Daniel 4:33

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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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
hour	שַׁעֲתָ֗א sha.'a.Ta'	H8160	properly · noun, common feminine singular determined + particle of affirmation
thing	מִלְּתָא֮ mi.le.Ta'	H4406	a word · noun, common feminine singular determined + particle of affirmation
fulfilled	סָ֣פַת Sa.fat	H5487	to come to an end · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
upon	עַל 'al-	H5922	above · preposition
Nebuchadnezzar	נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר֒ ne.vu.khad.ne.Tzar	H5020	Nebukadnetstsar (or -retstsar · proper noun, a man's name
driven	טְרִ֔יד te.Rid	H2957	to expel · verb, perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
from	וּמִן u.min-	H4481	properly · conjunction + preposition
men	אֲנָשָׁ֣א 'a.na.Sha'	H606	a man · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
eat	יֵאכֻ֔ל ye.Khul	H399	to eat (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
grass	וְעִשְׂבָּ֤א ve.'is.Ba'	H6211	a moth · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
oxen	כְתוֹרִין֙ khe.to.Rin	H8450	a bull · preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
body	גִּשְׁמֵ֣הּ gish.Meh	H1655	used in a peculiar sense · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
wet	יִצְטַבַּ֑ע yitz.ta.Ba'	H6647	to dip · verb, imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
dew	וּמִטַּ֥ל u.mi.Tal	H2920	dew (as covering vegetation) · conjunction + preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct
heaven	שְׁמַיָּ֖א she.mai.Ya'	H8065	the sky (as aloft · noun, common masculine plural determined + particle of affirmation
till	עַ֣ד 'ad	H5705	as far (or long · preposition
hairs	שַׂעְרֵ֛הּ sa'.Reh	H8177	hair · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
grown	רְבָ֖ה re.Vah	H7236	to increase (in whatever respect) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
eagles’	כְּנִשְׁרִ֥ין ke.nish.Rin	H5403	an eagle · preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
nails	וְטִפְר֥וֹהִי ve.tif.Ro.hi	H2953	a finger-nail · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
birds’	כְצִפְּרִֽין khe.tzi.pe.Rin	H6853	a bird. · preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Daniel 4:25 That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen,…
Daniel 4:32 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 s…
Job 20:5 That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?
Isaiah 30:14 And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters’ vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found…
Daniel 5:5 In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s pala…
Daniel 5:21 And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with…
1 Thessalonians 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 4:28-33

We have here Nebuchadnezzar's dream accomplished, and Daniel's application of it to him justified and confirmed. How he took it we are not told, whether he was pleased with Daniel or displeased; but here we have, I. God's patience with him: All this came upon him, but not till twelve months after (Dan 4:29), so long there was a lengthening of his tranquility, though it does not appear that he broke off his sins, or showed any mercy to the poor captives, for this was still God's quarrel with him, that he opened not the house of his prisoners, Isa 14:17. Daniel having counselled him to repent, God so far confirmed his word that he gave him space to repent; he let him alone this year also, this…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 4:33

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. The "nails," by being left uncut for years, would become like "claws."

Adam Clarke on Daniel 4:32

They shall make thee, etc. - Thou shalt be made to eat grass as oxen. The madness that fell upon him induced him to forsake society, and to run to the woods and deserts, where he lived like a wild beast, his hairs growing long and thick, so as to be a substitute for clothing; and his nails strong and hooked, that he might the better climb trees and grub up the ground, in order to get roots and earth-nuts. It was the mercy of God that thus clothed and accoutred him. His case seems much like that of the maniac in the Gospel, whose dwelling was among the tombs and in the mountains, and who shunned the society of men.

John Gill on Daniel 4:33

The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar,.... Whence it appears that this was a true history, and a matter of fact; and not a parable or allegory, as Origen thought, describing the fall of Lucifer or Satan; but relates what befell Nebuchadnezzar himself: nor was the change real as to soul and body; for then he would not have been the same person, not Nebuchadnezzar, and so not he himself punished, but the beast into which he was changed: and though there was a strange alteration, both in his body and mind; in some parts of his body, and perhaps in his voice, in his senses of feeling, tasting, and smelling, in his palate, and appetite, and stomach; in his rational powers, und…

The Church Fathers

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 of brute beasts.
— Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 4:33

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Hour — First found in Dan. 3:6; 4:19, 33;5:5. It is the rendering of the Chaldee shaah, meaning a “moment,” a “look.” It is used in the New Testament frequently to denote some determinate season (Matt.…
Media — Heb. Madai, which is rendered in the Authorized Version (1) “Madai,” Gen. 10:2; (2) “Medes,” 2 Kings 17:6; 18:11; (3) “Media,” Esther 1:3; 10:2; Isa. 21:2; Dan. 8:20; (4) “Mede,” only in Dan. 11:1.…
Nebuchadnezzar, Or Nebuchadrezzar — (may Nebo protect the crown), was the greatest and most powerful of the Babylonian kings. His name is explained to mean “Nebo is the protector against misfortune.” He was the son and successor of…
Birds · Furnished with claws — Furnished with claws
Converts · Nebuchadnezzar — Nebuchadnezzar
Eagle, The · Strength of its feathers alluded to — Strength of its feathers alluded to
Insanity · Nebuchadnezzars — Nebuchadnezzars
Testimony · RELIGIOUS, EXEMPLIFIED — RELIGIOUS, EXEMPLIFIED

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Daniel 4:33

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 4:28-33

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 4:33

Adam Clarke on Daniel 4:32

John Gill on Daniel 4:33

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Daniel 4:33

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 4:28-33

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 4:33

Adam Clarke on Daniel 4:32

John Gill on Daniel 4:33

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Daniel 4:33

Keil & Delitzsch on Daniel 4:28-33

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Daniel 4:33

Rashi on Daniel 4:33