Daniel 4:15

4:15 But leave its taproot ¹  in the ground,

with a band of iron and bronze around it ² 

surrounded by the grass of the field.

Let it become damp with the dew of the sky,

and let it live with ³  the animals in the grass of the land.

Daniel 4:25

4:25 You will be driven ⁴  from human society, ⁵  and you will live ⁶  with the wild animals. You will be fed ⁷  grass like oxen, ⁸  and you will become damp with the dew of the sky. Seven periods of time will pass by for you, before ⁹  you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.

[4:15]  ¹ tn Aram “the stock of its root.” So also v. 23. The implication here is that although the tree is chopped down, it is not killed. Its life-giving root is spared. The application to Nebuchadnezzar is obvious.

[4:15]  ² sn The function of the band of iron and bronze is not entirely clear, but it may have had to do with preventing the splitting or further deterioration of the portion of the tree that was left after being chopped down. By application it would then refer to the preservation of Nebuchadnezzar’s life during the time of his insanity.

[4:15]  ³ tn Aram “its lot be.”

[4:25]  ⁴ tn The Aramaic indefinite active plural is used here like the English passive. So also in v. 28, 29,32.

[4:25]  ⁵ tn Aram “from mankind.” So also in v. 32.

[4:25]  ⁶ tn Aram “your dwelling will be.” So also in v. 32.

[4:25]  ⁷ tn Or perhaps “be made to eat.”

[4:25]  ⁸ sn Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity has features that are associated with the mental disorder known as boanthropy, in which the person so afflicted imagines himself to be an ox or a similar animal and behaves accordingly.

[4:25]  ⁹ tn Aram “until.”