Page 125 - Daniel

in verse 17 by the messenger himself. Nebuchadnezzar seems to use the
term in its pagan connotation. He probably would not have understood
what was meant by the term angel in this connection, although he used
“angel” himself in 3:28.

The heavenly messenger cried aloud to the unnamed listeners, calling
for the tree to be almost completely destroyed, with only the stump
remaining. But the instructions given for this stump indicate that the

tree will be revived later. The purpose of the stump’s band of iron and
bronze is not clear, unless perhaps it helped preserve the stump by
preventing it from either splitting and rotting, or from being removed. 22
The band may also be symbolic of the insanity that would soon afflict

Nebuchadnezzar and hold him symbolically in chains. The fact that the
stump is to be surrounded by the grass of the field, to be wet with dew,
and to have its portion with the animals describes what Nebuchadnezzar
would experience during his insanity. This becomes clearer in verse 16
where the person is given an animal’s mind instead of a human mind.

4:15b-18 “‘Let him be wet with the dew of heaven. Let his portion be

with the beasts in the grass of the earth. Let his mind be changed from
a man’s, and let a beast’s mind be given to him; and let seven periods
of time pass over him. The sentence is by the decree of the watchers,
the decision by the word of the holy ones, to the end that the living
may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to
whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men.’ This dream I, King
Nebuchadnezzar, saw. And you, O Belteshazzar, tell me the

interpretation, because all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to
make known to me the interpretation, but you are able, for the spirit
of the holy gods is in you.”

The prophecy concludes with the expression, “let seven periods of
time pass over him” (v. 16; cf. v. 32). These are best understood as seven
years, during which time Nebuchadnezzar’s hair would grow “as long as
eagles’ feathers” and his nails become “like birds’ claws” (v. 33). Hair

grows at the rate of one-half inch per month (six inches per year), and
fingernails grow an average of one and a quarter inches per year. Seven
days, weeks, or months provide insufficient time for the unkempt