King of Babylon. We have much said in Scripture concerning this monarch, in the book of Daniel. His name is formed from several words not of Hebrew, but of the Chaldean. The idol name of Nebo forms apart in it, for the Babylonians were much disposed to this. Various have been the opinions of men concerning the wonderful change wrought upon Nebuchadnezzar, as related Dan. 4: 28.33; but, after all that hath been said on this subject, the matter stands just where the Scriptures have left it. And those who do not desire to be wise above what is written, will do well to accept of this and all the other parts of sacred Scripture in the Lord’s own way, referring all into his sovereign decree, who worketh all things according to the purpose of his own will. My counsel (saith he) shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. (Isa. xlvi. 10.) Let the reader read the close of the forty - fourth chapter of Isaiah, and form his conclusions accordingly.
Nebuchadnez´zar (Kings, Chronicles, and Daniel; Jeremiah 27; Jeremiah 28; Jer 34:1; Jer 39:1; Eze 26:7; and Ezr 5:12; written also Nebuchadrezzar, generally in Jeremiah, and in Eze 29:18) was the name of the Chaldean monarch of Babylon by whom Judah was conquered, and the Jews led into their seventy years’ captivity. The name of this monarch has been commonly explained to signify the treasure of Nebo, but according to some it signifies Nebo the prince of gods.
The only notices which we have of this monarch in the canonical writings are found in the books of Kings, Chronicles, Daniel, and Ezra, and in the allusions of the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
From 2Ki 23:29, and 2Ch 35:20, we gather that in the reign of Josiah (B.C. 610), Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, having approached by sea the coast of Syria, made a friendly application to King Josiah to be allowed a passage through his territories to the dominions of the Assyrian monarch, with whom he was then at war (2Ch 35:20-21). The design of Pharaoh-Necho was to seize upon Carchemish (Circesium or Cercusium), a strong post on the Euphrates; but Josiah, who was tributary to the Babylonian monarch, opposed his progress at Megiddo, where he was defeated and mortally wounded [JOSIAH]. Necho marched upon Jerusalem when the Jews became tributary to the king of Egypt. Upon this, Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon (2Ki 24:1; 2Ch 36:6, where this monarch’s name is for the first time introduced), invaded Judah, retook Carchemish, with the territory which had been wrested from him by Necho, seized upon Jehoiakim, the vassal of Pharaoh-Necho, and reduced him to submission (B.C. 607). Jehoiachim was at first loaded with chains, in order to be led captive to Babylon, but was eventually restored by Nebuchadnezzar to his throne, on condition of paying an annual tribute. Nebuchadnezzar carried off part of the ornaments of the Temple, together with several hostages of distinguished rank, among whom were the youths Daniel and his three friends Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael (Daniel 1). These were educated at court in the language and sciences of the Chaldeans, where they subsequently filled offices of distinction. The sacred vessels were transferred by Nebuchadnezzar to his temple at Babylon (Isaiah 39; 2Ch 36:6-7) [BABYLON].
After the conquest of Judea, Nebuchadnezzar turned his attention towards the Egyptians, whom he drove out of Syria, taking possession of all the land between the Euphrates and the river (2Ki 24:7): which some suppose to mean the Nile, but others a small river in the desert, which was reckoned the boundary between Palestine and Egypt.
The fate of Jerusalem was now rapidly approaching its consummation. After three years of fidelity, Jehoiachim renounced his allegiance to Babylon, and renewed his alliance with Necho, when Nebuchadnezzar sent incursions of Ammonites, Moabites, and Syrians, together with Chaldeans, to harass him. At length, in the eleventh year of his reign, he was made prisoner, and slain (Jeremiah 22) [JEHOIAKIM]. He was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin, who, after three months’ reign, surrendered himself with his family to Nebuchadnezzar, who had come in person to besiege Jerusalem, in the eighth year of his reign (2Ki 24:10-12) [JEHOIACHIN]. Upon this occasion all the most distinguished inhabitants, including the artificers, were led captive [CAPTIVITIES]. Among the captives, who amounted to no less than 50,000, were Ezekiel (Eze 1:1) and Mordecai [ESTHER]. The golden vessels of Solomon were now removed, with the royal treasures, and Mattaniah, the brother of Jehoiachin, placed on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar, who gave him the name of Zedekiah, and bound him by an oath not to enter into an alliance with Egypt. Zedekiah, however, in the ninth year of his reign, formed an alliance with Pharaoh-Hophra, the successor of Necho. Hophra, coming to the assistance of Zedekiah, was driven back into Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, who finally captured Jerusalem in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign (B.C. 588) [ZEDEKIAH]. The Temple, and the whole city, with its towers and walls, were all razed to the ground by Nebuzaradan, Nebuchadnezzar’s lieutenant, and the principal remaining inhabitants put to death by Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah. Jeremiah was, however, spared; and Gedaliah appointed governor. He was shortly after murdered by Ishmael, a member of the royal family, who was himself soon obliged to take refuge among the Ammonites. Many of the remaining Jews fled into Egypt, accompanied by Jeremiah; those who remained were soon after expatriated by Nebuchadnezzar, who depopulated the whole country.
He next undertook the siege of Tyre, and after its destruction proceeded to Egypt, now distracted by internal commotions, and devastated or made himself master of the whole country from Migdol to Syene (according to the reading of the Seventy, Eze 29:10; Eze 30:6), transferring many of the inhabitants to the territory beyond the Euphrates.
We have referred to the captivity of the prophet Daniel, and have to turn to the book which bears his name for the history of this prophet, who, from an exile, was destined to become the great protector of his nation. In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, who was found superior in wisdom to the Chaldean magi, was enabled not only to interpret, but to reveal a dream of Nebuchadnezzar’s, the very subject of which that monarch had forgotten [DREAMS]. This was the dream of the statue consisting of four different metals, which Daniel interpreted of four successive monarchies, the last of which was to be the reign of the Messiah. Daniel was elevated to be first minister of state, and his three friends were made governors of provinces. The history of these events (Dan 2:4; Dan 2:8-9) is written in the Chaldee language, together with the narrative which immediately follows (Daniel 3), of the golden statue erected by Nebuchadnezzar in the plan of Dura, for refusing to worship which, Daniel’s three friends were thrown into a furnace, but miraculously preserved. Daniel 4, also written in Chaldee, contains the singular history of the judgment inflicted on Nebuchadnezzar as a punishment for his pride, and which is narrated in the form of a royal proclamation from the monarch himself giving an account to his people of his affliction and recovery. This affliction had been, by the monarch’s account, predicted by Daniel a year before, in the interpretation of his fearful dream of the tree in the midst of the earth. While walking in his palace, and admiring his magnificent works, he uttered, in the plenitude of his pride, the remarkable words recorded in Dan 4:30, ’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?’ He had scarce uttered the words, when a voice from heaven proclaimed to him that his kingdom was departed from him; that he should be for seven times (generally supposed to mean years, although some reduce the period to fourteen months) driven from the habitations of men to dwell among the beasts of the field, and made to eat grass as an ox, until he learned ’that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.’ The sentence was immediately fulfilled, and Nebuchadnezzar continued in this melancholy state during the predicted period, at the end of which he was restored to the use of his understanding (Dan 4:36). We have no account in Scripture of any of the actions of this monarch’s life after the period of his recovery, but the first year of the reign of his successor Evil-merodach is represented as having taken place in the thirty-seventh year of Jehoiachin, answering to B.C. 562 (2Ki 25:27).
The difficulties attending the nature of the disease and recovery of Nebuchadnezzar have not escaped the notice of commentators in ancient as well as modern times. Origen supposed that the account of Nebuchadnezzar’s metamorphosis was merely a representation of the fall of Lucifer. Bodin maintains that Nebuchadnezzar underwent an actual metamorphosis of soul and body, a similar instance of which is given by Cluvier on the testimony of an eye witness. Tertullian confines the transformation to the body only, but without loss of reason, of which kind of metamorphosis St. Augustine reports some instances said to have taken place in Italy, to which he himself attaches little credit; but Gaspard Peucer asserts that the transformation of men into wolves was very common in Livonia. Some Jewish Rabbins have asserted that the soul of Nebuchadnezzar, by a real transmigration, changed places with that of an ox; while others have supposed not a real, but an apparent or docetic change, of which there is a case recorded in the life of St. Macarius, the parents of a young woman having been persuaded that their daughter had been transformed into a mare. The most generally received opinion, however, is, that Nebuchadnezzar labored under that species of hypochondriacal monomania which leads the patient to fancy himself changed into an animal or other substance, the habits of which he adopts. To this disease of the imagination physicians have given the name of Lycanthropy, Zoanthropy, or Insania Canina [DISEASES OF THE JEWS].
Called in Jeremiah Nebuchadnezzar, the son and successor of Nabopolassar, succeeded to the kingdom of Chaldea about 600 B. C. He had been some time before associated in the kingdom, and sent to recover Carchemish, which had been wrested from the empire by Necho king of Egypt. Having been successful, he marched against the governor of Phoenicia, and Jehoiakim king of Judah, tributary of Necho king of Egypt. He took Jehoiakim, and put him in chains to carry him captive to Babylon; but afterwards he left him in Judea, on condition of his paying a large annual tribute. He took away several persons from Jerusalem; among others, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, all of the royal family, whom the king of Babylon caused to be carefully educated in the language and learning of the Chaldeans, that they might be employed at court, 2Ki 24:1 2Ch 36:6 Dan 1:1 .\par Nabopolassar dying, Nebuchadnezzar, who was then either in Egypt or in Judea, hastened to Babylon, leaving to his generals the care of bringing to Chaldea the captives taken in Syria, Judea, Phoenicia, and Egypt; for according to Berosus, he had subdued all these countries. He distributed these captives into several colonies, and in the temple of Belus he deposited the sacred vessels of the temple of Jerusalem, and other rich spoils. Jehoiakim king of Judah continued three years in fealty to Nebuchadnezzar, and then revolted; but after three or four years, he was besieged and taken in Jerusalem, put to death, and his body thrown to the birds of the air according to the predictions of Jeremiah, Jer 22:1-30 .\par His successor, Jehoiachin, or Jeconiah, king of Judah, having revolted against Nebuchadnezzar, was besieged in Jerusalem, forced to surrender, and taken, with his chief officers, captive to Babylon; also his mother, his wives, and the best workmen of Jerusalem, to the number of ten thousand men. Among the captives were Mordecai, the uncle of Esther, and Ezekiel the prophet, Gen 2:6 . Nebuchadnezzar also took all the vessels of gold, which Solomon made for the temple and the king’s treasury, and set up Mattaniah, Jeconiah’s uncle by the father’s side, whom he named Zedekiah. Zedekiah continued faithful to Nebuchadnezzar nine years, at the end of which time he rebelled, and confederated with the neighboring princes. The king of Babylon came into Judea, reduced the chief places of the country, and besieged Jerusalem; but Pharaoh Hophra coming out of Egypt to assist Zedekiah, Nebuchadnezzar went to meet him, and forced him to retire to his own country. This done, he resumed the siege of Jerusalem, and was three hundred and ninety days before the place. In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, B. C. 588, the city was taken and Zedekiah, being seized, was brought to Nebuchadnezzar, who was then at Riblah in Syria. The king of Babylon condemned him to die, caused his children to be put to death in his presence, and then bored out his eyes, loaded him with chains, and sent him to Babylon, 2Ki 24:1-25:30 2Ch 36:1-23.\par During the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, the city of Babylon and the kingdom of Babylonia attained their highest pitch of splendor. He took great pains in adorning Babylon; and this was one great object of his pride. "Is not this," said he, "great Babylon that I have built for the house of my kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?" But God vanquished his pride, and he was reduced for a time to the condition of a brute, according to the predictions of Daniel. See Da 1.1-4.37. An inscription found among the ruins on the Tigris, and now in the East India House at London, gives an account of the various works of Nebuchadnezzar at Babylon and Borsippa. Abruptly breaking off, the record says the king’s heart was hardened against the Chaldee astrologers. "He would grant no benefactions for religious purposes. He intermitted the worship of Merodach, and put an end to the sacrifice of victims. He labored under the effects of enchantment." Nebuchadnezzar is supposed to have died B. C. 562, after a reign of about forty years.\par One of the famous structures ascribed to Nebuchadnezzar, and in which no doubt he took much pride, was the famous "hanging gardens," which he is said to have erected to gratify the wish of his queen Amytis for elevated groves such as she was accustomed to in her native Media. This could only be done in a country so level as Babylonia, by constructing an artificial mountain; and accordingly the king caused on e to be made, four hundred feet square and over three hundred feet high. The successive terraces were supported on ranges of regular piers, covered by large stones, on which were placed thick layers of matting and of bitumen and two courses of stones, which were again covered, with a solid coating of lead. On such a platform another similar, but smaller, was built, etc. The various terraces were then covered with earth, and furnished with trees, shrubbery, and flowers. The whole was watered from the Euphrates, which flowed at its base, by machinery within the mound. These gardens occupied but a small portion of the prodigious area of the palace, the wall inclosing the whole being six miles in circumference. Within this were two other walls and a great tower, besides the palace buildings, courts, gardens, etc. Al the gates were of brass, which agrees with the language used by Isaiah in predicting the capture of Babylon by Cyrus, Isa 45:25 . The ruins of the hanging gardens are believed to be found in the vast irregular mound called Kasr, on the East Side of the Euphrates, eight hundred yards by six hundred at its base. The bricks taken from this mound are of fine quality, and are all stamped with the name of Nebuchadnezzar.\par Another labor of this monarch was that the ruins of which are now called Birs, Nimroud, about eight miles southwest of the above structure. See BABEL. The researches of Sir Henry Rawlinson have shown that this was built by Nebuchadnezzar, on the platform of a ruinous edifice of more ancient days. It consisted of six distinct terraces, each twenty feet high, and forty-two feet less horizontally than the one below it. On the top was the sanctum and observatory of the temple, now a vitrified mass. Each story was dedicated to a different planet, and stained with the color appropriated to that planet in their astrological system. The lowest, in honor of Saturn, was black; that of Jupiter was orange; that of Mars red, that of the sun yellow, that of Venus green, and that of Mercury blue. The temple was white, probably for the moon. In the corners of this longruined edifice, recently explored were found cylinders with arrowhead inscriptions, in the name of Nebuchadnezzar, which inform us that the building was named "The Stages of the Seven Spheres of Borsippa;" that it had been in a dilapidated condition; and that, moved by Merodach his god, he had reconstructed it with bricks enriched with lapis lazuli, "without changing its site or destroying its foundation platform." This restoration is also stated to have taken place five hundred and four years after its first erection in that form by Tiglath Pileser I., 1100 B. C. If not actually on the site of the tower of Babel mentioned in the Bible, and the temple of Belus described by Herodotus, this building would seem to have been erected on the same general plan. Every brick yet taken from it bears the impress of Nebuchadnezzar. Borsippa would seem to have been a suburb of ancient Babylon.\par
Nebuchadnez’zar. (may Nebo protect the crown). Nebuchadnezzar was the greatest and most powerful of the Babylonian kings. His name is explained to mean, "Nebo is the protector against misfortune". He was the son and successor of Nabopolassar, the founder of the Babylonian empire. In the lifetime of his father, Nebuchadnezzar led an army against Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt, defeated him at Carchemish, B.C. 605, in a great battle, Jer 46:2-12, recovered Coele-Syria, Phoenicia and Palestine, took Jerusalem, Dan 1:1-2, pressed forward to Egypt, and was engaged in that country, or upon its borders, when intelligence arrived, which recalled him hastily to Babylon.
Nabopolassar, after reigning twenty-one years, had died and the throne was vacant. In alarm about the succession, Nebuchadnezzar returned to the capital, accompanied only by his light troops; and crossing the desert, probably, by way of Tadmor or Palmyra, reached Babylon, before any disturbance had arisen, and entered peaceably on his kingdom, B.C. 604.
Within three years of Nebuchadnezzar’s first expedition into Syria and Palestine, disaffection again showed itself in those countries. Jehoiakim, who, although threatened at first with captivity, 2Ch 36:6, had been finally maintained on the throne, as a Babylonian vassal, after three years of service, "turned and rebelled," against his suzerain, probably trusting, to be supported by Egypt. 2Ki 24:1.
Not long afterward, Phoenicia seems to have broken into revolt, and the Chaldean monarch once more took the field in person, and marched first of all, against Tyre. Having invested that city, and left a portion of his army there to continue the siege, he proceeded against Jerusalem, which submitted without a struggle.
According to Josephus, who is here our chief authority, Nebuchadnezzar punished Jehoiakim with death, compare Jer 23:18-19 and Jer 36:30, but placed his son, Jehoiachin, upon the throne. Jehoiachin reigned only three months; for, on his showing symptoms of disaffection, Nebuchadnezzar came up against Jerusalem for the third time, deposed the son’s prince, whom he carried to Babylon, together with a large portion of the population of the city, and the chief of the Temple treasures, and made his uncle, Zedekiah, king in his room.
Tyre still held out; and it was not till the thirteenth year, from the time of its first investment, that the city of merchants fell, B.C. 585. Ere this happened, Jerusalem had been totally destroyed. Nebuchadnezzar had commenced the final siege of Jerusalem, in the ninth year of Zedekiah -- his own seventeenth year, (B.C. 588) -- and took it two years later, B.C. 586.
Zedekiah escaped from the city, but was captured near Jericho, Jer 39:5, and brought to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, in the territory of Hamath, where his eyes were put out by the king’s order, while his sons and his chief nobles were slain. Nebuchadnezzar then returned to Babylon with Zedekiah, whom he imprisoned for the remainder of his life.
The military successes of Nebuchadnezzar cannot be traced minutely beyond this point. It may be gathered from the prophetical Scriptures, and from Josephus, that the conquest of Jerusalem was rapidly followed by the fall of Tyre, and the complete submission of Phoenicia, Ezekiel 26-28, after which the Babylonians carried their arms into Egypt, and inflicted severe injuries on that fertile country. Jer 46:13-26; Eze 23:2-20.
We are told that the first care of Nebuchadnezzar, on obtaining quiet possession of his kingdom, after the first Syrian expedition, was to rebuild the temple of Bel, (Bel-Merodach), at Babylon, out of the spoils of the Syrian war. The next, proceeded to strengthen and beautify the city, which he renovated throughout and surrounded, with several lines of fortifications, himself adding one entirely new quarter.
Having finished the walls and adorned the gates magnificently, he constructed a new palace. In the grounds of this palace, he formed the celebrated "hanging garden," which the Greeks placed among the seven wonders of the world.
But he did not confine his efforts to the ornamentation and improvement of his capital. Throughout the empire at Borsippa, Sippara, Cutha, Chilmad, Duraba, Teredon, and a multitude of other places, he built or rebuilt cities, repaired temples, constructed quays, reservoirs, canals and aqueducts, on a scale of grandeur and magnificence surpassing everything of the kind recorded in history unless it be the constructions of one or two of the greatest Egyptian monarchs.
The wealth, greatness and general prosperity of Nebuchadnezzar are strikingly placed before us in the book of Daniel. Toward the close of his reign, the glory of Nebuchadnezzar suffered a temporary eclipse. As a punishment for his pride and vanity, that strange form of madness was sent upon him , which the Greeks called Lycanthropy, wherein, the sufferer imagines himself a beast, and, quitting the haunts of men, insists on leading the life of a beast. Dan 4:33.
(This strange malady is thought by some to receive illustration from an inscription; and historians place, at this period, the reign of a queen, to whom are ascribed the works, which, by others, are declared to be Nebuchadnezzar’s. Probably, his favorite wife was practically at the head of affairs, during the malady of her husband. Other historians, Eusebius and Berosus also confirm the account. See Rawlinson’s "Historical Illustrations." -- Editor).
After an interval of four, or perhaps seven years, Dan 4:16, Nebuchadnezzar’s malady left him. We are told that, "his reason returned, and for the glory of his kingdom, his honor and brightness returned;" and he "was established in his kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to him." Dan 4:36. He died in the year B.C. 561, at an advanced age, (eighty-three or eighty-four), having reigned forty-three years. A son, Evilmerodach, succeeded him.
In the monuments Nabu-juduri-utsur, the middle syllable being the same as Kudur or Chedor-laomer. Explained by Gesenius "the prince favored by Nebo"; Oppert, "Nebo,
Became master of Coelo-Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine. Took Jerusalem in the third year of Jehoiakim, and "carried into the land of Shinar, to the house of his god (Merodach), part of the vessels of the house of God" (Dan 1:1-2; 2Ch 36:6). Daniel and the three children of the royal seed were at that time taken to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar mounted the throne 604 B.C., having rapidly re-crossed the desert with his light troops and reached Babylon before any disturbance could take place. He brought with him Jehovah’s vessels and the Jewish captives. The fourth year of Jehoiakim coincided with the first of Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 25:1). In the earlier part of the (year Nebuchadnezzar smote Necho at Carchemish, Jer 46:2). The deportation from Jerusalem was shortly before, namely, in the end of Jehoiakim’s third year; with it begins the Babylonian captivity, 605 B.C. (Jer 29:1-10). Jehoiakim after three years of vassalage revolted, in reliance on Egypt (2Ki 24:1). Nebuchadnezzar sent bands of Chaldees, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites against him (2Ki 24:2).
Next, Phoenicia revolted. Then in person Nebuchadnezzar marched against Tyre. In the seventh year of his reign he marched thence against Jerusalem; it surrendered, and Jehoiakim fell, probably in battle. Josephus says Nebuchadnezzar put him to death (Ant. 10:6 section 3).
Phoenicia submitted to him (Ezekiel 26-28; Josephus, Ap. 1:21), and Egypt was punished (Jer 46:13-26; Eze 29:2-10, Josephus, Ant. 10:9, section 7). Nebuchadnezzar is most celebrated for his buildings: the temple of Bel Merodach at Babylon (the Kasr), built with his Syrian spoils (Josephus, Ant. 10:11, section 1); the fortifications of Babylon, three lines of walls 80 ft. broad, 300 ft. high, enclosing 130 square miles; a new palace near his father’s which he finished in 15 days, attached to it were his "hanging gardens," a square 400 ft. on each side and 75 ft. high, supported on arched galleries increasing in height from the base to the summit; in these were chambers, one containing the engines for raising the water to the mound; immense stones imitated the surface of the Median mountain, to remind his wife of her native land. The standard inscription ("I completely made strong the defenses of Babylon, may it last forever ... the city which I have glorified," etc.) accords with Berosus’ statement, and nine-tenths of the bricks in situ are stamped with Nebuchadnezzar’s name.
Daniel (Dan 4:30) also records his boast, "is not this great Babylon which I have built by the might of my power and for the honour of my majesty?" Sir H. Rawlinson (Inscr. Assyr. and Babyl., 76-77) states that the bricks of 100 different towns about Bagdad all bear the one inscription, "Nebuchadnezzar, son of Nabopolassar, king of Babylon." Abydenus states Nebuchadnezzar made the
The long list of various officers in Dan 3:1-3; Dan 3:27, also of diviners forming a hierarchy (Dan 2:48), shows the extent of the organization of the empire, so that the emblem of so vast a polity is "a tree ... the height reaching unto heaven, and the sight to the end of all the earth ... in which was meat for all, under which the beasts ... had shadow and the fowls dwelt in the boughs and all flesh was fed of it" (Dan 4:10-12). In Dan 2:37 he is called "king of kings," i.e. of the various kingdoms wheresoever he turned his arms, Egypt, Nineveh, Arabia, Phoenicia, Tyre. Isaiah’s patriotism was shown in counseling resistance to Assyria; Jeremiah’s (Jeremiah 27) in urging submission to Babylon as the only safety; for God promised Judah’s deliverance from the former, but "gave all the lands into Nebuchadnezzar’s hands, and the beasts of the field also, to serve him and his son and his son’s son."
The kingdom originally given to Adam (Gen 1:28; Gen 2:19-20), forfeited by sin, God temporarily delegated to Nebuchadnezzar, the "head of gold," the first of the four great world powers (Daniel 2 and Daniel 7). As Nebuchadnezzar and the other three abused the trust, for self not, for God, the Son of Man, the Fifth, to whom of right it belongs, shall wrest it from them and restore to man his lost inheritance, ruling with the saints for God’s glory and man’s blessedness (Psa 8:4-6; Rev 11:15-18; Dan 2:34-35; Dan 2:44-45; Dan 7:13-27). Nebuchadnezzar was punished with the form of insanity called
Angel "watchers" demand that every mortal be humbled whosoever would obscure God’s glory. Abydenus (268 B.C.) states: "Nebuchadnezzar having ascended upon his palace roof predicted the Persian conquest of Babylon (which he knew from Dan 2:39), praying that the conqueror might be borne where there is no path of men and where the wild beasts graze"; a corruption of the true story and confirming it. The panorama of the world’s glory that overcame Nebuchadnezzar through the lust of the eye, as he stood on his palace roof, Satan tried upon Jesus in vain (Mat 4:8-10). In the standard inscription Nebuchadnezzar says, "for four years in Babylon buildings for the honour of my kingdom I did not lay out. In the worship of Merodach my lord I did not sing his praises, I did not furnish his altar with victims, nor clear out the canals" (Rawlinson, Herodotus, ii. 586). It was "while the word was in the king’s mouth there fell a voice from heaven ... thy kingdom is departed from thee" (compare Herod, Act 12:19-20).
His nobles cooperated in his being "driven from men" (Dan 4:33); these same "counselors and lords sought unto him," weary of anarchy after the "seven times," i.e. a complete sacred cycle of time, a week of years, had passed over him, and with the glimmer of reason left he "lifted up his eyes unto heaven," instead of beast like turning his eyes downward (compare Jon 2:1-2; Jon 2:4), and turned to Him that smote him (Isa 9:13), and "honoured Him" whom before he had robbed of His due honour. Psa 116:12; Psa 116:14; Mar 5:15; Mar 5:18-19; compare on the spiritual lesson Job 33:17-18; 1Sa 2:8; Pro 16:18. Messiah’s kingdom alone will be the "tree" under whose shadow all nations, and even the dumb creatures, shall dwell in blissful harmony (Eze 17:23; Mat 13:32; Isa 11:6-9). Nitocris was probably his second queen, an Egyptian (for this ancient name was revived about this time, as the Egyptian monuments prove), for he lived 60 years after his marriage to his first queen Amuhia (625 B.C.).
Herodotus ascribes to Nitocris many of the works assigned by Berosus to Nebuchadnezzar. On his recovery, according to the standard inscription, which confirms Scripture, he added "wonders" in old age to those of his earlier reign. He died 561 B.C., 83 or 84 years old, after reigning 43 years. Devotion to the gods, especially Bel Merodach, from whom he named his son and successor Evil Merodach, and the desire to rest his fame on his great works and the arts of peace rather than his warlike deeds, are his favorable characteristics in the monuments. Pride, violence and fury, and cruel sternness, were Nebuchadnezzar’s faults (Dan 2:12; Dan 3:19; 2Ki 25:7; 2Ki 24:8). Not to Daniel but to Nebuchadnezzar, the first representative head of the world power who overcame the theocracy, the dreams were given announcing its doom.
The dream was the appropriate form for one outside the kingdom of God, as Nebuchadnezzar and Pharaoh (Genesis 41). But an Israelite must interpret it; and Nebuchadnezzar worshipped Daniel, an earnest of the future prostration of the world power before Christ and the church (Rev 3:9; 1Co 14:25; Php 2:10; 1Co 6:2; Luk 19:17). The image set up by Nebuchadnezzar represented himself the head of the first world power, of whom Daniel had said "thou art this head of gold." Daniel was regarded by Nebuchadnezzar as divine, and so was not asked to worship it (Dan 2:46). The 60 cubits’ height includes together the image, 27 cubits (40 1/2 ft.), and the pedestal, 33 cubits (50 ft.). Herodotus, i. 183, similarly mentions Belus’ image in the temple at Babylon as 40 ft. high. Oppert found in the Dura (Dowair) plain the pedestal of what must have been a colossal statue. Nebuchadnezzar is the forerunner of antichrist, to whose "image" whosoever will not offer worship shall be killed (Rev 13:14).
Nebuchadnezzar (nĕb’u-kad-nĕz’zar), may Nebo protect the crown or, more correctly, Nebuchadrezzar, the son and successor of Nabopolassar, the founder of the Babylonish monarchy, was the most illustrious of these kings. 2Ki 24:1; Dan. chaps. 1-4 We know of him through the book of Daniel. In the Berlin Museum there is a black cameo with his head upon it, cut by his order, with the inscription: "In honor of Merodach, his lord, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, in bis lifetime had this made." Nebuchadnezzar was intrusted by his father with repelling Pharaoh-necho, and succeeded in defeating him at Carchemish, on the Euphrates, b.c. 605, Jer 46:2, taking Jerusalem and carrying off a portion of the inhabitants as prisoners, including Daniel and his companions. Dan 1:1-4. Having learned that his father had died, Nebuchadnezzar hastened back to Babylon. Thus the remark, "In his days Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years," 2Ki 24:1, is easily explained. The title is given by anticipation, and the "three years" are to be reckoned from 605 to 603 inclusive. The rebellion of Jehoiakim, entered upon, probably, because Nebuchadnezzar was carrying on wars in other parts of Asia, took place b.c. 602, and was punished by the irruption of Chaldæans, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites, incited, perhaps, by Nebuchadnezzar, who, as soon as possible, sent his troops against Jerusalem, and had him taken prisoner, but ultimately released him. 2Ki 24:2. After his death his son Jehoiachin reigned, and against him Nebuchadnezzar, for the third time, invaded Palestine and besieged Jerusalem, and all the principal inhabitants were carried to Babylon. 2Ki 24:12-16. Mattaniah, whose name was changed to Zedekiah, after a reign of nearly ten years, rebelled, and was punished by Nebuchadnezzar, who went up against Jerusalem and reduced the city to the horrors of famine before taking it. Zedekiah’s two sons were killed before his eyes, and then his eyes put out, and he, as a captive, was carried to Babylon, b.c. 588. 2Ki 25:7. On Nebuchadnezzar’s order, Jeremiah was kindly treated. Jer 39:11-14. The words, "The king spake and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of my kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?" Dan 4:30, are proved to be characteristic by those on an inscription: "I say it, I have built the great house which is the centre of Babylon for the seat of my rule in Babylon." of the king’s madness there is, of course, no direct mention. There is an inscription which is read by Sir H. Rawlinson in a manner which finds its readiest explanation in the fact stated in Dan 4:33: "For four years the residence of my kingdom did not delight my heart: in no one of my possessions did I erect any important building by my might. I did not put up buildings in Babylon for myself and for the honor of my name. In the worship of Merodach, my god, I did not sing his praise, nor did I provide his altar with sacrifices, nor clean the canals." Nebuchadnezzar is denominated "king of kings" by Dan 2:37, and ruler of a "kingdom with power and strength and glory." He built the hanging-gardens of Babylon on a large and artificial mound, terraced up to look like a hill. This great work was called by the ancients one of the seven wonders of the world. An idea of the extent of this monarch’s building enterprises may be drawn from the fact that nine-tenths of the bricks found amongst the ruins of the ancient capital are inscribed with his name. He is said to have worshipped the "King of heaven," Dan 4:37, but it may be questioned whether he did not conceive of the Jehovah of the Hebrews to be only one of many gods. He died about b.c. 561, after a reign of 44 years.
By: Emil G. Hirsch, Ira Maurice Price, Wilhelm Bacher, Louis Ginzberg
—Biblical Data:
The son of Nabopolassar; became king of Babylon in 604 B.C. as Assyria was on the decline; died 561.His name, either in this spelling or in the more correct form, Nebuchadrezzar (from the original, "Nabu-kudurri-uṣur" = "Nebo, defend my boundary"), is found more than ninety times in the Old Testament.
Slays Jehoiakim.
Nebuchadnezzar's first notable act was the overthrow of the Egyptian army under Necho at the Euphrates in the fourth year of Jehoiakim (Jer. xlvi. 2). It is entirely reasonable to suppose that at the same time he descended upon Palestine and made Jehoiakim his subject (II Kings xxiv. 1). This campaign took place in 605. The next year Nebuchadnezzar became king of Babylon; and he ruled for forty-three years, or until 561. Jehoiakim served him for three years, and then rebelled. He doubtless incited the neighboring tribes (ib. verse 2) to persecute Judah and bring its king to respect his oath. In 598 Nebuchadnezzar himself came westward, took Jehoiakim (II Chron. xxxvi. 6) and probably slew him, casting out his dead body unburied (Jer. xxii. 19, xxxvi. 30), and carried captive to Babylon 3,023 Jews (Jer. lii. 28). He placed Jehoiachin, the dead king's son, on the throne. Three months were sufficient to prove Jehoiachin's character (Ezek. xix. 5-9). He was taken with 10,000 of the best of the people of Jerusalem and carried to Babylon. His uncle Mattaniah, whose name was changed to Zedekiah, was put on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar in 597.
Egypt was continually intriguing with southwestern Asia, and was now courting the friendship of Zedekiah. This became so noticeable that Judah's king made a journey to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign (Jer. li. 59), probably to assure Nebuchadnezzar of his loyalty to him. But by the ninth year of his reign Zedekiah became so friendly with the Egyptians that he made a league with them and thereupon rebelled against the King of Babylon. With due despatch Nebuchadnezzar and his army left for the Westland. He placed his base of action at Riblah in the north, and went southward and laid siege to Jerusalem. By some message the Egyptians learned of the siege and hastily marched to the relief of the beleaguered ally. The Babylonians raised the siege (Jer. xxxvii. 3-5) long enough to repulse the Egyptian arms, and came back and settled about Jerusalem. At the end of eighteen months (586) the wall yielded. Zedekiah and his retinue fled by night, but were overtaken in the plains of the Jordan. The king and his sons were brought before Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah; the sons were slain, and the king's eyes bored out; and he was carried in chains to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar caused Jerusalem to be destroyed, and the sacred vessels of the Temple to be carried to Babylon. He placed Gedaliah in authority over the Jews who remained in the land. In the twenty-third year of his reign Nebuchadnezzar's captain of the guard carried away 745 Jews, who had been gathered from those scattered through the land. Nebuchadnezzar entered Egypt also (Jer. xlvi. 13-26; Ezek. xxix. 2-20), according to his own inscriptions about 567, and dealt a severe blow to its supremacy and power.
The representations in the Book of Daniel of Nebuchadnezzar's greatness are doubtless correct; and there is reason for believing that he was the great builder and glorifier of his capital. He was succeeded by his son Evil-merodach.
—In Rabbinical Literature:
Nebuchadnezzar, the "wicked one" ("ha-rasha'"; Meg. 11a; Ḥag. 13b; Pes. 118a), was a son—or descendant?—of the Queen of Sheba by her marriage with Solomon ("Alphabet Ben Sira," ed. Venice, 21b; comp. Brüll's "Jahrb." ix. 9), and a son-in-law of Sennacherib (Targ. to Isa. x. 32; Lam. R., Introduction, 23, says "a grandson"), with whom he took part in the expedition of the Assyrians against Hezekiah, being one of the few who were not destroyed by the angels before Jerusalem (Sanh. 95b). He came to the throne in the fourth year of King Jehoiakim of Judah, whom he subjugated and, seven years later, killed after that king had rebelled. Nebuchadnezzar did not on this occasion go to Jerusalem, but received the Great Sanhedrin of Jerusalem at Daphne, a suburb of Antioch, informing that body that it was not his intention to destroy the Temple, but that the rebellious Jehoiakim must be delivered to him, which in fact was done (Seder 'Olam R. xxv.; Midr. 'Eser Galuyyot, ed. Grünhut, "Sefer ha-Liḳḳuṭim," iii.; Lev. R. xix.; comp. Jehoiakim in Rabbinical Literature).
Holds No Oath Sacred.
According to Josephus ("Ant." x. 6, § 3), the King of Judah voluntarily received Nebuchadnezzar and his army in the city; but Nebuchadnezzar treacherously broke the compact between them, and massacred the king together with the strongest and most beautiful inhabitants of Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar then carried away into captivity 5,000 Judeans and 7,000 of the other tribes, including all the nobles and scholars of the city (Josephus, l.c.; Seder 'Olam R. l.c.; Midr. 'Eser Galuyyot, l.c.).
When he celebrated his triumph in Babylon and told his subjects how he had made Jehoiachin king in the place of his rebellious father Jehoiakim, they reminded him of the proverb: "A poor dog has no good progeny." Nebuchadnezzar then returned to Daphne, where he received the Great Sanhedrin and told it that he desired to take King Jehoiachin to Babylon. When it delivered the king to him, Jehoiachin was cast into prison for life (Lev. R. xix. 6; comp. Seder 'Olam R. l.c.; Yer. Sheḳ. vi. 49a; and Jehoiachin in Rabbinical Literature). The King of Babylon again showed how little sacred an oath was to him; for, although he had pledged his word that he would not harm the city, he carried captive to Babylon a large number of the inhabitants (Josephus, l.c. x. 7, § 1) together with the Ark of the Covenant (Seder 'Olam R. l.c.). Although a voice from heaven uttered for eighteen years these words in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, "O wicked servant; go and destroy the house of your master, since his children no longer obey him," yet the king was afraid to obey the command, remembering the defeat which Sennacherib had suffered in a similar attempt. Nebuchadnezzar asked the advice of different oracles, all of which warned him not to undertake the expedition against Jerusalem (Lam. R. l.c.). Furthermore the Ammonitesand the Moabites, Israel's "wicked neighbors," gave inducements to Nebuchadnezzar to come by saying that the Prophets announced Judah's downfall. They allayed the king's fear lest God might send the same fate upon him that He had upon Sennacherib, by saying that God had now abandoned Israel, and that there were left among the people no pious ones able to turn away God's anger (Sanh. 96b). Nebuchadnezzar decided on his expedition against Jerusalem only after God showed him how He had bound the hands of Michael, Israel's guardian angel (Midr. Ekah Zuṭa, p. 70); and even then Nebuchadnezzar did not lead the expedition himself, but gave it into the hands of Nebuzar-adan (Pesiḳ. R. 26 [ed. Friedmann, p. 130b]; Sanh. 96b, above; comp. Eccl. R. on Eccl. x. 7, to the effect that Nebuchadnezzar, seated on a horse which was led by Michael, entered the Holy of Holies.
At Daphne, from which place Nebuchadnezzar followed the operations before the walls of Jerusalem, he received the Sanhedrin of Jerusalem with great honors, asking the members to read and explain to him the Torah. Sitting on seats of honor, they began their explanations. When, however, they came to the section on the dispensation from vows (Num. xxx. 2 et seq.), the king cried out in anger: "I believe it was you who released King Zedekiah from his oath to me." He then commanded that the scholars leave their seats and sit on the ground (Lam. R. ii. 10; Ned. 65a; comp. Zedekiah in Rabbinical Literature; "Chronicles of Jerahmeel," x. 10: "the great Sanhedrin . . . who were slain by Nebuchadnezzar"). Zedekiah, the captive king, was also brought to Daphne, where Nebuchadnezzar took him to task, saying that, according to divine and human law, Zedekiah had merited death, since he had sworn falsely by the name of God, and had rebelled against his suzerain (Pesiḳ. R. l.c. [ed. Friedmann, p. 131a]).
Nebuchadnezzar's Cruelty.
Nebuchadnezzar was most merciless toward the conquered people. By his command the exiles on their way to Babylon were not allowed to stop even for a moment, as the king feared that they would pray during the respite granted them and that God would be willing to help them as soon as they repented (Lam. R. to v. 6; Pesiḳ. R. 28 [ed. Friedmann, p. 135a]). Nebuchadnezzar did not feel safe until the exiles reached the Euphrates, the boundary-line of Babylon. Then he made a great feast on board his ship, while the princes of Judah lay chained and naked by the river. In order to increase their misery he had rolls of the Torah torn and made into sacks, which, filled with sand, he gave to the captive princes to carry (Pesiḳ. R. l.c. [ed. Friedmann, p. 135a]; Midr. Teh. cxxxvii.; comp. Buber's remark ad loc. and Lam. R. v. 13).
On this occasion Nebuchadnezzar ordered the singers of the Temple to add their music to his feast; but they preferred to bite off their fingers, or even to be killed, rather than to play their sacred music in honor of the Babylonian idols (Pesiḳ. R. 31 [ed. Friedmann, p. 144a], 28 [136a]; comp. Moses, Children of). He heartlessly drove the captives before him, entirely without clothing, until the inhabitants of Bari induced him to clothe them (Pesiḳ. R. l.c. [ed. Friedmann, p. 135b]). But even after the heavily burdened Jews finally reached Babylonia they had no rest from the tyrant, who massacred thousands of youths whose beauty had inflamed the passion of the Babylonian women—a passion which did not subside until the corpses were stamped upon and mutilated (Sanh. 92b; comp. Ezekiel in Rabbinical Literature). Nebuchadnezzar carried to Babylon, together with the Jews, cedar-trees which he had taken from Lebanon (Lam. R. i. 4), and millstones which he made the captive youths bear (l.c. v. 13). Even the Jews who had sought refuge from the Babylonians in Ammon and Moab or in Egypt did not escape Nebuchadnezzar, who, on conquering Egypt, carried all the Jews in that country, including Baruch and Jeremiah, to Babylonia (Midr. 'Eser Galuyyot, ed. Grünhut, l.c. iii. 14; Seder 'Olam R. xxvi.). Nebuchadnezzar was equally victorious in his expedition against Tyre, whose king, Hiram, his stepfather, he dethroned and put to a painful death (Lev. R. xviii. 2; Yalḳ., Ezek. 367).
Nebuchadnezzar, moreover, not only was a cosmocrat, ruling all the earth (Meg. 11a et passim), but he subdued the world of animals also, his charger being a lion, on whose neck a snake hung quietly (Shab. 150a, above). His godlessness was commensurate with his power; he was given, among other vices, to pederasty, which he, as with the other kings, also tried to commit with the pious Zedekiah, but was prevented by a miracle from doing so (Shab. 149b; see also Jerome on Hab. ii. 16). He was so greatly feared that as long as he was alive no one dared laugh; and when he went down to hell the inmates trembled, asking themselves whether he would rule them also (Shab. l.c.). In his arrogance he considered himself to be a god, and spoke of making a cloud in order to enthrone himself like God on high (Mek., Beshallaḥ, Shirah, 6 [ed. Weiss, p. 47a, b]); but a heavenly voice cried to him: "O thou miscreant, son of a miscreant, and grandson of the miscreant Nimrod! Man lives seventy years, or at most eighty (Ps. xc. 10). The distance from the earth to heaven measures 500 years; the thickness of heaven measures as much; and not less the distance from one heaven to the other" (Pes. 94a, below; Ḥag. 13a et passim).
Behavior Toward Israelites.
The lot of the Jews was naturally a very sad one during Nebuchadnezzar's reign; and even Daniel, as well as his three friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who were pages at court, were often in peril of their lives. This was especially the case when the king tried to force the three pages to worship the idol at Durah, and they, upon their refusal to do so, were thrown into the fiery furnace. However, the miracle performed in their behalf (comp. Azariah in Rabbinical Literature; Ezekiel in Rabbinical Literature) induced Nebuchadnezzar to join in praising God; and he was so carried away by his songs that had he continued he would have surpassed David, but an angel forced him to desist (Sanh. 92b). Yet this did not prevent him from massacring all the 600,000 Jews who had obeyed his command and worshipedthe idol, and whom he reproached for not having followed the example of the three pious men and trusted in God (Pirḳe R. El. xxxiii.).
He finally received his well-merited punishment; for God changed him into an animal, as far as his appearance, intellect, and language were concerned. He appeared to the people with his upper half as an ox and the lower half as a lion, and as such he killed many villains. Through Daniel's prayers the seven years of punishment decreed for Nebuchadnezzar were changed to seven months; and after the king had lamented his sins for forty days, had lived in the caves for another period of forty days, and had herded for the same length of time with the beasts of the forest, God took mercy upon him and allowed him to return to his throne. He repented and did penance for the next seven years, subsisting, on the advice of Daniel, on vegetable food. The affairs of the government he gave into the hands of seven judges, who held office for one year each. At the expiration of this period he wished to make Daniel one of his heirs; but the latter refused with the words: "Far be it from me to exchange the heritage of my fathers for that of one uncircumcised" ("The Chronicles of Jerahmeel," ed. Gaster, lxvi. 1-2; see also the passage quoted in the introduction, p. 106).
Among the Animals.
According to another version, Nebuchadnezzar really spent seven years among the animals, during which time his son Evil-merodach ruled as king (see, however, Josephus, l.c. x. 10, § 6); but when he returned he cast this son into prison for life. Therefore after Nebuchadnezzar had died and the nobles of the realm came to the son to swear fealty to him as their king, he did not dare listen to them until they brought the corpse of his father, so that he could convince himself that the latter really was dead (Lev. R. xviii. 12). Others say that Evilmerodach himself exhumed the body of his father, because the people believed that Nebuchadnezzar was not really dead—that he had simply disappeared as he had once before, and that they would be severely punished by him if at his return he found that they had invested another king. The body of the dead monarch was therefore dragged through the city so that the people might see it (Targ. Sheni, beginning; Jerome on Isa. xiv. 19; see also "The Chronicles of Jerahmeel," lxvi. 6; a shorter version is given in Seder 'Olam R. xxviii.). This was the shameful end of Nebuchadnezzar, after a reign of forty years (Seder 'Olam R. l.c. 45; Pesiḳ. R., ed. Buber, xxvii. [ed. Friedmann, p. 168b, 40]; Josephus, l.c. x. 11, §§ 1, 43).
That Nebuchadnezzar, in spite of all his wickedness, was chosen by God to rule over Israel and all the earth, was due, according to some, to the fact that he was a descendant of Merodach-baladan, to whom God granted, as a reward for a pious deed, that three of his descendants, namely, Nebuchadnezzar, his son Evil-merodach, and Belshazzar, should become world-rulers (Pesiḳ. R., ed. Buber, ii. 14a; comp. Merodach-Baladan. According to another rabbinical legend, Nebuchadnezzar was the secretary of Baladan. The latter wrote a letter to Hezekiah (II Kings xx. 12) in Nebuchadnezzar's absence, who, on his return, was informed of its contents, which began as follows: "Greetings to the king Hezekiah, to the city of Jerusalem, and to the great God." "What!" exclaimed Nebuchadnezzar, "you call Him the great God, and yet you mention His name at the end, whereas it should be at the beginning!" Nebuchadnezzar then ran after the messenger, to take the letter and rewrite it. God, therefore, rewarded him with the rulership of the world; and if the angel Gabriel had not kept Nebuchadnezzar from overtaking the messenger, his power would have become still greater, and the Jews would in consequence have suffered still more at his hands.
Compare Ahab, Son of Kolaiah, in Rabbinical Literature.
NEBUCHADNEZZAR.—See next article.
Towards the end of the seventh century BC, the ancient nation Babylon rose again to international prominence, largely through the new dynasty that had been established by Nabopolassar. The greatest king of this dynasty was Nabopolassar’s son and successor, Nebuchadnezzar (or Nebuchadrezzar).
Nebuchadnezzar became king soon after he led Babylonian forces to victory over Egypt at the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BC (2Ki 24:7; Jer 46:2). One outcome of this was that Judah fell under Babylonian power. After a series of Babylonian attacks over several years, Jerusalem was finally destroyed and its people taken captive to Babylon (587 BC). Nebuchadnezzar was the Babylonian king throughout this time, and the books of 2 Kings, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel mention him by name repeatedly. (For details of his dealings with Judah and his military successes among the nations of the region see BABYLON.)
Through his contact with Jews at his court in Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar learnt about the Jews’ God, Yahweh. Upon seeing how this God revealed mysteries and miraculously saved people from death, he concluded that Yahweh must have been the greatest of all the gods (Dan 2:47; Dan 3:29). However, he was a proud man, whose empire-building achievements led him to believe that he could ignore God and take no notice of the warnings given him by God’s messenger Daniel. The result was that God punished Nebuchadnezzar with a disease of temporary madness, till he learnt that God was the sovereign ruler over the kingdoms of the world (Dan 4:27-33).
The Bible gives no clear indication whether Nebuchadnezzar’s acknowledgment of the sovereign rule of God had any lasting effect on his behaviour. Babylon proved to be an arrogant nation, and God’s prophet saw all its pride and evil embodied in its king (Isa 14:4-11). There is no certainty that the prophet had Nebuchadnezzar or any other king specifically in mind, but his warning has a timeless relevance. Those who ambitiously desire the highest place, the greatest honour and supreme power are in danger of being brought down to the lowest place, the greatest shame and complete weakness (Isa 14:12-20).
Nebuchadnezzar was undoubtedly the greatest king of this period of Babylonian supremacy. He reigned more than forty years and died in 562 BC. He was succeeded by his son Evil-merodach (Jer 52:31).