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Daniel 4:32

in Daniel 4

You will be driven away from mankind to live with the beasts of the field, and you will feed on grass like an ox. And seven times will pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

and thou shalt be driven from men; and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field; thou shalt be made 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.

KJV

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.

This verse in Daniel 4

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER FOUR · Written before 420.

Verses 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”.

This site's exposition

feed on grass like an ox

John Gill and Albert Barnes both note that the voice from heaven repeats Daniel's words from verse 25. The sentence is now confirmed from above. Adam Clarke describes the madness as driving the king from society to live like a wild beast in the woods.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Hippolytus of Rome

Commentary on Daniel 3.9.3-4 · Written before 235.

proposed

And on account of this Scripture says, "He shall lie outside in the grass and in the dew of heaven and with the beasts and his portion shall be in the grass of the earth.

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And they shall drive thee from men,.... According to the interpretation of the dream given by Daniel, which this voice from heaven confirms; See Gill on Dan 4:25, where the same things are said as here.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

They shall make thee, etc. - Thou shalt be made to eat grass as oxen. The madness that fell upon him induced him to forsake society, and to run to the woods and deserts, where he lived like a wild beast, his hairs growing long and thick, so as to be a substitute for clothing; and his nails strong and hooked, that he might the better climb trees and grub up the ground, in order to get roots and earth-nuts. It was the mercy of God that thus clothed and accoutred him.
And they shall drive thee from men ... - See the note at Dan 4:25.

The words behind it

28 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וּמִן־and away from

    umin-H4481 →109 times

  • אֲנָשָׁא֩<the> humankind

    ʾanasha'H606 →25 times

  • לָ֨ךְ<obj.> you

    lakh

  • טָֽרְדִ֜ין[they are] about to chase

    taredinH2957 →4 times

  • וְֽעִם־and [will be] with

    veim-H5974 →22 times

  • חֵיוַ֧ת[the] animal[s] of

    cheivatH2423 →20 times

  • בָּרָ֣אfield the

    bara'H1251 →8 times

  • מְדֹרָ֗ךְdwelling place your

    medorakhH4070 →4 times

  • עִשְׂבָּ֤א<the> grass

    ʾisba'H6211 →12 times

  • כְתוֹרִין֙like oxen

    khetorinH8450 →7 times

  • לָ֣ךְto you

    lakh

  • יְטַעֲמ֔וּןthey will feed

    yetaamunH2939 →3 times

  • וְשִׁבְעָ֥הand seven

    veshivahH7655 →6 times

  • עִדָּנִ֖יןtimes

    ʾidaninH5732 →13 times

  • יַחְלְפ֣וּןthey will pass

    yachlefunH2499 →4 times

  • עֲלָ֑ךְover you

    alayikhH5922 →104 times

  • עַ֣דuntil

    ʾadH5705 →35 times

  • דִּֽי־that

    di-H1768 →345 times

  • תִנְדַּ֗עyou will know

    tinda'H3046 →47 times

  • דִּֽי־that

    di-H1768 →345 times

  • שַׁלִּ֤יט[is] having mastery

    shalitH7990 →10 times

  • עִלָּיָא֙Most High the

    ilaya'H5943 →10 times

  • בְּמַלְכ֣וּתover [the] kingdom of

    bemalkhutH4437 →57 times

  • אֲנָשָׁ֔א<the> humankind

    ʾanasha'H606 →25 times

  • וּלְמַן־and to whomever

    uleman-H4479 →10 times

  • דִּ֥יwhom

    diH1768 →345 times

  • יִצְבֵּ֖אhe will be pleased

    yitzbe'H6634 →10 times

  • יִתְּנִנַּֽהּ׃he will give it

    yiteninahH5415 →7 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Jeremiah 27:5

    By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please.

    it leads to

    • Daniel 4:17

      This decision is the decree of the watchers, the verdict declared by the holy ones, so that the living will know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Jeremiah 51:15

      The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.

    • Jeremiah 32:17

      “Oh, Lord GOD! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!

    • Psalms 115:15–16

      May you be blessed by the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

    • Psalms 146:5–6

      Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,

  • Through

    Joshua 4:24

    He did this so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, and so that you may always fear the LORD your God.”

    it leads to

    • Psalms 106:8

      Yet He saved them for the sake of His name, to make His power known.

    • 1 Kings 8:42–43

      for they will hear of Your great name and mighty hand and outstretched arm—when he comes and prays toward this temple,

    • Psalms 89:13

      Mighty is Your arm; strong is Your hand. Your right hand is exalted.

Where this verse is studied

About Daniel

Daniel among the Exiles, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Daniel among the Exiles, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

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; Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel 3.9.3-4; Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER FOUR; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).