Nebuchadnezzar

Beginning with the Bible’s account of creation, Adam made out of dirt, a just-over-6,000-year-old Earth, and the Tower of Babel, to David and Goliath, Jonah and the whale, fiery flying serpents, the cockatrice, to the great prophecies of the restoration of the nation of Israel, to the virgin-born Christ, casting out devils, and a soon-coming Armageddon, the records found in the beautiful Word of God have been proven righteous and true altogether. The miniature list above contains just a handful of the magnificent marvels on this website, which at the time of this launch features 278 subjects. This number grows by one, God willing, every Thursday eve. Thank you for coming. May the face of the LORD shine upon you and your house. NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID, Daniel 4:1-37:

1 Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.

2 I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me.

3 How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.

4 I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace:

5 I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.

6 Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream.

7 Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof.

8 But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the dream, saying,

9 O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.

10 Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great.

11 The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth:

12 The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it.

13 I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven;

14 He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches:

15 Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth:

16 Let his heart be changed from man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given unto him: and let seven times pass over him.

17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

18 This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation: but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee.

19 Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies.

20 The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth;

21 Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation:

22 It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.

23 And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him;

24 This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king:

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, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

26 And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule.

27 Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.

28 All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.

29 At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.

30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?

31 While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.

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 seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

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.

34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:

35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

36 At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me.

37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.

MAN SAID: These simpleminded Christians believe the far-fetched fairy-tales in their Bible. They are so uneducated and so easily led!

Now THE RECORD. We that are born-again did not attain this glorious eternal status as sons and daughters of God through canaldom’s standards of academia, nor are we subject to it. This marvelous new birth is described as being born of the Spirit. It must be noted that all physical, visible things are a product of God’s spoken Word. God is a spirit and both He and His Words are invisible. It is true that Christians believe in what appears to be impossible, but after closer scrutiny physically and spiritually, the impossible converts to probable, and finally the absolute truth.

We are not saved because simple math testifies, but because He who created simple math testifies. Romans 8:16:

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

A Christian’s understanding of God is spiritually discerned and is never attained through carnal scholarship, but rather through childlike faith and surrender. A follower of Christ views the Scriptures as the inerrant Word of God and views all statements and positions that contradict God’s Word as false. On the other hand, the world’s scholars, theologians, and commentators are busy contradicting and correcting the Word of God and embracing nearly any pseudo-scholarship that challenges. The stark contrast of the two positions is truly 180 degrees in nature, even as light is from darkness. The examination of Nebuchadnezzar and his madness drives home this reality.

Daniel 4:33 reads, "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." Could the Bible’s account of the bizarre madness that possessed Nebuchadnezzar actually be true? Does extra-Biblical information exist to corroborate the veracity of the Word of God? As you should suspect, the answer is "Yes."

The Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, is referred to in ten Old Testament books of the Bible and the book of Daniel is directly quoted by Jesus Christ. Nebuchadnezzar’s existence is questioned by virtually no one.

The animalization of Nebuchadnezzar is recorded in secular history and it has been shown to have happened to others. The scientific term Lycanthropy describes a psychological—or as a Christian would suspect, spiritual—malady. M. Henze, in his book, The Madness of King Nebuchadnezzar, quotes E. B. Pusey from his 1885 book published by Funk & Wagnalls. It reads:

It is now conceded that the madness of Nebuchadnezzar agrees with the description of a rare sort of disease, called Lycanthropy, from one form of it, of which our earliest notice is in a Greek medical writer of the 4th century after our Lord, in which the sufferer retains his consciousness in other respects, but imagines himself to be changed into some animal, and acts, up to a certain point, in conformity with that persuasion. Those who imagined themselves changed into wolves howled like wolves, and, (there is reason to believe, falsely,) accused themselves of bloodshed. Others imitated the cries of dogs; it is said that others thought themselves nightingales, lions, cats, or cocks, and these crowed like a cock.

In his influential commentary from 1927, Montgomery followed Pusey’s medical explanation.

The amazing malady which possessed Nebuchadnezzar, known scientifically as Lycanthropy, is presented in a simple and natural way. [...] The disease is well known in the sad annals of the human mind and attested by scientific examination. With it is associated the primitive werewolf superstition, which may have its rationalistic support in the actual frenzies of the human kind. [...] Even if the essence of the story were true, that Nebuchadnezzar was so afflicted, after the manner of ’geniuses’ and of many royal persons, as George III of England and Otho of Bavaria, corroboration of it can hardly ever be expected from archaeology, for royal families do not leave memorials of such frailties. The alleged malady is not an impossibility. [End of quote]

Agathangelos, a historian during the fifth century, once wrote the book History of the Armenians, which is characterized as Christian hagiography—or in this case, the account of the Christianization of Armenia. The following excerpts are again from The Madness of King Nebuchadnezzar:

Twice in his History, Agathangelos refers to Nebuchadnezzar’s metamorphosis in Dan 4. The first reference occurs is an account about the punishment of King Trdat, following the martyrdom of Gregory and a group of nuns.

The king spent six days in profound grief and deep mourning because of his passionate love for the beautiful Rhipsime. Then afterwards he arranged to go hunting; he had his soldiers gather the pack of hounds, the beaters scattered, the nets fixed and the traps set; then he went out to hunt in the plain of Parakan Shemak.

But when the king, having mounted his chariot, was about to leave the city, then suddenly there fell on him punishment from the Lord. An impure demon struck the king and knocked him down from his chariot. And in the likeness of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, he lost his human nature for the likeness of wild pigs and went about like them and dwelt among them. Then entering a reedy place, in senseless abandon he pastured on grass, and wallowed naked in the plain.

And again, Henze reports:

Later in the History, Agathangelos returns to the comparison to lay out in greater detail the similarities in appearance between the two monarchs.

For his whole body had become hairy, and on his limbs bristles had grown like those of great boars. And the nails of his hands and feet had hardened like the claws of beasts that dig the earth or eat roots. Similarly the appearance of his face had turned into the likeness of the hard snout of an animal living among reeds. Because of the beast-like nature of his way of life he had fallen from the honor of his throne, and he roamed about in the likeness of pasturing beasts among the animals in the reeds, lost to the society of men.

Although long believed dead by his followers, Gregory miraculously reappears on the scene unharmed. He delivers a lengthy exhortation to believers and unbelievers alike, is present at the funeral of the martyred nuns, and finally turns his attention to animalized Trdat. In the presence of the congregation, the "blessed Gregory with fervent prayers and supplications tearfully implored healing for the king." The monarch, overwhelmed by the moment, is instantly cured, regains his human appearance and, together with Gregory, embarks on a missionary journey through the kingdom in order to convert the nation to Christianity, following the example of the royal family. [End of quote]

I must note that the author cited above is not a Biblicalist. His writings do not approach life and history through the inerrant eyes of the Scriptures. I am simply garnering raw data from his research.

According to Agathangelos, King Trdat was possessed by an evil spirit that brought about his animalization. In the Scriptures, we see cross-associations with some similarity. In the Garden of Eden, Satan took on the likeness of the serpent to beguile our great-grandmother Eve. In the Word of God, Satan is likened to a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Revelation 12:7-9:

7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

I am familiar with and have witnessed evil spirits inducing animal characteristics in individuals possessed by devils.

The following paragraphs are again taken from The Madness of King Nebuchadnezzar:

While the name of Nabonidus (556-539 BC) is nowhere attested in the Hebrew Bible, we are nevertheless well equipped with written documents about this intriguing figure. The series of discoveries relating to the last monarch of the Neo-Babylonian Empire began in the middle of the nineteenth century with the excavations at Ur. In 1854, a number of inscribed cylinders were found at the hitherto unidentified Tell al-Muqayyar. The cylinders were soon deciphered and provided some astonishing information. First, it was recognized that the site was none other than the famous "Ur of the Chaldeans," known from the book of Genesis (Gen 11:28.31; 15:7). And second, one of the inscriptions refers to Nabonidus as king of Babylon and gives a certain Bel-sarra-usur as the king’s son. The latter was quickly identified as Belshazzar, the protagonist in Dan 5 and alleged son of Nebuchadnezzar. [End of quote]

The Prayer of Nabonidus was discovered in "Cave 4" during excavations of the ruins of Qumran. In the caves of Qumran, the famous Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. The fragmented non-Biblical text of the Prayer of Nabonidus (reprinted by Henze) follows:

1. The words of the p[ra]yer which Nabonidus, king of [Baby]lon, [the great] king, prayed [when he was smitten]

2. with a bad disease by the decree of G[o]d in Teima. [I, Nabonidus, with a bad disease]

3. was smitten for seven years and sin[ce] G[od] set [his face on me, he healed me]

4. and as for my sin, he remitted it. A diviner (he was a Jew fr[om among the exiles) came to me and said:]

5. ‘Pro[cla]im and write to give honour and exal[tatio]n to the name of G[od Most High’, and I wrote as follows:]

6. ‘I was smitten by a b[ad] disease in Teima [by the decree of the Most High God.]

7. For seven years [I] was praying [to] the gods of silver and gold, [bronze, iron,]

8. wood, stone, clay, since [I thoug]ht that th[ey were] gods

9. ] their [

(frgs. 1, 2a, 2b, 3)

1. ] apart from them. I was made strong again

2. ] from it he caused to pass. The peace of [my] repo[se returned to me]

3. ] my friends. I was not able [

4. ] how you are like [

5. ] [

(frg. 4) [End of quote]

According to F. M. Cross, author of The Ancient Library of Qumran, line three reads, "...for seven years, and from that time I was like unto a beast and I prayed to the Most High..." [End of quote]

There is some confusion regarding Nabonidus, who lived and reigned very close to the time of Nebuchadnezzar. The Prayer of Nabonidus describes the same calamity that fell upon Nebuchadnezzar in many details even to a Jewish minister who instructs him to humble himself and glorify the God of Israel. Either Nabonidus suffered the very unlikely and identical judgment of God as Nebuchadnezzar, or the historians have their monarchs switched.

Josephus, the Jewish historian, also reports on the animalization of Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 10 of The Antiquities of the Jews:

A little after this the king saw in his sleep again another vision; how he should fall from his dominion, and feed among the wild beasts; and that, when he had lived in this manner in the desert for seven years, he should recover his dominion again. When he had seen this dream, he called the magicians together again, and inquired of them about it, and desired them to tell him what it signified; but when none of them could find out the meaning of the dream, nor discover it to the king, Daniel was the only person that explained it; and as he foretold, so it came to pass; for after he had continued in the wilderness the forementioned interval of time, while no one durst attempt to seize his kingdom during those seven years, he prayed to God that he might recover his kingdom, and he returned to it. But let no one blame me for writing down every thing of this nature, as I find it in our ancient books; for as to that matter, I have plainly assured those that think me defective in any such point, or complain of my management, and have told them, in the beginning of this history, that I intended to do no more than translate the Hebrew books into the Greek language, and promised them to explain those facts, without adding anything to them of my own, or taking anything away from them. [End of quote]

God’s Word is truth. God’s Word produces everlasting life. Let God’s Word be a lamp unto your feet.

GOD SAID, Daniel 4:30-37:

30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?

31 While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.

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 seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

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.

34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:

35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

36 At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me.

37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.

MAN SAID: These simpleminded Christians believe the far-fetched fairy-tales in their Bible. They are so uneducated and so easily led!

Now you have THE RECORD.




References:

Authorized King James Version

Collins, "Prayer of Nabonidus," J.C. VanderKam, ed., Qumran Cave 4, XVII: Parabiblical Texts, Part 3 (DFD 22; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996) 83-94, 89 and 92.

Cross, "Fragments," who reacts to the edito princes of the fragments prepared by Milik, "‘Priere de Naonide’;" again, see the astute comments on Cross’ article by Collins, "Prayer of Nabonidus," 89-90.

Henze, M., The Madness of King Nebuchadnezzar, Brill, 1999

Josephus, F., Josephus, Complete Works, Kregel Publications, 1960, p224

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