cities of the ancient world, including the famous "hanging gardens" built by Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel knew that the new Babylon was the creation of Nebuchadnezzar (4:30), something previously thought untrue and only verified by recent archaeology. Nobody in the Maccabean period (second century BC) thought Nebuchadnezzar built the new Babylon. In the British Museum, there are six columns of writing recovered from Babylon with describe the huge building projects of Nebuchadnezzar and his zeal to enlarge and beautify the city. Most of the bricks found in the excavations of Babylon carry this stamp: "Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, supporter of Esagila and Ezida, exalted first-born son of Nabopolassar, king of Babylon." Late-daters of Daniel (who say that it was written in the times of the Macabees, around 167 BC) can't explain how a late writer would have known to accurately attribute the spectacular buildings of Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar. One liberal Bible commentator, R. H. Pfeiffer, says of this problem: "we shall presumably never know."

The form of insanity in which men think of themselves as animals and imitate the behavior of an animal has been observed. Some call it generally insania zoanthropica; and more specifically, in Nebuchadnezzar's case, boanthropy, the delusion that one is an ox. Walvoord quotes a Dr. Raymond Harrison of Britain, who in 1946 had a patient suffering from boanthropy, as Nebuchadnezzar had.

There is, understandably, no preserved secular record of this; but Abydenus, a Greek historian, wrote in 268 BC that Nebuchadnezzar had been "possessed by some god" and that he had "immediately disappeared". Some dismiss this account of Nebuchadnezzar's madness as unhistorical; but there is no historical record of his governmental activity between 582 and 575; this silence is deafening, especially when we keep in mind how Near Eastern leaders liked to egotistically trumpet their achievements - and hide their embarrassments.

Dan 4:34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honored him that liveth for ever, whose dominion [is] an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom [is] from generation to generation:
Dan 4:35 And all the inhabitants of the earth [are] reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and [among] the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
Dan 4:36 At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honor and brightness returned unto me; and my counselors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me.
Dan 4:37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works [are] truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.

A repentant Nebuchadnezzar is restored, and praises God. This is knowledgeable testimony "from the horse's mouth"; perhaps we might learn from Nebuchadnezzar's plight and be spared a lesson in humility from God's school of hard knocks.

Observations: Some have found prophetic significance in this story. Since "Babylon" is used in the scriptures as a figure of the world system at large, Nebuchadnezzar's madness foreshadows the madness of Gentile nations in their rejection of God; his fall typifies Jesus' judgment of the nations; and his restoration foreshadows the restoring of some of these nations in the millennial kingdom.

The abiding lesson: God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). There have been many who have risen from humble origins to great glory, and then have fallen. I think that it would be better to have never been raised up than to be raised up and then fall! Most, if not all, fall through pride; and a proud look is number one on the list of God's most hated sins (Proverbs 6:16-19).

God will glorify himself among the nations. When Nebuchadnezzar took some of the treasures of the Jerusalem temple and put them in the temples of his gods, he had reason to believe that his gods were stronger than the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. By the end of Daniel 4, God has shown Nebuchadnezzar which God is the true God. When Nebuchadnezzar knew it, he wasn't shy about telling people what he had learned - he was a true witness, giving testimony to God's great works.