Daniel 4:17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones… There was something new to the king in this appellation. He had thought of many gods. The heavens were to him a repetition of the earth. There were beings there of every kind and class, good and evil, powerful for mischief, partial, capricious, but useful if propitiated. He thought that these beings existed for man's sake. He was to learn of one God, for and by whom all things exist, and who rules in the kingdom of men. He supposed that men such as himself, kings and princes, ruled, and that the gods would help or try to frustrate these earthly rulers according to file treatment which they themselves received. He had never conceived such a thought as that which is so natural to us, that while man proposes God disposes of earthly things. Even the philosophical Greeks supposed that the Deity was subject to the rule of necessity or fate. Zeus might hold the balance, but the scale would go up or down independently of his will. But during these seven years there was to be a growth of knowledge in the king's mind, until he had mastered the truth that the earth is the Lord's and that all things on earth are as He wills and by His permission. (R. Payne Smith, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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