Daniel 4:33
in Daniel 4At that moment the sentence against Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from mankind. He ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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 hair was grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Daniel 4
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The same hour was the thing fulfilled - On the word hour, see the note at Dan 4:19. The use of the word here would seem to confirm the suggestion there made that it means a brief period of time. The idea is clearly that it was done instantly. The event came suddenly upon him, without any interval, as he was speaking. Till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers - By long neglect and inattention.
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
his hair grew like the feathers
The verse describes a madman living as a wild beast: he “ate grass like an ox”. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown allow that his nobles may have joined in driving him “away from mankind”. The verse opens “At that moment,” so the sentence came upon him at once.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
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.
By all this it suggested his condition of neglect and carelessness: bereft of divine providence, he was not even a recipient of care from his own—wife, children and family; instead, like a wild animal he kept frequenting uninhabited places, filling his stomach with the food …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar,....
Is this he that looked so glorious on the throne, so formidable in the camp, that had politics enough to subdue and govern kingdoms, and now has not so much sense as to keep his own clothes on his back? Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms? Never let the wise man then glory in his wisdom, nor the mighty man in his strength.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
driven from men--as a maniac fancying himself a wild beast. It is possible, a conspiracy of his nobles may have co-operated towards his having been "driven" forth as an outcast. hairs . . . eagles' feathers--matted together, as the hair-like, thick plumage of the ossifraga eagle.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בַּהּ־ | bah- | at it | ||
| שַׁעֲתָ֗א | shaata' | moment the | H8160 → | 5 times |
| מִלְּתָא֮ | mileta' | word the | H4406 → | 24 times |
| סָ֣פַת | safat | it was fulfilled | H5487 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5922 → | 104 times |
| נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר֒ | nevukhadnetzar | Nebuchadnezzar | H5020 → | 31 times |
| וּמִן־ | umin- | and away from | H4481 → | 109 times |
| אֲנָשָׁ֣א | ʾanasha' | <the> humankind | H606 → | 25 times |
| טְרִ֔יד | terid | he was chased | H2957 → | 4 times |
| וְעִשְׂבָּ֤א | veisba' | and <the> grass | H6211 → | 12 times |
| כְתוֹרִין֙ | khetorin | like oxen | H8450 → | 7 times |
| יֵאכֻ֔ל | yekhul | he ate | H399 → | 7 times |
| וּמִטַּ֥ל | umital | and from [the] dew of | H2920 → | 5 times |
| שְׁמַיָּ֖א | shemaiya' | heavens the | H8065 → | 38 times |
| גִּשְׁמֵ֣הּ | gishmeh | body his | H1655 → | 5 times |
| יִצְטַבַּ֑ע | yitztaba' | it became wet | H6647 → | 5 times |
| עַ֣ד | ʾad | until | H5705 → | 35 times |
| דִּ֥י | di | that | H1768 → | 345 times |
| שַׂעְרֵ֛הּ | sa'reh | hair his | H8177 → | 3 times |
| כְּנִשְׁרִ֥ין | kenishrin | like eagles | H5403 → | |
| רְבָ֖ה | revah | it grew long | H7236 → | 6 times |
| וְטִפְר֥וֹהִי | vetifrohi | and nails his | H2953 → | |
| כְצִפְּרִֽין׃ | khetziperin | [were] like birds | H6853 → | 4 times |
בַּהּ־at it
bah-
שַׁעֲתָ֗אmoment the
shaata'H8160 →5 times
מִלְּתָא֮word the
mileta'H4406 →24 times
סָ֣פַתit was fulfilled
safatH5487 →
עַל־on
ʾal-H5922 →104 times
נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר֒Nebuchadnezzar
nevukhadnetzarH5020 →31 times
וּמִן־and away from
umin-H4481 →109 times
אֲנָשָׁ֣א<the> humankind
ʾanasha'H606 →25 times
טְרִ֔ידhe was chased
teridH2957 →4 times
וְעִשְׂבָּ֤אand <the> grass
veisba'H6211 →12 times
כְתוֹרִין֙like oxen
khetorinH8450 →7 times
יֵאכֻ֔לhe ate
yekhulH399 →7 times
וּמִטַּ֥לand from [the] dew of
umitalH2920 →5 times
שְׁמַיָּ֖אheavens the
shemaiya'H8065 →38 times
גִּשְׁמֵ֣הּbody his
gishmehH1655 →5 times
יִצְטַבַּ֑עit became wet
yitztaba'H6647 →5 times
עַ֣דuntil
ʾadH5705 →35 times
דִּ֥יthat
diH1768 →345 times
שַׂעְרֵ֛הּhair his
sa'rehH8177 →3 times
כְּנִשְׁרִ֥יןlike eagles
kenishrinH5403 →
רְבָ֖הit grew long
revahH7236 →6 times
וְטִפְר֥וֹהִיand nails his
vetifrohiH2953 →
כְצִפְּרִֽין׃[were] like birds
khetziperinH6853 →4 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
Daniel 4:25You will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field. You will feed on grass like an ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven,…
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 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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 83:18
May they know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, are Most High over all the earth.
- Daniel 2:21
He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.
- Daniel 4:17
Through
Job 20:5the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?
it leads to
- Psalms 37:35–36
I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree,
- Psalms 37:35–36
Through
Daniel 5:5At that moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. As the king watched the hand that was writing,
it leads to
- Daniel 4:31
While 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.
- Daniel 5:24–28
Therefore He sent the hand that wrote the inscription.
- Daniel 4:31
Through
Daniel 5:21He was driven away from mankind, and his mind was like that of a beast. He lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the…
it leads to
- Daniel 4:25
You will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field. You will feed on grass like an ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven,…
- Daniel 4:25
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
About Daniel
This page draws on 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; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 4:33.