Difference between revisions of "Dan 4:1-37"
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| − | + | [[The Old Testament]] > [[Daniel]] > [[Daniel 4 | Chapter4]] <br> | |
| − | + | [[Daniel 3 | Previous page: Chapter 3]] [[Daniel 5 | Next page: Chapter 5]] | |
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| + | == Outline and brief summary == | ||
| + | |||
| + | The relationship chapter 4 to the rest of the book, and to chapter 5 in particular, is discussed at [[Daniel]]. Chapter 4 can be outlined as follows: | ||
| + | |||
| + | ::D. King Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity (Daniel 4) | ||
| + | ::a. introduction praising God’s power (1-3) | ||
| + | :::b. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and resulting dread (4-5) | ||
| + | ::::c. request that magicians interpret, but they cannot (6-7) | ||
| + | ::::c. request that Daniel interpret with spirit of God (8-9) | ||
| + | :::::d. Nebuchadnezzar recounts the dream (10-17) | ||
| + | ::::c. request that Daniel interpret with spirit of God (18) | ||
| + | :::b. Daniel’s dismay at the interpretation of the dream (19) | ||
| + | ::::c - d. Daniel recounts and interprets the dream (20-26) | ||
| + | ::::::e. exhorts to repent and avoid the dream’s sentence (27) | ||
| + | ::::::e. the king’s pride triggers the dream’s sentence (28-30) | ||
| + | :::::d. the sentence is imposed that he live as a beast (31-33) | ||
| + | ::a. conclusion praising both God’s power and his justice (34-37) | ||
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| + | This outline of Daniel 4 is not pretty and could be improved, but it does track the train of thought. In this episode Nebuchadnezzar is sentenced, because of his pride, to spend seven “times” as a beast eating the grass of the field. He is then restored to his reason and to his kingdom when “I lifted up mine eyes unto heaven,” having learned that God “ruleth in the kingdom of men.” | ||
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| + | The trigger for imposing this sentence is Nebuchadnezzar’s pride in his own greatness (4:30-31, 37L). Pride interferes (a) with faith by obscuring the need to rely on God, (b) with hope by hiding the need to repent, and (c) with charity by causing one to devalue others. The purpose of the sentence imposed upon Nebuchadnezzar is (a) to teach him enough faith to recognize that God rules in the affairs of men (4:25, 31). Daniel’s exhortation on how to avoid the dream’s sentence is to “[b] break off thy sins by righteousness, and [c] thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor” (4:27). Daniel, in contrast to Nebuchadnezzar, humbly praised God as the source of his wisdom and might at the center of chapter 2 (2:19-23). | ||
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| + | The Lord teaches that kings are often the basest of men (4:25). Nebuchadnezzar “dwells with the beasts of the field” until “his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws” (4:32-33). This ties Daniel 4 to the den of lions in chapter 6 and to the vision of four beasts in chapter 7. Daniel 4 is also tied to chapter 2 when Daniel interprets the king’s dream after the king’s magicians cannot (2:4-7, 19-23, 27; 4:6-9; also 5:8, 11). Also compare 4:5 to 7:1, 15 and 4:1 to 6:25. The two stories in chapters 4-5 are placed at the center of Daniel, and many of the other stories share literary ties to the central story and lesson of Daniel 4. | ||
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| + | == Detailed discussion == | ||
| + | * ''Click the edit link above and to the right to add detailed discussion'' | ||
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| + | == Questions for further thought and study == | ||
| + | * ''Click the edit link above and to the right to add questions'' | ||
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| + | == Footnotes == | ||
| + | {| | ||
| + | reflist | ||
| + | |} | ||
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| + | == Additional sources and links == | ||
| + | * ''Click the edit link above and to the right to add additional sources and links'' | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | ---- | ||
| + | |||
| + | [[Daniel 3 | Previous page: Chapter 3]] [[Daniel 5 | Next page: Chapter 5]] | ||
Revision as of 11:29, 30 May 2012
The Old Testament > Daniel > Chapter4
Previous page: Chapter 3 Next page: Chapter 5
Contents
Outline and brief summary
The relationship chapter 4 to the rest of the book, and to chapter 5 in particular, is discussed at Daniel. Chapter 4 can be outlined as follows:
- D. King Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity (Daniel 4)
- a. introduction praising God’s power (1-3)
- b. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and resulting dread (4-5)
- c. request that magicians interpret, but they cannot (6-7)
- c. request that Daniel interpret with spirit of God (8-9)
- d. Nebuchadnezzar recounts the dream (10-17)
- c. request that Daniel interpret with spirit of God (18)
- b. Daniel’s dismay at the interpretation of the dream (19)
- c - d. Daniel recounts and interprets the dream (20-26)
- e. exhorts to repent and avoid the dream’s sentence (27)
- e. the king’s pride triggers the dream’s sentence (28-30)
- d. the sentence is imposed that he live as a beast (31-33)
- c - d. Daniel recounts and interprets the dream (20-26)
- b. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and resulting dread (4-5)
- a. conclusion praising both God’s power and his justice (34-37)
This outline of Daniel 4 is not pretty and could be improved, but it does track the train of thought. In this episode Nebuchadnezzar is sentenced, because of his pride, to spend seven “times” as a beast eating the grass of the field. He is then restored to his reason and to his kingdom when “I lifted up mine eyes unto heaven,” having learned that God “ruleth in the kingdom of men.”
The trigger for imposing this sentence is Nebuchadnezzar’s pride in his own greatness (4:30-31, 37L). Pride interferes (a) with faith by obscuring the need to rely on God, (b) with hope by hiding the need to repent, and (c) with charity by causing one to devalue others. The purpose of the sentence imposed upon Nebuchadnezzar is (a) to teach him enough faith to recognize that God rules in the affairs of men (4:25, 31). Daniel’s exhortation on how to avoid the dream’s sentence is to “[b] break off thy sins by righteousness, and [c] thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor” (4:27). Daniel, in contrast to Nebuchadnezzar, humbly praised God as the source of his wisdom and might at the center of chapter 2 (2:19-23).
The Lord teaches that kings are often the basest of men (4:25). Nebuchadnezzar “dwells with the beasts of the field” until “his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws” (4:32-33). This ties Daniel 4 to the den of lions in chapter 6 and to the vision of four beasts in chapter 7. Daniel 4 is also tied to chapter 2 when Daniel interprets the king’s dream after the king’s magicians cannot (2:4-7, 19-23, 27; 4:6-9; also 5:8, 11). Also compare 4:5 to 7:1, 15 and 4:1 to 6:25. The two stories in chapters 4-5 are placed at the center of Daniel, and many of the other stories share literary ties to the central story and lesson of Daniel 4.
Detailed discussion
- Click the edit link above and to the right to add detailed discussion
Questions for further thought and study
- Click the edit link above and to the right to add questions
Footnotes
Additional sources and links
- Click the edit link above and to the right to add additional sources and links
