Daniel 4:31
in Daniel 4While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “It is decreed to you, King Nebuchadnezzar, that the kingdom has departed from you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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:
KJV
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.
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This verse in Daniel 4
Commentary
7 notes on this verseVerses 31, 32. "While the saying was yet in the king's mouth, a voice from heaven assailed him: 'King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken, thy kingdom shall pass away (variant reading: is passing away) from thee and they shall cast thee forth from among mankind.'" His arrogant boasting is immediately punished by the Lord. For this reason the execution of the sentence is not delayed, lest mercy towards the poor seem to have profited him not at all.
This site's exposition
still in the king’s mouth
on Daniel 4:31-33
“While the words were still in the king’s mouth,” a heavenly voice declares “that the kingdom has departed from you,” answering his boast. “At that moment the sentence against Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled”. His hair grew “like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird”.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Since he dreamed of going up to heaven, he received the verdict from there; and since he was not satisfied with the palace here below, and instead at the same time he insanely hankered after one on high, he was deprived of the one here …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
While, &c.--in the very act of speaking, so that there could be no doubt as to the connection between the crime and the punishment. O king . . . to thee it is spoken--Notwithstanding thy kingly power, to thee thy doom is now spoken, there is to be no further respite.
While the word was in the king’s mouth - How awful to a victorious and proud king: “Thy kingdom is departed from thee!” All thy goods and gods are gone in a moment!
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
While the word was in the king’s mouth - In the very act of speaking - thus showing that there could be no doubt as to the connection between the crime and the punishment. There fell a voice from heaven - There came a voice; or, perhaps, it seemed to fall as a thunderbolt. It was uttered above him, and appeared to come from heaven. There was an important sense in which it did fall from heaven, for it was the voice of God.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ע֗וֹד | od | still | H5751 → | |
| מִלְּתָא֙ | mileta' | word the | H4406 → | 24 times |
| בְּפֻ֣ם | befum | [was] in [the] mouth of | H6433 → | 6 times |
| מַלְכָּ֔א | malka' | king the | H4430 → | 180 times |
| קָ֖ל | kal | a voice | H7032 → | 7 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4481 → | 109 times |
| שְׁמַיָּ֣א | shemaiya' | heavens the | H8065 → | 38 times |
| נְפַ֑ל | nefal | it fell | H5308 → | 11 times |
| לָ֤ךְ | lakh | to you | ||
| אָֽמְרִין֙ | ʾamerin | [they are] saying | H560 → | 71 times |
| נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּ֣ר | nevukhadnetzar | O Nebuchadnezzar | H5020 → | 31 times |
| מַלְכָּ֔א | malka' | king the | H4430 → | 180 times |
| מַלְכוּתָ֖ה | malkhutah' | kingdom the | H4437 → | 57 times |
| עֲדָ֥ת | ʾadat | it has passed away | H5709 → | 9 times |
| מִנָּֽךְ׃ | minakh | from you | H4481 → | 109 times |
ע֗וֹדstill
odH5751 →
מִלְּתָא֙word the
mileta'H4406 →24 times
בְּפֻ֣ם[was] in [the] mouth of
befumH6433 →6 times
מַלְכָּ֔אking the
malka'H4430 →180 times
קָ֖לa voice
kalH7032 →7 times
מִן־from
min-H4481 →109 times
שְׁמַיָּ֣אheavens the
shemaiya'H8065 →38 times
נְפַ֑לit fell
nefalH5308 →11 times
לָ֤ךְto you
lakh
אָֽמְרִין֙[they are] saying
ʾamerinH560 →71 times
נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּ֣רO Nebuchadnezzar
nevukhadnetzarH5020 →31 times
מַלְכָּ֔אking the
malka'H4430 →180 times
מַלְכוּתָ֖הkingdom the
malkhutah'H4437 →57 times
עֲדָ֥תit has passed away
ʾadatH5709 →9 times
מִנָּֽךְ׃from you
minakhH4481 →109 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Luke 12:20But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’
it leads to
- Job 27:8
For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
- Jeremiah 17:11
Like a partridge hatching eggs it did not lay is the man who makes a fortune unjustly. In the middle of his days his riches will desert him, and in the end he will…
- 1 Timothy 6:7
For we brought nothing into the world, so we cannot carry anything out of it.
- Psalms 39:6
Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.
- James 4:14
You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
- Job 27:8
Through
Daniel 4:34But at the end of those days I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity was restored to me. Then I praised the Most High, and I honored and glorified Him who lives…
it leads to
- Revelation 4:10
the twenty-four elders fall down before the One seated on the throne, and they worship Him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying:
- Psalms 145:13
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is faithful in all His words and kind in all His actions.
- Revelation 4:10
Through
Revelation 16:7And I heard the altar reply: “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are Your judgments.”
it leads to
- Revelation 19:2
For His judgments are true and just. He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the blood of His servants that was poured out by her…
- Revelation 19:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this chapter
About Daniel

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Daniel; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER FOUR; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 4:31.
