Difference between revisions of "Nebuchadnezzar"

<p> 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, '''''Kadr''''' ("power"), and '''''Zar''''' ("prince")"; Rawlinson, "Nebo his protector (participle from '''''Naatsar''''' "protect") against misfortune" ( '''''Kidor''''' "trouble".) His father Nabo-polassar having overthrown Nineveh, [[Babylon]] became supreme. [[Married]] his father's [[Median]] ally, Cyaxares' daughter, Amuhia, at the time of their alliance against [[Assyria]] 625 B.C. (Abydenus in Eusebius, Chronicles Can., i. 9). Possibly is the Labynetus (Herodotus i. 74) who led the [[Babylonian]] force under [[Cyaxares]] in his [[Lydian]] war and whose interposition at the eclipse (610 B.C.) concluded the campaign. Sent by [[Nabopolassar]] to punish [[Pharaoh]] Necho, the conqueror of [[Josiah]] at Megiddo. Defeated [[Necho]] at [[Carchemish]] (605 B.C.) and wrested from him all the territory from [[Euphrates]] to Egypt (&nbsp;Jeremiah 46:2; &nbsp;Jeremiah 46:12; &nbsp;2 Kings 24:7) which he had held for three years, so that "he came not again any more out of his land." </p> <p> [[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" (&nbsp;Daniel 1:1-2; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 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 (&nbsp;Jeremiah 25:1). In the earlier part of the (year Nebuchadnezzar smote Necho at Carchemish, &nbsp;Jeremiah 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. (&nbsp;Jeremiah 29:1-10). Jehoiakim after three years of vassalage revolted, in reliance on Egypt (&nbsp;2 Kings 24:1). Nebuchadnezzar sent bands of Chaldees, Syrians, Moabites, and [[Ammonites]] against him (&nbsp;2 Kings 24:2). </p> <p> 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). (See [[Jehoiakim]] .) Jehoiakim after a three months' reign was carried away to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar with the princes, warriors, and craftsmen, and the palace treasures, and Solomon's gold vessels cut in pieces, at his third advance against Jerusalem (&nbsp;2 Kings 24:8-16). [[Tyre]] fell 585 B.C., after a 13 years' siege. Meantime Zedekiah, Nebuchadnezzar's sworn vassal, in treaty with Pharaoh [[Hophra]] (Apries) revolted (&nbsp;Ezekiel 17:15). Nebuchadnezzar besieged him 588-586 B.C., and in spite of a temporary raising of the siege through Hophra (&nbsp;Jeremiah 37:5-8) took and destroyed Jerusalem after an 18 months' siege (2 Kings 25). Zedekiah's eyes were put out after he had seen his sons slain first at Riblah, where Nebuchadnezzar "gave judgment upon him," and was kept a prisoner in Babylon the rest of his life. (See [[Gedaliah]] ; [[Nebuzaradan; Jerusalem]] ) </p> <p> Phoenicia submitted to him (Ezekiel 26-28; Josephus, Ap. 1:21), and Egypt was punished (&nbsp;Jeremiah 46:13-26; &nbsp;Ezekiel 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. </p> <p> Daniel (&nbsp;Daniel 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 '''''Nahr Malcha''''' , "royal river," a branch from the Euphrates, and the Acracanus; also the reservoir above the city Sippara, 90 miles round and 120 ft. deep, with sluices to irrigate the low land; also a quay on the [[Persian]] gulf, and the city Teredon on the [[Arabian]] border. The network of irrigation by canals between the [[Tigris]] and Euphrates, and on the right bank of the Euphrates to the stony desert, was his work; also the canal still traceable from [[Hit]] at the Euphrates, framing 400 miles S.E. to the bay of Grane in the Persian gulf. His system of irrigation made [[Babylonia]] a garden, enriching at once the people and himself. </p> <p> The long list of various officers in &nbsp;Daniel 3:1-3; &nbsp;Daniel 3:27, also of diviners forming a hierarchy (&nbsp;Daniel 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" (&nbsp;Daniel 4:10-12). In &nbsp;Daniel 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." </p> <p> The kingdom originally given to Adam (&nbsp;Genesis 1:28; &nbsp;Genesis 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 (&nbsp;Psalms 8:4-6; &nbsp;Revelation 11:15-18; &nbsp;Daniel 2:34-35; &nbsp;Daniel 2:44-45; &nbsp;Daniel 7:13-27). Nebuchadnezzar was punished with the form of insanity called '''''Lycanthropy''''' ''(Fancying Himself To Be A Beast And Living In Their Haunts)'' for pride generated by his great conquest and buildings (Daniel 4). When man would be as God, like Adam and Nebuchadnezzar he sinks from lordship over creation to the brute level and loses his true manhood, which is likeness to God (&nbsp;Genesis 1:27; &nbsp;Genesis 2:19; &nbsp;Genesis 3:5; &nbsp;Psalms 49:6; &nbsp;Psalms 49:10-12; &nbsp;Psalms 82:6-7); a key to the symbolism which represents the mighty world kingdoms as "beasts" (Daniel 7). </p> <p> 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 '' &nbsp;Daniel 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 (&nbsp;Matthew 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, &nbsp;Acts 12:19-20). </p> <p> His nobles cooperated in his being "driven from men" (&nbsp;Daniel 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 &nbsp;Jonah 2:1-2; &nbsp;Jonah 2:4), and turned to Him that smote him (&nbsp;Isaiah 9:13), and "honoured Him" whom before he had robbed of His due honour. &nbsp;Psalms 116:12; &nbsp;Psalms 116:14; &nbsp;Mark 5:15; &nbsp;Mark 5:18-19; compare on the spiritual lesson &nbsp;Job 33:17-18; &nbsp;1 Samuel 2:8; &nbsp;Proverbs 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 (&nbsp;Ezekiel 17:23; &nbsp;Matthew 13:32; &nbsp;Isaiah 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.). </p> <p> [[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 (&nbsp;Daniel 2:12; &nbsp;Daniel 3:19; &nbsp;2 Kings 25:7; &nbsp;2 Kings 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. </p> <p> 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 (&nbsp;Revelation 3:9; &nbsp;1 Corinthians 14:25; &nbsp;Philippians 2:10; &nbsp;1 Corinthians 6:2; &nbsp;Luke 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 (&nbsp;Daniel 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 (&nbsp;Revelation 13:14). </p>

<p> '''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, &nbsp;Jeremiah 46:2-12, recovered Coele-Syria, Phoenicia and Palestine, took Jerusalem, &nbsp;Daniel 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. </p> <p> 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. </p> <p> 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, &nbsp;2 Chronicles 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. &nbsp;2 Kings 24:1. </p> <p> 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. </p> <p> According to Josephus, who is here our chief authority, Nebuchadnezzar punished Jehoiakim with death, compare &nbsp;Jeremiah 23:18-19 and &nbsp;Jeremiah 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. </p> <p> 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. </p> <p> Zedekiah escaped from the city, but was captured near Jericho, &nbsp;Jeremiah 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. </p> <p> 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. &nbsp;Jeremiah 46:13-26; &nbsp;Ezekiel 23:2-20. </p> <p> 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. </p> <p> 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. </p> <p> 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. </p> <p> 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. &nbsp;Daniel 4:33. </p> <p> (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). </p> <p> After an interval of four, or perhaps seven years, &nbsp;Daniel 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." &nbsp;Daniel 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. </p>

<p> Necho II., the king of Egypt, gained a victory over the [[Assyrians]] at Carchemish. (See [[Josiah; Megiddo]] .) This secured to Egypt the possession of the Syrian provinces of Assyria, including Palestine. The remaining provinces of the [[Assyrian]] empire were divided between Babylonia and Media. But Nabopolassar was ambitious of reconquering from Necho the western provinces of Syria, and for this purpose he sent his son with a powerful army westward (&nbsp;Daniel 1:1 ). The [[Egyptians]] met him at Carchemish, where a furious battle was fought, resulting in the complete rout of the Egyptians, who were driven back (&nbsp;Jeremiah 46:2-12 ), and Syria and Phoenicia brought under the sway of Babylon (B.C. 606). From that time "the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land" (&nbsp;2 Kings 24:7 ). Nebuchadnezzar also subdued the whole of Palestine, and took Jerusalem, carrying away captive a great multitude of the Jews, among whom were Daniel and his companions (&nbsp;Daniel 1:1,2; &nbsp;Jeremiah 27:19; &nbsp;40:1 ). </p> <p> Three years after this, Jehoiakim, who had reigned in Jerusalem as a Babylonian vassal, rebelled against the oppressor, trusting to help from Egypt (&nbsp;2 Kings 24:1 ). This led Nebuchadnezzar to march an army again to the conquest of Jerusalem, which at once yielded to him (B.C. 598). A third time he came against it, and deposed Jehoiachin, whom he carried into Babylon, with a large portion of the population of the city, and the sacred vessels of the temple, placing Zedekiah on the throne of Judah in his stead. He also, heedless of the warnings of the prophet, entered into an alliance with Egypt, and rebelled against Babylon. This brought about the final siege of the city, which was at length taken and utterly destroyed (B.C. 586). Zedekiah was taken captive, and had his eyes put out by order of the king of Babylon, who made him a prisoner for the remainder of his life. </p> <p> An onyx cameo, now in the museum of Florence, bears on it an arrow-headed inscription, which is certainly ancient and genuine. The helmeted profile is said (Schrader) to be genuine also, but it is more probable that it is the portrait of a usurper in the time of [[Darius]] (Hystaspes), called Nidinta-Bel, who took the name of "Nebuchadrezzar." The inscription has been thus translated:, "In honour of Merodach, his lord, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, in his lifetime had this made." </p> <p> A clay tablet, now in the British Museum, bears the following inscription, the only one as yet found which refers to his wars: "In the thirty-seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the country of Babylon, he went to Egypt [Misr] to make war. Amasis, king of Egypt, collected [his army], and marched and spread abroad." Thus were fulfilled the words of the prophet (&nbsp;Jeremiah 46:13-26; &nbsp;Ezekiel 29:2-20 ). Having completed the subjugation of Phoenicia, and inflicted chastisement on Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar now set himself to rebuild and adorn the city of Babylon (&nbsp;Daniel 4:30 ), and to add to the greatness and prosperity of his kingdom by constructing canals and aqueducts and reservoirs surpassing in grandeur and magnificence everything of the kind mentioned in history (&nbsp;Daniel 2:37 ). He is represented as a "king of kings," ruling over a vast kingdom of many provinces, with a long list of officers and rulers under him, "princes, governors, captains," etc. (3:2,3,27). He may, indeed, be said to have created the mighty empire over which he ruled. </p> <p> "Modern research has shown that Nebuchadnezzar was the greatest monarch that Babylon, or perhaps the East generally, ever produced. He must have possessed an enormous command of human labour, nine-tenths of Babylon itself, and nineteen-twentieths of all the other ruins that in almost countless profusion cover the land, are composed of bricks stamped with his name. He appears to have built or restored almost every city and temple in the whole country. His inscriptions give an elaborate account of the immense works which he constructed in and about Babylon itself, abundantly illustrating the boast, 'Is not this great Babylon which I have build?'" Rawlinson, Hist. Illustrations. </p> <p> After the incident of the "burning fiery furnace" (&nbsp;Daniel 3 ) into which the three [[Hebrew]] confessors were cast, Nebuchadnezzar was afflicted with some peculiar mental aberration as a punishment for his pride and vanity, probably the form of madness known as lycanthropy (i.e, "the change of a man into a wolf"). A remarkable confirmation of the [[Scripture]] narrative is afforded by the recent discovery of a bronze door-step, which bears an inscription to the effect that it was presented by Nebuchadnezzar to the great temple at Borsippa as a votive offering on account of his recovery from a terrible illness. (See [[Daniel]] .) </p> <p> He survived his recovery for some years, and died B.C. 562, in the eighty-third or eighty-fourth year of his age, after a reign of forty-three years, and was succeeded by his son Evil-merodach, who, after a reign of two years, was succeeded by Neriglissar (559-555), who was succeeded by Nabonadius (555-538), at the close of whose reign (less than a quarter of a century after the death of Nebuchadnezzar) Babylon fell under [[Cyrus]] at the head of the combined armies of Media and Persia. </p> <p> "I have examined," says Sir H. Rawlinson, "the bricks belonging perhaps to a hundred different towns and cities in the neighbourhood of Baghdad, and I never found any other legend than that of Nebuchadnezzar, son of Nabopolassar, king of Babylon." Nine-tenths of all the bricks amid the ruins of Babylon are stamped with his name. </p>

<p> [[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. &nbsp;2 Kings 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, &nbsp;Jeremiah 46:2, taking Jerusalem and carrying off a portion of the inhabitants as prisoners, including Daniel and his companions. &nbsp;Daniel 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," &nbsp;2 Kings 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. &nbsp;2 Kings 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. &nbsp;2 Kings 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. &nbsp;2 Kings 25:7. On Nebuchadnezzar's order, Jeremiah was kindly treated. &nbsp;Jeremiah 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?" &nbsp;Daniel 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 &nbsp;Daniel 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 &nbsp;Daniel 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," &nbsp;Daniel 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. </p>

<p> Nebuchadnez´zar (Kings, Chronicles, and Daniel; Jeremiah 27; Jeremiah 28;;;; and; written also Nebuchadrezzar, generally in Jeremiah, and in ) 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. </p> <p> 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. </p> <p> From , and , 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 . 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 (; , 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; ) [BABYLON]. </p> <p> 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 : which some suppose to mean the Nile, but others a small river in the desert, which was reckoned the boundary between Palestine and Egypt. </p> <p> 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 [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 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. </p> <p> 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,; ), transferring many of the inhabitants to the territory beyond the Euphrates. </p> <p> 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 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 , '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 . 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 . </p> <p> 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]]]  </p>

<p> '''6.''' One other point in the life of Nebuchadnezzar, connecting it with Scripture, may be glanced at. In the Book of Daniel (chapter 3) there is abruptly introduced an account of a golden image which Nebuchadnezzar set up in the plain of Dura, its inauguration being heralded in solemn pomp to all parts of the kingdom. The image was probably one of his patron-god, Bel-Merodach; and the dedication of such a statue is in perfect keeping with his intense religiousness, which is apparent from his numerous and cordial inscriptions of thanks and homage to the same divinity, after whom also he named his son and successor. The adoration paid to the image was a test of loyalty. To worship the king's god simply at the king's command was such a spectacle of national conformity as an Oriental despot would naturally delight in. Some have supposed that the image represented the king himself, who, in this way, claimed divine honors '''''—''''' an insanity found in Persian, Egyptian, and Seleucid monarchs '''''—''''' in the [[Grecian]] [[Alexander]] and the Roman Caligula. This is not a likely conjecture. The Jews as a body, it would seem, were not invited to the festival, being aliens and captives. But it is said that the image itself was out of all shape-sixty cubits high, and only six cubits broad '''''—''''' that is, in the proportion of ten to one. Now it is evident from the story that its height was for the sake of its being visible to an immense concourse gathered on a plain, and it is therefore probable that a tall pedestal is included in the measurement; or it may have been an obelisk with a bust on the summit of it (Minter, Relig. d. Bab. page 59; Hengstenberg, On Daniel). [[Diodorus]] Siculus (lib. 2) informs us that one of the images of massy gold found by Xerxes in the temple of Bel measured forty feet in height, which would have been fairly proportioned to a breadth of six feet, measured at the shoulders. Prideaux supposes that this may have been the identical statue erected by Nebuchadnezzar, which, however, Jahn conceives was more probably only gilt, as a statue of gold could scarcely have been safe from robbers in the plain of Dura; but this conjecture of Jahn seems by no means necessary. Dur-Dura signifies a plain, and in such a plain, yet vulgarly called Dowair, to the south-east of Babylon, M. Oppert found the pedestal of what must have been a colossal statue. There is no hint that the image was of solid gold, as some objectors imagine. [[Anything]] plated with gold was, in popular phrase, called golden (comp. &nbsp;Exodus 30:1-3; &nbsp;Exodus 39:8, etc.). The description of the process of forging idols in &nbsp;Isaiah 40:19 shows us the plating of the figures. Herodotus mentions a large golden statue of Bel, and then refers to <p> '''7.''' [[Literature]] . '''''—''''' See Schroder, ''Nebuchadn. Chaldacor. Rex'' (Marb. 1719); Schroer, ''Imper. Babyl.'' page 260 sq.; Lochner, ''De Nino Nebuchadnezare'' (Stadse, 1736) Maier, ''Statua Nebuchadnezaris'' (Jen. 1693); Miller ''De Nebuchadnezaris'' '''''Μεταρμορφ''''' . (Lips. 1747); Offerhaus, ''De Rebus Sub Nebuchadnezare Gestis'' (Groning. 1734); Seelen, ''De Stipendiariis Nebuchadnezaris'' (Lubeck, 1737); ''Jour. Sac. Lit.'' April 1853, page 32; Rawlinson, Evidences, pages 127, 133; Ancient Monarchies, 2:50 sq. (See Babylonia). </p> <div> <p> '''Copyright Statement''' These files are public domain. </p> <p> '''Bibliography Information''' McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Nebuchadnezzar'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and [[Ecclesiastical]] Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/n/nebuchadnezzar.html. [[Harper]] & Brothers. New York. 1870. </p> </div> </p>