Reading for June 1st

Read Daniel 4.4-18 There are no extra-biblical accounts of Nebuchnezzar's madness. The Babylonian king Nabonidus (556-539 BCE) lived in the Arabian desert while his son Belshazzar ruled in his stead. In verse 8: Named Belteshazzar after the name of my god: Belteshazzar means "protect his life" and is styled to resemble the name Bel, a title for the Baylonian city god, Marduk. In verses 10-17: The tree at the center of the earth: Ancient Near Eastern mythology frequently employs the image of a cosmic tree (see Gen 2-3). See also Isa 10-5-34; Ezek 31, which portray Assyrian and Egyptian rulrs as trees that will be cut down and sent to the netherworld. In verse 13: Holy watcher: a celestail being (1 Enoch 1.5; 20.1; Jubilees 4.15). In verse 15: Stump and roots in the ground: see Isa 6.13; 11.1 In verse 16: Let his mind be changed: The motifis derved from Nabonidus, but also presupposes Babyonian traditions of Enkidu, the primal man of the Gilgamesh epic, who lived among the animals before he was civilzed by a woman. Comments or Questions..