While the word was in the king’s mouth, a voice came from the sky, saying, “O king Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: ‘The kingdom has departed from you.
Parallel Translations
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While the word was in the king’s mouth, a voice came from the sky, saying, “O king Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: ‘The kingdom has departed from you.
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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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(4-28) While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven: 'O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken: the kingdom is departed from thee.
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to Daniel 4:31 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Luke 12:20 “But God said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared—whose will they be?’
- Acts 9:3-5 As he traveled, he got close to Damascus, and suddenly a light from the sky shone around him. He fell on the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He said, “Who are you, Lord?” The Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
- Revelation 16:7 I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments.”
- Exodus 15:9-10 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide the plunder. My desire will be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword. My hand will destroy them.’ You blew with your wind. The sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.
- 1 Samuel 13:14 But now your kingdom will not continue. Yahweh has sought for himself a man after his own heart, and Yahweh has appointed him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept that which Yahweh commanded you.”
- 1 Samuel 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected Yahweh’s word, he has also rejected you from being king.”
- Job 20:23 When he is about to fill his belly, God will cast the fierceness of his wrath on him. It will rain on him while he is eating.
- Daniel 4:24 “This is the interpretation, O king, and it is the decree of the Most High, which has come on my lord the king:
- Daniel 4:34 At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored him who lives forever; for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom from generation to generation.
- Daniel 5:4-5 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of bronze, of iron, of wood, and of stone. In the same hour, the fingers of a man’s hand came out and wrote near the lamp stand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace. The king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
- Daniel 5:28 PERES: your kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.”
- Matthew 3:17 Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
- John 12:28 Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came out of the sky, saying, “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
- Acts 12:22-23 The people shouted, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he didn’t give God the glory. Then he was eaten by worms and died.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3 For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman. Then they will in no way escape.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain It now follows, — While the speech was in…
It now follows, — While the speech was in the mouth of the king, a voice descended from heaven — They say unto thee, O King Nebuchadnezzar, thy kingdom has departed from thee! God does not now admonish the king of Babylon by either the mouth of a Prophet or a dream by night; but he sends forth his own voice from heaven; and as if he had not tamed down the pride by which the king was puffed up, a voice is now heard from heaven which inspires greater terror than either the Prophet’s oracle or interpretation. Thus God is in the habit of dealing with the hardened and impenitent, since he causes his own prophets to denounce the penalty which hangs over them. Besides, when he sees them untouched or unaffected, he doubles the terror, until the final execution follows, as in. the case of this tyrant. The word was in the king’s mouth when, the voice was heard. We see how God restrains in a moment the madness of those who raise themselves extravagantly. But it is not surprising that the voice was so suddenly heard, because time for repentance was allowed to King Nebuchadnezzar. In the form of speech, they say to thee, it is not necessary to inquire anxiously to whom these words apply. Some restrict them to angels; but I do not agree to this; it seems rather to be used in the customary way, they say — meaning “it is said,” as if sanctioned by common consent. Hence they say to thee, O King Nebuchadnezzar; God does not simply call him by his name, but uses the word king — not for the sake of honor, but of ridicule, and to strike away from the king all the allurements by which he deceived himself. Thou indeed art intoxicated by thy present splendor, for while all adore thee, thou art forgetful of thy frailty; but this royal majesty and power will not hinder God from laying thee prostrate; for since thou: wilt not humble thyself, thy kingdom shall be taken from thee! This indeed appeared incredible, since Nebuchadnezzar had the tranquil possession of the kingdom in his hand; no one dared to shew himself his enemy; he had subdued all his neighbors; his monarchy was terrible to all nations; hence God pronounces, The kingdom has gassed away from thee! And this shews the certainty of the oracle; and thus Nebuchadnezzar may know the time to be fulfilled, and the punishment to be no longer delayed, because he had trifled with God’s indulgence.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain When the term of these seven years was accomplished.
When the term of these seven years was accomplished.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Dan 4:31 While the word [was] in the king’s…
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.
Ver. 31. While the word was in the king’s mouth.] So quick is God usually in his executions, when men are once come to the height of pride, and do invade his glory, affront his majesty. {Jer 44:22 Act 12:23}
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There fell a voice from heaven.] By the ministry of the angels, who do extremely hate proud persons, and are ready to speak and act aught against them.
O king Nebuehadnezzar.] Not now Nebuchadnezzar my servant, as once, but mine opposite, and therefore the object of my wrath. Alexander the Great rewarded his soldier that fetched his crown out of the water, but then hanged him for putting it on his own head. God will punish those eternally that rob him of his due glory.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain There fell a voice from heaven: this made the…
There fell a voice from heaven: this made the judgment more remarkable, and argued the sin more provoking, and the anger of God more just against him. Sudden judgments are most dreadful; whereof we have many instances, as in Herod, Elymas, Ananias and Sapphira, &c.: this voice was from God; it also was loud, and clearly perceived by the king and them about him, which the dream intimated more obscurely. Not the kingdom, but the administration of the government, was transferred to others.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And at the end of the days,.... Of the…
And at the end of the days,.... Of the time fixed in the dream; that is, at the end of seven years, as Jarchi rightly interprets it; this according to Bishop Usher (n), Dean Prideaux (o), and Mr. Whiston (p), was in the year of the world 3442 A.M., and before Christ 563, in the forty second year of his reign; after which he lived but one year, reigning from the death of his father forty three years, and according to the Jewish accounts forty five; they reckoning from the beginning of his partnership in the kingdom with his father, and his first coming with an army into Syria.
I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven: for, during the seven years he ate grass like an ox, his eyes were fixed upon the earth, looking out for his food, and especially if he went on all four, as the beasts do; but now standing upright, in his erect form as a man, he looked upwards; though this phrase does not merely design his looking up to the heavens, and viewing them from his bodily eyes; but his sense and consideration of the divine Majesty in heaven, his praying to him, lifting up the eyes being a prayer gesture, and his devotion towards him;
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and mine understanding returned to me; his understanding as a man, which he had been deprived of during this time; and so came to know in what state and condition he was, by whom brought into it, and for what reason;
and I blessed the most High; the most high God, he whose name alone is Jehovah, the God of gods, who is higher than the highest; him the king blessed for returning his understanding and reason to him, and restoring him to his senses; for which he had just cause to be thankful, for a greater blessing cannot be enjoyed;
and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever; the living and true God, the author of life to all that have it, and who upholds in it; who lives in and of himself, and for evermore; which no mere man, even the most exalted and dignified, does:
whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation; See Gill on Dan 4:3.
(n) Annales Vet. Test. A. M. 3442. (o) Connexium, &c. part. 1. p. 106. (p) Chronological Tables, cent. 10.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 31. While the word was in the king's…
Verse 31. 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!
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain While the word was in the king’s mouth -…
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.
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Saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken - For you it is particularly intended; or what is predicted is now spoken to thee.
The kingdom is departed from thee - Thou art about to cease to reign. Up to this time he retained his reason, that he might distinctly understand the source from where the judgment was to come, and why it was brought upon him, and that he might be prepared, when he should be recovered from his insanity, to testify clearly to the origin and the nature of the judgment. The Codex Chisianus has an important “addition” to what is said here, which, though of no authority, as having nothing corresponding to it in the original text, yet states what is in itself not improbable. It is as follows: “And at the end of what he was saying, he heard a voice from heaven, To thee it is spoken, O king Nebuchadnezzar, the kingdom of Babylon shall be taken away from thee, and shall be given to another, a man despised or of no rank - ἐξουθενημένῳ ἀνθρώπῳ exouthenēmenō anthrōpō - in thy house. Behold, I will place him over thy kingdom, and thy power, and thy glory, and thy luxury - τὴν τρυφήν tēn truphēn - he shall receive, until thou shalt know that the God of heaven has authority over the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever he will: but until the rising of the sun another king shall rejoice in thy house, and shall possess thy power, and thy strength, and thine authority, and the angels shall drive thee away for seven years, and thou shalt not be seen, and shalt not speak with any man, but they shall feed thee with grass as oxen, and from the herb of the field shall be thy support.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Heaven: God having looked on me with pity. St.…
Heaven: God having looked on me with pity. St. Augustine (ep. 111. (Calmet) or 122. (Worthington)) seems to think that he was saved; and the author of the B. on Pred. & grace, (chap. 15) attributes to him, remarks that his repentance was different from that of Pharao. Hence none must despair. (St. Jerome, ep. vii. to Læta.) --- See Theod.; A. Lap. [Cornelius a Lapide] &c. who maintain that same opinion: but St. Thomas Aquinas expresses his doubts. Isaias (xiv. 9.) seems to condign him to hell; and the king here manifests his adhesion to Bel, (ver. 5.) and great inconstancy. (Chap. ii. 47. and iii. 15.) His conviction seems therefore to have been only in speculation, (Calmet) or momentary, like that of the philosophers, (Romans i.) which would render them more criminal; and we must confess, (Haydock) that this conversion is very equivocal. (Sanctius. ver. 24 and 34.) (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain While, &c.--in the very act of speaking, so that…
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. So Luk 12:19-20.
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.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 31, 32. See note Dan_4:25. This description is intensely…
31, 32. See note Dan_4:25. This description is intensely dramatic, and many things unmentioned here are brought vividly before the eyes of anyone acquainted with the life of a Babylonian palace. If this, indeed, represents an attack of insanity, how the physicians and “magicians” must have tried every art known to them to deliver this greatest king of earth from his illusions. There was no disease known to the ancients which was regarded as so mysterious and so directly the result of the touch of the divine hand as this. Many of the magical texts have specific reference to the warding off of demoniacal powers and to deliverance from the “sickness of the head.” As one text states, “The disease of the forehead proceeds from the infernal regions; it is come from the dwelling of the lord of the abyss.” Think of the exorcisms against demons such as the following, accompanied with strange ceremonies, which must have been chanted over this afflicted monarch: —
They are 7! They are 7!
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They are the agents of the vengeance of the gods,
Raising up difficulties, obtaining power by violence.
The enemies! The enemies!
They are 7! They are 7! They are twice 7!
Spirit of the heavens, may they be conjured!
Spirit of the earth, may they be conjured! — Chaldean Magic.
Or this: —
May the bad demons depart!
May they seize upon one another!
The propitious demon, the propitious giant,
May they penetrate into his body.
Professor Sayce (Hibbert Lectures) gives a specific spell against madness, which was in the great classical work on medicine used by all the physicians in Nebuchadnezzar’s time, closing with the pathetic wail: —
Let the madness of his head be removed,
May the malady of the head which has descended
like the rain of the night be driven away.
He also translates this oracle from Nebuchadnezzar’s favorite god, Marduk, to some one in sickness: —
In the night he was in grief,
in the day he was troubled,
And in a dream he sent unto him a warning;
Revealing it in a vision, he did not direct him
* * * * * * * * * *
His sick neck was not quiet in the yoke.
The — — with pure means did not soothe him.
Like an ox in the — — — was he.
Like a lamb among the bricks was he confounded,
and at the mouth of the camp was he laid.
King, in his Babylonian Magic (1896), gives many of the ceremonies connected with the driving away of these demons and the cries of those in bondage to them: —
And again: —
May the sickness of my body be torn away!
May the groaning of my flesh be consumed!
May the ban be torn away!
Because of the evil magic, the demon,
Free me from my bewitchment! Loosen my sin!
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 31. The divine rebuke alights immediately upon the king.
31. The divine rebuke alights immediately upon the king.
there fell a voice from heaven] such as was called by the later Jews a Bath Ḳôl, lit. ‘the daughter of a voice’ (the accompanying verb being usually ‘came forth’), the term applied by them to a divine voice unaccompanied by any visible manifestation. Cf. Apoc. of Baruch, xiii. 1, ‘a voice came from heaven,’ xxii. 1; and see further Weber, System der Altsynag. Theol. p. 187 f., Dalman, Die Worte Jesu, p. 167 f., Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus, i. 286, and the particulars given in Hamburger’s Real-Encyclop. für Bibel u. Talmud, vol. ii., s. v. Bathkol. The voices from heaven in the N.T. (as Mat_3:17; Mat_17:5; Joh_12:28; Act_11:7; Act_11:9; Rev_10:4) would all, in Jewish phraseology, be so described.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (31) A voice.—By this he would be reminded of…
(31) A voice.—By this he would be reminded of his dream (Dan_4:14), when he heard the watcher “cry aloud.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 31, 32. While the word was in the…
Vers. 31, 32. 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. 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. The Septuagint rendering has many points of interest, "While the word was yet in the mouth of the king at the end of his speech he heard a voice out of heaven, To thee it issaid, O King Nebuchadnezzar, the kingdom of Babylon has been taken from thee, and is being given to another a man set at naught in thy house: behold, I set him in thy kingdom, and thy power and thy glory and thy delicacy he takes possession of; that thou mayest know that the God of heaven hath dominion over the kingdoms of men, and to whomsoever he willeth he shall give it. To the rising of the sun another king shall rejoice in thy house and shall possess thy glory and thy might and thy dominion." The differences between the Massoretic and Theodotion are inconsiderable.
The Peshitta adds the clause, "wet with the dew of heaven," to the description of the humiliation of Nebuchadnezzar; and to the account of the supremacy of the God of heaven adds, "and raises to it the humble man." This latter clause seems like a faint echo of the more precise statement of the LXX The Vulgate differs here only as in the former case, omitting the causative. The reference in the LXX to a special person in the house of Nebuchadnezzar, exalted upon his throne, appears to support an idea thrown out by Lenormant. Neri-glissar, the son-in-law of Nebuchadnezzar and the successor of Evil-Merodach, claims to be the son of Bel-zikir-iskun, King of Babylon (Lenormant, "La Divination," 204), but in the list of Ptolemy there is no such name; hence Lenormant imagines that this Belzikir-iskun usurped the throne for a short while, too short to be in the canon of Ptolemy. There is no trace of such a usurpation in the contract tables. Rawlin-son"s hypothesis is difficult to believe. It is that this Belzikiriskun was king in Babylon before the fall of the Assyrian Empire, before Nabepolassar. But from the accession of Nabopolassar to the death of Evil-Merodach is sixty-five or sixty-six years. A man of the age implied was little likely to take part in a revolution or leave behind him an infant son. It is difficult to decide, but it must be admitted that Lenormant"s position is at all events a possible solution of the question.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Verses 19-33 use the third person to describe the punishment of Nebuchadnezzar. (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
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While the words were still on the lips of the king
This idiom means the king was still in the act of speaking. AT: "While the king was still speaking" (See: Idiom)
a voice came from heaven
"he heard a voice from heaven"
King Nebuchadnezzar ... has been taken away from you
This can be stated in active form. AT: "King Nebuchadnezzar, a decree went out against you that this kingdom no longer belongs to you" (See: Active or Passive)
You will be driven away from people
This can be stated in active form. AT: "People will chase you away from them" (See: Active or Passive)
anyone he wishes
"whoever he chooses"
translationWords
king
heaven
Nebuchadnezzar
kingdom
cow
acknowledge
Most High
people group
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.