Daniel 4:21-22

4:21 whose foliage was attractive and its fruit plentiful, and from which there was food available for all, under whose branches wild animals ¹  used to live, and in whose branches birds of the sky used to nest – 4:22 it is you, ²  O king! For you have become great and strong. Your greatness is such that it reaches to heaven, and your authority to the ends of the earth.

Mazmur 50:10-11

50:10 For every wild animal in the forest belongs to me,

as well as the cattle that graze on a thousand hills. ³ 

50:11 I keep track of ⁴  every bird in the hills,

and the insects ⁵  of the field are mine.

Yeremia 27:5-7

27:5 “I made the earth and the people and animals on it by my mighty power and great strength, ⁶  and I give it to whomever I see fit. ⁷  27:6 I have at this time placed all these nations of yours under the power ⁸  of my servant, ⁹  King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I have even made all the wild animals subject to him. ¹⁰  27:7 All nations must serve him and his son and grandson ¹¹  until the time comes for his own nation to fall. ¹²  Then many nations and great kings will in turn subjugate Babylon. ¹³ 

[4:21]  ¹ tn Aram “the beasts of the field” (also in vv. 23, 25, 32).

[4:22]  ² sn Much of modern scholarship views this chapter as a distortion of traditions that were originally associated with Nabonidus rather than with Nebuchadnezzar. A Qumran text, the Prayer of Nabonidus, is often cited for parallels to these events.

[50:10]  ³ tn Heb “[the] animals on a thousand hills.” The words “that graze” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The term בְּהֵמוֹה (bÿhemot, “animal”) refers here to cattle (see Ps 104:14).

[50:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “I know.”

[50:11]  ⁵ tn The precise referent of the Hebrew word, which occurs only here and in Ps 80:13, is uncertain. Aramaic, Arabic and Akkadian cognates refer to insects, such as locusts or crickets.

[27:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “by my great power and my outstretched arm.” Again “arm” is symbolical for “strength.” Compare the similar expression in 21:5.

[27:5]  ⁷ sn See Dan 4:17 for a similar statement.

[27:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “have given…into the hand of.”

[27:6]  ⁹ sn See the study note on 25:9 for the significance of the application of this term to Nebuchadnezzar.

[27:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I have given…to him to serve him.” The verb “give” in this syntactical situation is functioning like the Hiphil stem, i.e., as a causative. See Dan 1:9 for parallel usage. For the usage of “serve” meaning “be subject to” compare 2 Sam 22:44 and BDB 713 s.v. עָבַד 3.

[27:6]  sn This statement is rhetorical, emphasizing the totality of Nebuchadnezzar’s dominion. Neither here nor in Dan 2:38 is it to be understood literally.

[27:7]  ¹¹ sn This is a figure that emphasizes that they will serve for a long time but not for an unlimited duration. The kingdom of Babylon lasted a relatively short time by ancient standards. It lasted from 605 b.c. when Nebuchadnezzar defeated Necho at Carchemish until the fall of Babylon in 538 b.c. There were only four rulers. Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded by his son, Evil Merodach (cf. 52:31), and two other rulers who were not descended from him.

[27:7]  ¹² tn Heb “until the time of his land, even his, comes.” The independent pronoun is placed here for emphasis on the possessive pronoun. The word “time” is used by substitution for the things that are done in it (compare in the NT John 2:4; 7:30; 8:20 “his hour had not yet come”).

[27:7]  sn See Jer 25:12-14, 16.

[27:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “him.” This is a good example of the figure of substitution where the person is put for his descendants or the nation or subject he rules. (See Gen 28:13-14 for another good example and Acts 22:7 in the NT.)