THE BOOK OF DANIEL
chapter 4
According to the Septuagint OLD GREEK manuscripts, kept hidden from English eyes for thousands of years until 2012!
This is a presentation of the book of Daniel with commentary to help establish the timing of the book, and historical context. I also look at the themes and usage of different words used in context. The translation is from Logos Bible Software where it is called the Lexham English Septuagint (LES - copied with permission from Logos Bible Software).
Brannan, R., Penner, K. M., Loken, I., Aubrey, M., & Hoogendyk, I., eds. (2012). The Lexham English Septuagint (Da 2:35). Lexham Press.
scripture
4 LES
4:1 In the eighteenth year of the dominion of Nebuchadnezzar, he said, “I was prospering peacefully in my palace, and I was flourishing upon my throne.
4:2 I saw a dream and became concerned, and fearful dread fell upon me.
4:7 I was sleeping upon my bed, and behold, a very high tree was growing upon the earth, and its appearance was huge, and there was not another tree like it.
4:9 The branches of it were long, about thirty stadia, and under it all the beasts of the earth found shade, and in it the winged creatures of heaven nested; its fruit was abundant and healthy, and it provided for all living things.
4:8 And the vision of it was great. Its crown draws near to heaven, and the top of it up to the clouds, filling the things under the heaven. The sun and the moon were dwelling in it, and they shined on all the earth.
4:10 I was observing in my sleep and behold, a messenger was sent forth with authority from heaven.
4:11 And he shouted out and said concerning it, “Cut it down and destroy it, for it is commanded by the Most High to root out and severely damage it.”
4:12 And thus he ordered, “Root it out, but let one root remain from it in the ground so that it might feed on grass just like cattle with the beasts of the earth in the mountainous regions,
4:13 and let his body be changed by the dew of heaven for the worst, and for seven years let him graze along with them,
4:14 until he realizes that the Lord of heaven has authority over all things, all in heaven and all upon the earth, and whatsoever he wants to do he does in them.
4:14a It was chopped down in front of me in one day, and its destruction was in one hour of the day. And its branches were given to every wind, and it was dragged and thrown down. And he ate the grass of the earth. And he was given over to the prison, and he was bound by them in shackles and in bronze handcuffs.” I was exceedingly astonished at these things, and my sleep departed from my eyes.
4:15 Then after I arose in the early morning from my bed, I summoned Daniel, overseer of the wise men and the leader of those who render judgments concerning dreams. And I described the dream in detail to him, and he clearly set forth to me the whole significance of it.
4:16 And Daniel was greatly amazed and the real meaning of the thing alarmed him. And, alarmed, with trembling seizing him, and his appearance altered, and with a disturbed head, and for a time astonished, he answered me with a humble voice, “O king, may this dream come against those who hate you, and the interpretation of it come against your enemies!
4:17 The tree planted in the earth, whose appearance was great, you are the tree, O king.
4:18 And all the winged creatures of heaven that were nesting in it; the might of the earth and of the nations and the tongues of all unto the ends of the earth and all the countries now serve you.
4:19 And the exalted growth of that tree and its reaching toward heaven and the top of it touching the clouds: You, O king, have been exalted above all men who are on the entire face of the earth. You have lifted up your heart by pride and prosperity toward the holy one and his messengers. Your works have appeared, as you have devastated the house of the living God because of the sins of the holy people.
4:20 And the vision that you saw, that a messenger in a strong voice was sent from the Lord, and that he ordered to remove the tree and to cut it down: the judgment of the great God will come against you.
4:21 And the most high and his messengers are pursuing against you.
4:22 They will lead you away under guard and into a desolate place they will send you away.
4:23 And the root of the tree that was permitted to remain given that it was not rooted out indicates that the position of your throne will be maintained for you during a time and a season. Behold, they are ready for you and they will afflict you and they will administer judgments against you. The Lord dwells in heaven and his authority extends throughout the whole earth.
4:24 Entreat him concerning your sins and atone for all your injustices, showing mercy, so that goodness may be granted to you, and that you may continue to be upon the throne of your kingdom for many days, and that you will not perish. Love doing these things, for my word is true, and your duration will be completed in full.”
4:25 And at the completion of these assertions, Nebuchadnezzar, as he heard the interpretation of the dream, he held those matters in his mind.
4:26 Now after twelve months, the king was walking around upon the walls of the city with all its splendor and walking through its towers,
4:27 and speaking out he asserted, “This is the great Babylon that I myself have built, and it will be called my royal abode by my strong might for the honoring of my splendor.”
4:28 While the word was still in the mouth of the king, and upon the completion of his statement, he heard a voice that came from heaven, “Concerning you it is asserted, O King Nebuchadnezzar, that the kingdom of Babylon is taken away from you and is given to another person, to a scorned man in your palace. Behold, I am setting him up over your kingdom, and he will receive your authority and your honor and your delightful luxuries, so that you may know that the God of heaven holds authority among the dominion of mankind, and to whomever he may wish he gives it, as far as the sun rising another king will enjoy himself in your palace, and he will exercise the might of your splendor and your strength and your authority.
4:29 And the holy messengers will pursue you over seven years, and during that time you will not appear at all, neither will you converse with any person; they will feed you grass just like an ox, and the tender green herbs and grass of the land will be your food. Behold, in place of your splendor, they will bind you with chains. Another will possess both your abode of soft delicacies and your kingdom.
4:30 And in good time everything will be fulfilled concerning you, O Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and there will not be left over from any of all these things even one thing that is not done.”
4:30a I, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, was bound fast for seven years. They fed me grass like an ox, and from the tender grass of the earth I ate, and after seven years I gave my soul to prayer, and I presented a petition about my sin before the face of the Lord, the God of heaven, and concerning my ignorance of the God of gods, the great one, I prayed.
4:30b And my hair became like the wings of an eagle, my nails like a lion. My flesh and my heart were changed. I walked around naked with the beasts of the earth. I saw a dream and suspicions of me took hold and in time sleep took hold of me, and a great drowsiness fell upon me.
4:30c And at the completion of the seven years, my time of recovery came, and my sins and acts of my ignorance were brought to an end before the God of heaven, and I prayed concerning my sins against the great God of gods. And behold, a messenger addressed me from heaven, saying, “O Nebuchadnezzar, serve the holy God of heaven and give honor to the most high, for the royal dwelling of your nation is being given back to you.”
4:33 At that time my kingdom was restored to me, and my honor was given back to me.
4:34 I confess and give thanks to the most high, and I praise the one who created the heaven and the earth and the seas and the rivers and everything in them. I acknowledge and I praise him, for he alone is God of gods and Lord of lords and king of kings, for he alone produces signs and wonders and alters the appointed times and seasons and durations of time, and removes the dominion of kings and establishes other kings in place of them.
4:34a From now on, I will serve him, and from the fear of him trembling has taken hold of me, and I praise all the holy ones. For the gods of the nations do not have in themselves power to turn away the kingdom of one king to another king, and to kill, and to make alive, and to make signs and wonders, great and fearful, and to change immensely great matters just as the God of heaven did with me. And he changed concerning me great matters, all the days of my kingdom, concerning my soul. I will offer fragrant sacrifices to the most high, to the Lord, and what is acceptable before him I will do, and my people, my nation and lands, those under my authority. And as many as have spoken to the God of heaven, and as many as might be caught speaking anything, these I will condemn to death.
4:34b And King Nebuchadnezzar wrote a circular letter to all the nations and territories and languages in every place, all who are living in all the territories, generations and generations. “Praise the Lord, the God of heaven. And bring to him sacrifices and offerings gloriously. I, the king of kings, confess openly, and thank him gloriously, because he has done thus with me. In the same day he seated me upon my throne, and of my authority and my kingdom among my people I prevailed, and my greatness was re-established to me.
4:34c I, King Nebuchadnezzar, to all the nations and all the territories and all those who dwell in them, peace to you be multiplied in all times. And now, I will show you the things that the great God has done with me. And it seemed good to me to show you and your wise men that God exists, and to show you his great wonders. His kingdom is a kingdom forever, his authority from generations to generations.” And he sent letters about everything that happened to him in his rule to all the nations, those being under his rule.
commentary
1 In the eighteenth year - The Septuagint here dates when Nebuchadnezzar turned into a beast mentally for 7 years.
2 dream – The dream was first experienced by Nebuchadnezzar and the details were given next in the original manuscripts of the book of Daniel, here in the very next verse. This chapter is cut up in the KJV putting notice out to the wise men, magicians, and astrologers before the details of the dream are even given, which is clearly out of order.
7 – high tree – this pictures Nebuchadnezzar and also satan as the archangel Lucifer in the first Earth age (possibly before he fell).
9 – branches – continuing the description of the TREE before it “fell” from grace, which is pictured in verse 8 as becoming “great”.
Thirty stadia – 30 denotes the perfection of Divine order, but 600 denotes warfare. The temple plan of Herod was about 600’ square as well. So we can see that satan is trying to replace god even then, in the first earth age.
Thirty
being 3x10, denotes in a higher degree the perfection of Divine order, as marking the right moment. Christ was thirty years of age at the commencement of His ministry, Luke 3:23.
Joseph, His type, was the same age, Genesis 41:46.
David also, when he began to reign, 2 Samuel 5:4[1]
4712 στάδιον [stadion /stad·ee·on/] n n. Or masculine (in plural) stadios (stad·ee·os), from the base of 2476 (as fixed); GK 5084; Six occurrences; AV translates as “furlong” five times, and “race” once. 1 a space or distance of about 600 feet (185 m). 2 a race course. 2a place in which contests in running were held, the one who outstripped the rest and reached the goal first, receiving the prize. Courses of this description were found in most of the larger Greek cities, and were like that at Olympia, 600 Greek feet in length.[2]
Winged creatures of heaven – birds are winged creatures of Earth, and winged creatures of heaven may symbolize, angels in the first Earth age, who fell under satan’s canopy when he became great and filled with pride.
Ezekiel 28:13–15 (LES)
13 You came to be in the delight of the paradise of God, you have bound on every precious stone, carnelian and topaz and emerald and garnet and sapphire and jasper and silver and gold and stone of Liguria and agate and amethyst and topaz and beryl and onyx; and you filled your treasure houses and your storehouses among you with gold.
14 From the day you were created, I placed you with the cherub in the holy mountain of God; you came to be in the midst of fiery stones.
15 You came to be blameless in your days from the day you were created, until unrighteous things were found in you.
8 – verse 8 comes after verse 9 in the manuscripts of Daniel (mentioned in the introduction). The reason is that verse 8 mentions the growth of the tree to “heaven”, even to the “sun and the moon” where even they were dwelling in it!
Crown – This indicates a challenge to the authority of the King of kings and His crown, for there shall be no one higher than the Lord God Almighty, Creator of the sun and the moon!
12 – root it out – meaning cut down the whole tree except one tiny root to keep it alive. This pictures both satan in the first earth age, and Nebuchadnezzar in this age, and satan’s final kingdom as being the tree growing again in this earth age.
Mountainous regions – There isn’t much population in the mountains. Satan would be banished to an empty uninhabited region where he cannot build another kingdom for that time.
13 body – The body of the man Nebuchadnezzar will be changed into an animal, like cattle. This will literally happen to Nebuchadnezzar and metaphorically happen to satan in another dimension. The idea of a “man” becoming a “beast” and a “beast” becoming a “man” is central to Daniel, starting here and in Daniel 2 with the statue of a man. Later in Chapter 7 the lion will raise up LIKE A MAN and have the heart of a man!
This transformation for Nebuchadnezzar was only 7 solar years, or 2,520 days, but in prophecy where a day = 1 year, it represents the longer period of 2,520 years until satan’s kingdom can “take root” yet again.
seven years This “seven years” that passes over him, became 2,520 years when applied to satan’s coming kingdom.
Basically 604 BC to 1917 (the Balfour Declaration) is exactly 7 x 360 (a prophetic year). 604 + 1917 = 2521 -1 (year zero), exactly 2520!
14a – the prison – Nebuchadnezzar didn’t just act like an animal eating grass, but he also was locked up in prison in bronze handcuffs. (this is mentioned in the KJV in v. 15 “even with a band of iron and brass,” which is bronze. And “band” means custody or imprisonment.
613 אֱסוּר [ʾecuwr /es·oor/] n m. Corresponding to 612; TWOT 2595a; GK 10054; Three occurrences; AV translates as “band” twice, and “imprisonment” once. 1 band, bond, imprisonment.[1]
Sleep departed – This is where the description of the dream ends, and naturally the next verse describes what Nebuchadnezzar is going to do about this frightening dream.
15 summoned Daniel - The first thing Nebuchadnezzar does is call Daniel and ONLY Daniel. He doesn’t call the “magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers.” Like the KJV says in verse 7. He definitely learned from chapter 2 that they were clueless. He also doesn’t call Daniel “Beltashazzar according to the name of my god,” as in vs. 8 of the KJV. In the KJV in v. 9 Daniel is called Beltashazzar again, and dubbed “the master of the magicians”, which was not a title ever given to Daniel.
Overseer of the wise men – This was Daniel’s true position and title given to him by Nebuchadnezzar.
17 you are the tree – Nebuchadnezzar is the tree, but remember in chapter 2 Nebuchadnezzar was also the golden head of the statue, which starts the timeline of the statue itself. 604/3 BC So when the “7 years (or 2,520 days)” equal years 2,520 years, then you see what root of the tree will form, a new kingdom of Babylon, the seedline of the evil one, Cain took possession of the promised land in 1917, exactly when Daniel is prophesying it.
22 desolate place – “Under guard” and into a “desolate place”, this is prison in another dimension!! Totally hidden in the KJV!
Satan is put in prison! Nebuchadnezzar is a type of where satan is for all this time until he rules at the very end (pictured by the toes of the statue).
It was stated in 14a (only found in the manuscripts of Daniel).
23 “position of your throne will be maintained for you during a time and a season”. That is the 2,520 years from the start of the King of Babylon’s reign.
In the KJV Daniel 4:26 just says “the heavens do rule”, and not “the LORD”!
24 duration – A period of time given to Nebuchadnezzar, which draws upon the chronology of the statue in chapter 2 which starts the duration that must be completed in full, not only for the immediate timeline but for all of prophecy to come.
27 – built – The exact time he claimed to have “built” the kingdom, God took it all away from him for seven years, so that the “building” of that kingdom will not go to the king of Babylon but to other men.
28 the kingdom… is given to another - The KJV removes almost this entire verse, which is important to understand the prophecy of the last 2,520+ years! All those kings were set-up over satan’s kingdom and will exercise the “might of your splendor and your strength and your authority”.
29 bind you with chains - Here, again, it says to Nebuchadnezzar (a type of satan) that “you will not appear at all….and they will bind you with chains.” And “another will possess both your abode of soft delicacies and your kingdom”, all this during the prophetic times of 7 years (2,520 years).
30a bound fast – which means “to bind the feet with fetters”. Satan is also bound fast until he is released in the 5th trump to go get his army in the bottomless pit (2 Peter 2:4 & Jude 6).
• pf. 3 sg. πεπέδηται (Ath., R. 15 p. 66, 33), ptc. πεπεδημένος (Hom. et al.; also Paus. 8, 49, 6; LXX) ‘bind the feet with fetters’, then gener. bind, fetter, shackle (En 21:4; Philo, Aet. M. 129; SibOr 1, 371) ἐξαγαγεῖν ἐκ δεσμῶν πεπεδημένους καὶ ἐξ οἴκου φυλακῆς καθημένους ἐν σκότει to free prisoners from their bonds and from their dungeon those who sit in darkness B 14:7 (here, as in Just., the word πεπεδημένους, which occurs in sim. LXX passages [e.g. Ps 67:7 ἐξάγων πεπεδημένους], has come into the context of Is 42:7).[1]
30b the wings of an eagle, my nails like a lion – Here is imagery of an eagle and a lion where the man becomes a beast, and in Daniel 7:4 we have the opposite metamorphosis, a lion with eagle feathers stands up like a MAN, and gets the human heart and human feet. (the statue’s feet represent the same point in time where the king of Babylon’s kingdom begins again in 1948).
Daniel 7:4 (LES)
4 The first one was like a lioness but it had feathers just like an eagle. I continued watching until its feathers were plucked and it was lifted up from the earth, and upon human feet it was made to stand and a human heart was given to it.
30c your nation is being given back to you – Just like the King of Babylon got control of his kingdom back after a specific period of time, so does satan’s kingdom of his children (children of Cain or Kenites) restart his kingdom through that little root from the tree in 1948!
34a to kill and make alive – This is almost a direct quote from Deuteronomy 32:39 (LES). Daniel was quoting the law in the Septuagint version here.
Deuteronomy 32:39 (LES).
39 See, see that I am, and there is no god except me. I will kill and make alive, I will strike and heal, and there is none who will deliver from my hands.
This statement is eliminated in Daniel 5:19 in the KJV and wrongly attributed to King Nebuchadnezzar’s power.
Daniel 5:19 (KJV 1900)
19 And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down.
34b God of Heaven – This phrase is used 29x in the Old Testament, where 17 of those instances is in Ezra and Daniel, and 6 times in Daniel 4 (Septuagint) where the cycles of time are prominent in understanding the prophetic implications of the tree that reached unto heaven.
Sacrifices and offerings – Essentially, King Nebuchadnezzar made the sacrifices and offerings to cease in 604 BC, which starts the 7 years of years timeline, and the 1290 days/years that brings us to the building of the mosque on the temple mount, which is considered an abomination of desolation because it should be the Lord’s Holy Temple there. This is also a type of the abomination of desolation, or antichrist when he also comes and sets himself up on the Temple mount.
pf. pf. = perfect
sg. sg. = singular
Ath. Ath. = Athenagoras, II a.d.—List 5
ptc. ptc. = participle
Hom Hom , VIII b.c.—List 5
et al. et al. = et alii (and others)
Paus Paus , perieg., II a.d.—List 5
LXX LXX = Septuaginta, ed. ARahlfs, unless otherwise specified—Lists 2, beg.
gener. gener. = generally
En En = I Enoch—List 2
Philo Philo = P. of Alexandria, I b.c.–I a.d.—List 5
SibOr SibOr = Oracula Sibyllina, II–III a.d.—List 5
B B = Barnabas (the Letter of), II a.d., except in series of uncial witnesses, in which case B refers to Codex Vaticanus (s. also Vat.). When the abbrv. B would ambiguous, Vat. is used for the codex.—List 1
Just Just , II a.d.—List 5
sim. sim. = similarly
LXX LXX = Septuaginta, ed. ARahlfs, unless otherwise specified—Lists 2, beg.
e.g. e.g. = exempli gratia (for example)
[1] Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., Bauer, W., & Gingrich, F. W. (2000). In A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 790). University of Chicago Press.
n n: noun
m m: masculine
TWOT Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
[1] Strong, J. (1995). In Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.
[1] Bullinger, E. W. (2004). Number in Scripture (p. 265). Pleasant Places Press.
n n: noun or neuter
n n: noun or neuter
[2] Strong, J. (1995). In Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.