Page 130 - Daniel

rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” Immediately
the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from
among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the
dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers, and his
nails were like birds’ claws.

Although fulfillment of the dream was not immediate, it was

inevitable given Nebuchadnezzar’s pride. He was admiring the great city
he had built, and his pride reached a new peak at what he had
accomplished. There are frequent mentions of the great buildings of
25
Babylon in ancient literature. In an inscription recounting an
expedition to Syria, Nebuchadnezzar wrote, “I have made … the city of
Babylon to the foremost of all the countries and every human habitation;

its name I have [made/elevated] to the (most worthy of) praise among
the sacred cities….” 26
Montgomery says the description of Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar

precisely fits the historical context:

The setting of the scene and the king’s self-complaisance in his

glorious Babylon are strikingly true to history. Every student of
Babylonia recalls these proud words in reading Neb.’s own records of
his creation of the new Babylon; for instance (Grotefend Cylinder, KB
iii, 2, p. 39): ‘Then built I the palace the seat of my royalty (e, kallu
mu, sŒ–, b sŒarru, ti, a), the bond of the race of men, the dwelling of

joy and rejoicing’; and (East India House Inscr., vii, 34, KB ib., p. 25):
‘In Babylon, my dear city, which I love was the palace, the house of
wonder of the people, the bond of the land, the brilliant place, the
abode of majesty in Babylon.’ The very language of the story is
reminiscent of the Akkadian. The glory of Babylon, ‘that great city’
(Rev. 18), remained long to conjure the imagination of raconteurs. For
the city’s grandeur as revealed to the eye of the archaeologist we may

refer to R. Koldewey, Das wieder erstehende Babylon, 1913 (Eng. tr.
Excavations at Babylon, 1915), with its revelation of Neb.’s palace, the
temples, etc. 27