Daniel 5:18-20

5:18 As for you, O king, the most high God bestowed on your father Nebuchadnezzar a kingdom, greatness, honor, and majesty. ¹  5:19 Due to the greatness that he bestowed on him, all peoples, nations, and language groups were trembling with fear ²  before him. He killed whom he wished, he spared ³  whom he wished, he exalted whom he wished, and he brought low whom he wished. 5:20 And when his mind ⁴  became arrogant ⁵  and his spirit filled with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and his honor was removed from him.

[5:18]  ¹ tn Or “royal greatness and majestic honor,” if the four terms are understood as a double hendiadys.

[5:19]  ² tn Aram “were trembling and fearing.” This can be treated as a hendiadys, “were trembling with fear.”

[5:19]  ³ tn Aram “let live.” This Aramaic form is the aphel participle of חַיָה(khayah, “to live”). Theodotion and the Vulgate mistakenly take the form to be from מְחָא (mÿkha’, “to smite”).

[5:20]  ⁴ tn Aram “heart.”

[5:20]  ⁵ sn The point of describing Nebuchadnezzar as arrogant is that he had usurped divine prerogatives, and because of his immense arrogance God had dealt decisively with him.