What does Daniel 4:32 mean?
The king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, dreamed of a prospering tree which was sentenced to be cut to a stump. This dream also featured a decree for a man to be driven to animal-like madness (Daniel 4:10–17). Daniel confirmed that this was a prophecy: the king would be judged to make him humble before God (Daniel 4:22–27). A year passed before the prophecy was fulfilled (Daniel 4:28–29). Nebuchadnezzar was smugly looking out over his kingdom when a heavenly voice declared his punishment had begun (Daniel 4:30–31). As predicted, Nebuchadnezzar would be ostracized from society. He would eat grass like an ox; this either means he would think of himself as an animal or simply have a mindless, animalistic insanity.Fortunately, this sentence was not permanent. It would last "seven periods of time." Scholars vary on what those periods were. Other references to "times" in Daniel are generally interpreted as "years" (Daniel 7:25). The next verse says the king suffered long enough for his hair and fingernails to become unkempt (Daniel 4:33). Earlier this passage referred to "twelve months" (Daniel 4:29) rather than "one year." There are no historical records of Babylon's king being incapacitated for seven years, let alone re-taking the throne afterwards. For those reasons, some interpreters believe this insanity lasted seven weeks, or months, or some other, shorter span. What's more important is the purpose of the judgment: humility. Only when the king came to accept that God, the "Most High," was sovereign, was his mind and kingdom restored (Daniel 4:34).
Undoubtedly, as Nebuchadnezzar looked with pride upon Babylon, he considered himself the most exalted ruler on earth. In earlier incidents, he arrogantly assumed that his will could even overcome that of a god (Daniel 3:15). In this period of humiliation, he would learn a hard lesson. The One True God is infinitely more exalted and powerful than any earthly ruler. Nebuchadnezzar would leave his beautiful, comfortable palace and live like an animal. This would drain his pride and replace it with an awe of the Lord (James 4:6).