“And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule.”
Nebuchadnezzar's extended praise: For his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does what he will with the host of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. There is no one who can stay his hand or say to him, What are you doing? The king proclaims God's eternal dominion and absolute authority. His assertion that God's kingdom endures forever echoes themes from chapter 2 (the stone-kingdom that stands forever) and contrasts with the temporality of human kingdoms. The statement that all inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing in comparison to God's dominion represents radical theological humbling; Nebuchadnezzar recognizes that his own greatness, however impressive to human perception, counts for nothing in cosmic perspective. The affirmation that God does what he will with the host of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth and that no one can stay His hand or question His actions represents absolute acknowledgment of divine sovereignty. This confession represents the complete reversal of the king's earlier boastful question (Is not this the great Babylon that I have built?); he now understands that all dominion derives from God and endures only by God's will.
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