Daniel 4:1-37
2 Peter 1:1-21
Psalm 119:97-112
Proverbs 28:17-18
Daniel 4:1 – John Walvoord makes an interesting observation:
In the background of this account is the obvious concern of Daniel the prophet for the man whom he had served for so many years. Daniel, a man of prayer, undoubtedly prayed for Nebuchadnezzar and eagerly sought some evidence of God’s working in his heart. While the experience of Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 4 was not what Daniel had anticipated, the outcome must have approximated Daniel’s fondest hope.
Daniel 4:30 – At the Oriental Institute in Chicago, they have a brick from Babylon with the name of Nebuchadnezzar carved into it.
Daniel 4:32 – John Walvoord states that this has been diagnosed as boanthropy
[Dr. Raymond Harrison] actually observed a clinical case of boanthropy in a British mental institution in 1946. The patient was in his early 20’s, who reportedly had been hospitalized for about five years. His symptoms were well-developed on admission, and diagnosis was immediate and conclusive. He was of average height and weight with good physique, and was in excellent bodily health. His mental symptoms included pronounced anti-social tendencies, and because of this he spent the entire day from dawn to dusk outdoors, in the grounds of the institution … His daily routine consisted of wandering around the magnificent lawns with which the otherwise dingy hospital situation was graced, and it was his custom to pluck up and eat handfuls of the grass as he went along. On observation he was seen to discriminate carefully between grass and weeds, and on inquiry from the attendant the writer was told the diet of this patient consisted exclusively of grass from hospital lawns. He never ate institutional food with the other inmates, and his only drink was water… The writer was able to examine him cursorily, and the only physical abnormality noted consisted of a lengthening of the hair and a coarse, thickened condition of the finger-nails. Without institutional care, the patient would have manifested precisely the same physical conditions as those mentioned in Daniel 4:33… From the foregoing it seems evident that the author of the fourth chapter of Daniel was describing accurately an attestable, if rather rare, mental affliction
Daniel 4:33 – Could this really have happened? AgainstDoubt goes into detail, as does EnduringWord:
Some dismiss this account of Nebuchadnezzar’s madness as unhistorical, but there is no historical record of his governmental activity between 582 B.C. and 575 B.C. This silence is deafening, especially when we keep in mind how Near Eastern leaders liked to egotistically trumpet their achievements – and hide their embarrassments.
Daniel 4:34 – Nebuchadnezzar realized Man is nothing (Daniel 4:35), but God is everything!
2 Peter 1:3 – We have “all things that pertain unto life and godliness” – we have no excuse!
2 Peter 1:21 – Peter lays out the case of inspiration of Scripture. Daniel 4 isn’t a collection of fables as Wikipedia tells us is the scholarly consensus. Scripture came as the Holy Ghost moved in holy men of God.
Psalm 119:97 – What is our response to the inspired Word of Scripture? Love it!
Proverbs 28:18 – Solomon is picking up on his father’s theme in Psalm 2
Share how reading thru the Bible has been a blessing to you! E-mail us at 2018bible@vcyamerica.org or call and leave a message at 414-885-5370.
