Talk:Nebuchadnezzar II

[[Category: good articles|Nebuchadnezzar II]] Template:Archives

Font for Akkadian

The page includes "font-family:Akkadian" to display the name in Akkadian cuneiform, but this font is not commonly available. A possible solution would be to add "<link rel="stylesheet" media="screen" ref="https://fontlibrary.org/face/akkadian" type="text/css"/>" to the head of the html page. See . The referenced page says the font is free to use. I do not know how to edit the html header so help would be appreciated. Jony (talk) 16:27, 8 June 2018 (UTC)

Book of Daniel being fiction

How is it relevant that the book of Daniel is fiction? I work as a teacher, and teach my students that anything not 100% relevant should be considered removed. Is the statement about Daniel really relevant to who Nebuchadnezzar II was? This is like an article about Gandalf discussing how Gollum is a work of fiction. It just isn't relevant.

Ader (talk) 19:49, 9 June 2018 (UTC)

It is you who thinks that it would be irrelevant. Others might not think so. E.g. we have to state that such portrayal of Nebuchadnezzar is unhistorical. Tgeorgescu (talk) 19:54, 9 June 2018 (UTC)

Even if Daniel is invented, it does not mean that the portrayal of Nebuchadnezzar is incorrect? How is that good science? Do you throw away the entire source material just because one person in it is portrayed erroneously? Ader (talk) 20:08, 9 June 2018 (UTC)

There is no evidence that Nebuchadnezzar has converted to Judaism. Tgeorgescu (talk) 20:13, 9 June 2018 (UTC)

See, that would definitely be relevant to mention. Daniel himself as a character is not interesting. How about a paragraph something like this:

Nebuchadnezzar is an important character in the Book of Daniel, a collection of legendary tales and visions dating from the 2nd century BC.[15] The book's portrayal of Nebuchadnezzar should be taken with a spoonful of salt, since it claims that Nebuchadnezzar converted to Judaism, a claim that no other sources back up.

Ader (talk) 20:28, 9 June 2018 (UTC)

All the information from our articles is a matter of WP:SOURCES. Tgeorgescu (talk) 20:32, 9 June 2018 (UTC)

I fail to find that principle in the guidelines. It must go something like this: "When discussing the portrayal of one person in a source, you should also mention whether or not the main character existed"? Ader (talk) 20:40, 9 June 2018 (UTC)

I don't think that there would be such WP:PAG, but there is one about WP:CONSENSUS. Tgeorgescu (talk) 20:41, 9 June 2018 (UTC)

I didn't expect there to be either :) I think you misunderstand my argument. My issue is not with whether or not there is consensus for or against Daniel being a real person, my question is why that is relevant to this article. People wondering about things like that, could click on the link and read the discussion on the page about The Book of Daniel. There is no need to have it here. Including information that does not really shed light on anything but something vaguely related, will just lead to bloated articles.

So can you answer this: Why is whether or not Daniel is a real of fictitious person relevant to who Nebuchadnezzar is and how he is portrayed in the Bible?

Ader (talk) 20:48, 9 June 2018 (UTC)

Because the whole story is fiction loosely based upon some really-existing historical persons. Tgeorgescu (talk) 20:53, 9 June 2018 (UTC)

Well, why don't we write that? That's highly relevant because it tells the reader something about the source itself, and not just about one of the other characters. Suggestion: "The consensus among scholars is that this source is fiction loosely based upon some really-existing historical persons". Ader (talk) 20:57, 9 June 2018 (UTC)

If that's WP:VERifiable, I am not opposed to it. Tgeorgescu (talk) 20:59, 9 June 2018 (UTC)

I don't know whether it is verifiable. You coined most of the sentence and I am no expert on this issue, just an advocate for clear language :) But I assume that you have your sources? Ader (talk) 21:03, 9 June 2018 (UTC)

Template:Quote

Quoted by Tgeorgescu (talk) 21:22, 9 June 2018 (UTC)

Is that the best source we have? That book is as old as I am. An entire generation of new scholars has arrived on the scene since then. Is it confirmed in any newer material? 84.210.68.172 (talk) 06:08, 10 June 2018 (UTC)

No, it is not the only source. The idea that Daniel was real and wrote the Book of Daniel is WP:FRINGE/PS. The only group of scholars who disagree with this are Christian fundamentalists and conservative evangelicals, who do so for theological reasons. What they state about Daniel is theology (apologetics), not history. Tgeorgescu (talk) 08:15, 10 June 2018 (UTC)

Ader is correct that the sentence about the Daniel character never existing is actually superfluous at this article. The section only needs to make it clear that the presentation of Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel is not historical.--Jeffro77 (talk) 08:57, 10 June 2018 (UTC)

I've tried making the change. I really don't want to be difficult, but a 34 year old book as a source on consesus among scholars, is not something I look upon as a good source. Most of the scholars Collins speaks about must be retired by now, so the only thing the source proves is that consensus existed 34 years ago. Does anyone know of any more recent metastudies on what scholars think of The Book of Daniel? Ader (talk) 15:39, 10 June 2018 (UTC)

You may look for more sources at Book of Daniel. The consensus that it is a 2nd century BCE book did not change. Some things hardly change.

Template:Talk quote

Quoted by Tgeorgescu (talk) 16:01, 10 June 2018 (UTC)

Template:Ping I think that you should read the above. Tgeorgescu (talk) 17:10, 14 February 2019 (UTC)

@Tgeorgescu your assertion that Daniel is considered by scholars to be a work of historical fiction is technically incorrect. Some scholars certainly state that, but there are many others (both old and current) that do not. The qualifier "some" should be added before "scholars". Mkenweaver (talk) 14:29, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

Recent reversion

This is regarding my reversion of this edit on the basis that it is original research (i.e. original conclusions were drawn from the sources which are not made in the sources themselves).

Firstly, this text was added:

Template:Tq

This is what the cited reference says about this matter:

Template:Tq

The author doesn't mention the biblical account and makes no comment on the consistency of the biblical portrayal.

Similarly for this text that was added:

Template:Tq

Again, I do not see where the source notes the consistency of Daniel's prophecy. It only speaks of the influence of the Babylonian-Assyrian religion on the Old Testament. Bennv3771 (talk) 01:48, 23 December 2018 (UTC)

Critical scholars

Critical scholars are WP:MAINSTREAM: their vision gets taught from Ivy Plus to US state universities. Biblical inerrantists are WP:FRINGE. Tgeorgescu (talk) 03:26, 21 January 2019 (UTC)

If by "fringe" you mean "complete jokes" with unconvincing arguments, I would agree. Dimadick (talk) 08:30, 21 January 2019 (UTC)

Template:Ping The views of the Adventist scholars are considered marginal opinions. Tgeorgescu (talk) 19:28, 9 July 2019 (UTC)

I have truncated the claim that there is 'substantial evidence' supporting an earlier date for Daniel. The Ferch source that was added cites Wiseman and the existence of Belshazzar as 'evidence', neither of which actually substantiate an earlier date for Daniel.--Jeffro77 (talk) 08:49, 10 July 2019 (UTC)

Reliability and Relevance

I recently erased a baseless statement at the end of the intro, citing some scholar named Collins, that the Book of Daniel is merely a collection of legendary tales and visions dating from the 2nd century BCE. User:Tgeorgescu seems to have a problem with that. The dating of the Book of Daniel by scholars to the 2nd century BCE refers to the sealing of the text by the Men of the Great Assembly (in it's original Hebrew version, see Great Assembly), not its original composition. Additionally, this statement is irrelevant in this entry, and if anything should be mentioned as a scholarly opinion in Book of Daniel (and definitely not as consensus). — Preceding unsigned comment added by Natorious (talk • contribs) 12:08, 24 July 2019 (UTC)

That would be John J Collins " Holmes Professor of Old Testament Criticism & Interpretation at Yale Divinity School. He is noted for his research in the Hebrew Bible". See Book of Daniel#Dating for the reasons given for the dating. It's hardly a baseless statement and Collins is not just "some scholar". Doug Weller talk 13:43, 24 July 2019 (UTC)

I would like to chime in here that the reason we know the Book of Daniel was written in the second century BC is because the prophecies in it are only accurate up until a certain date: 164 BC exactly. After that date, all of the prophecies are catastrophically wrong. The only way that you can arrive with a work containing accurate prophecies up to one, specific date and inaccurate prophecies thereafter is if the book was actually written at that date, making all the "predictions" prior to that point actually be history framed as predictions to make the actual predictions found later seem reliable. --Katolophyromai (talk) 15:41, 3 December 2017 (UTC)

Quoted by Tgeorgescu (talk) 15:29, 24 July 2019 (UTC)

In any event it must be relevant and neutral. The addition (end of intro) that the Book of Daniel is a "collection of legendary tales and visions.." is irrelevant to this entry. As to the dating - If you can't determine it's composition was initiated before the 2nd century BCE (when it itself declares to have been) then you can't determine it wasn't Natorious (talk) 19:28, 25 July 2019 (UTC)

Let me spell out your choice: you either play by our WP:RULES or you'll get blocked and then banned. You have no right of undoing a more than hundred years old academic consensus and still actual. We side with Ivy Plus, not with true believers. If your view is unworthy of top 100 US universities, then it is unworthy for Wikipedia. As simple as that. If we mention at all the Book of Daniel, then we have to mention that it is a work of fiction, that it isn't history. We never conflate attested historical facts with fantasy stories. For WP:MAINSTREAM historians it is a historical fact that the Book of Daniel was composed in the 2nd century BCE. Of course, it includes stuff from older writings, nobody has denied that. Tgeorgescu (talk) 20:16, 25 July 2019 (UTC)

Whether right or wrong, I don't think your hammer reply was necessary, Tgeorgescu. Natorious clearly doesn't understand modern biblical theory where true scholars don't believe in precognition. Telling him that he's going to be blocked for a misunderstanding, for disagreeing with concensus thought, and for deleting passages - once - based upon misguided POV (which are very easily restored) is not only completely false but would mean half of the current reviewers would have been blocked at one time or another in their editing history. The fact that he brought this to Talk in the first place rightly suggests that he's not an Anon rewriting things for kicks.

That being said, I do have to differ with you on one point. You can't state that Daniel was both written by someone who understood current events (therefore a book of at worst partial history) and turnaround and state that we "have to mention that it is a work of fiction". If you want to state that this Daniel isn't who he says he was and he didn't write when he said he did, he sure got alot of current events correct (if we go along with the "modern" dating method) and therefore the book is not "a collection of legendary tales and visions". I would suggest that this specific statement needs to be reworked within the context of what is already on the page - UNLESS - that's a direct quote from a citation that I missed. Ckruschke (talk) 18:43, 26 July 2019 (UTC)Ckruschke

I do get what you say. It's like describing three years of Obama's presidency and then tell about his reasons why he nuked Pakistan. Isn't that a work of fiction? Tgeorgescu (talk) 18:49, 26 July 2019 (UTC)

Natorious is rather unknown to other editors at this point. Despite registering as an editor back in 2012, he/she has a very small number of edits and Talk:Nebuchadnezzar II is the first time he/she wrote anything in a talk page. A clearer explanation of Wikipedia policies might be better here than going directly to threats. Dimadick (talk) 13:57, 27 July 2019 (UTC)

Yup, I have seen many newbies indeffed because they did not want to listen to my honest advice. In fact, I suspect that some of them weren't newbies at all. If they listen and comply with WP:RULES I'm content. I cannot decide this matter instead them. Tgeorgescu (talk) 16:13, 27 July 2019 (UTC)

Image of Nebuchadnezzar II

Seems that there is historical depiction of Nebuchadnezzar II in the so called Tower of Babel Stele. Here is some info:

• Schøyen Collection (MS 2063)
• A stele of Nebuchadnezzar II (Tower of Babel stele)
• The Tower of Babel Stele

Anyone willing to upload it? 109.160.36.104 (talk) 22:12, 5 August 2019 (UTC)

How about copyright? Tgeorgescu (talk) 22:21, 5 August 2019 (UTC)

Sorry, I`m not competent on the copyright problems, but there might be some available images on google. Not sure about this: SOAS or this: [1] 109.160.36.104 (talk) 11:16, 6 August 2019 (UTC)

Fundamentalist POV

This is a WP:MAINSTREAM history article, so Barok777 don't bother us anymore with the fundamentalist POV, which would be booed off the stage at WP:CHOPSY. That falls within WP:FRINGE/PS. Tgeorgescu (talk) 06:08, 8 August 2019 (UTC)

Indeed a mainstream article. And very informative. The inclusion of an orthodox point of view in no way makes my POV fundamentalist. Why are your responses to these type of edits tainted with aggression, derision and contempt? Does it not highlight your own POV? I am A VERY BIG FAN of WIKIPEDIA and would like to contribute in a helpful way. Including several points of view, from several scholarly groups should round out an article should it not? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Barok777 (talk • contribs)

Adventists believe in a literal Adam and Eve, literal seven days of the creation week, i.e. they are fundamentalists in the original meaning of the word. Their scholarship is WP:FRINGE: fringe theologically and fringe historically. We don't infect the article Earth with the Adventist POV upon the age of the Earth, since that it banned by WP:RULES. That's why we don't take them seriously about the dating of the Book of Daniel. It's banned by WP:FRINGE. As I have told Natorious: if you have an axe to grind against Ivy Plus, Bar-Ilan University and Tel Aviv University you stand absolutely no chance of winning this dispute. Wikipedia simply isn't the venue for your WP:FRINGE WP:POV pushing. Tgeorgescu (talk) 06:49, 8 August 2019 (UTC)

Have no axe to grind. I also do not speak in the "royal we' form. Wanted to include orthodox point of view to balance article. Not an Adventist, but I do not limit my reading to only material I agree with. Even if you take out the reference to the Adventist academic article, the orthodox view is still relevant as the WIKI article specifically mentions POVs.— Preceding unsigned comment added by Barok777 (talk • contribs)

"We" means the Wikipedia community, i.e those who have a WP:CLUE. This is a history article, not a religion/theology article. That's why your orthodox POV is irrelevant to this article. Tgeorgescu (talk) 07:02, 8 August 2019 (UTC)

Template:Talk quote

Modernists won the debate about the dating of that book more than 100 years ago, so in the secular academia there is no other view. Theologically orthodox POV has been busted. So the WP:ONUS is upon you to show why a busted POV should be included as probably factual. If you are into shenanigans like "there is no empirical evidence for that dating" (see what you wrote at [2]) and "there is no empirical evidence for evolution", we don't play by your rules, you have to play by our WP:RULES or be blocked and then banned. This isn't a website wherein we weigh empirical evidence in order to establish WP:THETRUTH. This is merely a website upon which we parrot WP:MAINSTREAM WP:SCHOLARSHIP. What you have shown so far is that true believers dissent from mainstream history, and that they write pseudoscholarship. You have shown no reason why that would be germane to this article. What is so special about preaching to the choir employing pseudoscholarship? Instead of writing "our church believes that mainstream history is bull-crap" they write pseudohistory. Tgeorgescu (talk) 09:07, 8 August 2019 (UTC)

No need to misquote me. It makes you look sloppy (or sinister...) Empirical evidence is required in most Academic research, even for WP:THETRUTH - especially if you say things such as "MOST critical scholars". I removed no content. I added 2 references and a statement about the orthodox viewpoint, which is also based on several other academic references. Always speaking on behalf of the Wikipedia community makes you look desperate, or vain... I made absolutely no reference to "true believers", "evolution" etc etc - yet you went on a WP:RANT. I can almost see the spittle forming on your upper lip. "In the secular media there is no other view" - your own words are dripping with irony... If I am to be burnt at the WIKI-stake then so be it. Oh yes - I like your bull-crap quote. It made me smile. Genuine. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Barok777 (talk • contribs)

Let me tell you historical method 101: post-Enlightenment scholars don't work with precognition. It's called methodological naturalism. History well-done always endorses methodological naturalism. So, post-Enlightenment historians are compelled to accept Porphyry's explanation about the dating of Daniel.

Template:Quotation

Bart Ehrman quoted by Tgeorgescu. What you really ask from us is that we should teach the controversy about alternative historical facts, based upon pseudoscholarship. You're fighting against the luminaries of the Enlightenment, you fight against the scholars who shaped modern history, you fight against Ivy Plus, you fight against US state universities—your ambitions are too big for this venue, maybe at Conservapedia they will love what you write. Tgeorgescu (talk) 12:39, 8 August 2019 (UTC)

Copy/paste in case you missed it:

Template:Talk quote

Template:Talk quote

Template:Talk quote

Template:Talk quote

Template:Talk quote

Copy/paste by Tgeorgescu. So, academically speaking, Template:Tq is dead in the water. Tgeorgescu (talk) 13:28, 8 August 2019 (UTC)

Yeah, no biblical literalism on Wikipedia please. Simonm223 (talk) 13:40, 8 August 2019 (UTC)

Barok777 asks from mainstream history something which it can neither do nor deliver. Stating that Daniel had real prophecies is a violation of WP:NPOV, since prophecies cannot be shown to be historical facts, since the historical method prohibits that. The Enlightenment has done away with all supernatural claims from history. What Barok777 is doing is called around here WP:RGW. I'm not angry at him/her because all the discussions we could have upon this subject aren't going to change a jot of the historical method, and therefore his/her attempt to change the article to include a fundamentalist POV is by default doomed to fail. Barok777 cannot change that and I cannot change that. It is simply a matter that the WP:RULES for WP:Verifying historical facts do not allow for such POV in an article about mere historical facts. No amount of edit-warring is going to change the historical method or the methodological naturalism. Barok777 thinks that I and other established editors would have much discretionary powers in allowing his edits to be. No, such edits simply violate basic WP:PAGs and are therefore unallowable. This has nothing to do with his/her person or with my own person. It's nothing personal. It is merely that his/her past edits are incompatible with Wikipedia. Many things would have to drastically change in the outside world in order for such edits to become allowable. Tgeorgescu (talk) 16:19, 8 August 2019 (UTC)

Template:OdTemplate:Ping Read the above. No bona fide history department could teach that Daniel had genuine prophecies, since the epistemology of history prohibits it. There is a difference between past (what really happened) and history (what historians can show in peer-reviewed papers that it happened). Tgeorgescu (talk) 07:31, 11 August 2019 (UTC)

Quoted by Tgeorgescu. Where we draw the line? Daniel's prophecies probably factual? David Irving probably factual? Andrew Wakefield probably factual? Ryke Geerd Hamer probably factual? AIDS denialism probably factual? Young Earth Creationism probably factual? Moon landing probably hoax? It seems a complete mockery to poo on the historical method and then call your papers history writing. Since the Enlightenment the supernatural has been purged from history, yet some Wikipedia editors seem unaware of this fact. The edits at this article by Barok777, Natorious, Madcricketer and Vasyaivanov are a perfect example of how to flunk as a history undergraduate. If historians could prove paranormal claims, then you should expect peer-reviewed history articles like "Have leprechauns dictated the Book of Isaiah? An alternative theory for the claim that angels have dictated the Book of Isaiah." Tgeorgescu (talk) 09:33, 14 August 2019 (UTC)

Quoted by Tgeorgescu (talk) 14:29, 17 August 2019 (UTC)

Template:Ping Your stance is highly preposterous to anyone familiar with the historical method. See why above. The supernatural does not count in writing history, beginning with the Enlightenment. Historians do not work with the hypothesis that the supernatural is real when they write history, only theologians do that when they write theology. So, yeah, sooner or later inerrantists will find that the whole historical method is from Satan, just as they found that about evolution and about mainstream geology. I'd say wait till the conclusion that David did not rule a kingdom, he only ruled a village trickles down to schoolbooks. Then it will happen. This is all what WP:FRINGE/PS WP:POV pushers can do here: trolling with a complete mockery of the historical method. That is the rub. Template:Talk quote Quoted by Tgeorgescu (talk) 22:16, 28 August 2019 (UTC)

Template:Talk quote Quoted by Tgeorgescu (talk) 00:03, 29 August 2019 (UTC)

Quoted by Tgeorgescu. Maybe he wanted to say "it doesn't derive from any ontological status". Tgeorgescu (talk) 07:22, 29 August 2019 (UTC)

Think its time to close out this thread. The horse is dead, has been drawn and quartered, and each part has been sent to farthest points of the realm. Time to move on... Ckruschke (talk) 18:33, 5 September 2019 (UTC)Ckruschke

Tomelti has not dropped the WP:STICK. Template:Tq — but, yes, it is known: for more than 100 years the claim "the Book of Daniel is real history" is WP:FRINGE/PS according to WP:MAINSTREAM WP:SCHOLARSHIP. Tgeorgescu (talk) 14:52, 3 November 2019 (UTC)

Benimiah I suggest you drop the WP:STICK. Tgeorgescu (talk) 04:59, 5 April 2020 (UTC)

Saxophilist Please read the above, it concerns your edits. WP:NPOV means especially WP:RNPOV, not what you think it means.

Template:Talk quote

Template:Talk quote

Quoted by Tgeorgescu (talk) 08:54, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

The gist

Wikipedia does not follow the Bible. Wikipedia follows mainstream Bible scholarship. See WP:RSPSCRIPTURE. Tgeorgescu (talk) 05:40, 4 October 2020 (UTC)

Proposed move

The correct name is Nebuchadrezzar with an R; I've added this and given a source. We should move the page to Nebuchadrezzar II. (This has been discussed before at length at Talk:Nebuchadnezzar II/Archive 2#"Nebuchadrezzar".) Richard75 (talk) 22:04, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

I oppose this. "Nebuchadnezzar" has been and remains the most common name in English. See Google ngram for both variations. -Ben (talk) 04:07, 21 December 2019 (UTC)

Oppose for the same reason. I'll add that move requests should be done per WP:RM#CM. Doug Weller talk 08:55, 21 December 2019 (UTC)

Oppose for the same reason. BobKilcoyne (talk) 14:52, 21 December 2019 (UTC)

Requested move 21 December 2019

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: no consensus to move the page to the proposed title at this time, per discussion here and at Talk:Nebuchadnezzar I. If revisiting this in the future, please use the procedure shown at Wikipedia:Requested moves#Requesting multiple page moves and note Wikipedia:Correct; showing a preponderance of use in Wikipedia:Reliable sources would likely be necessary in order to gain consensus for this sort of change in the face of split usage. Less Unless began such a process below, but evidence in dispute of the assertion was also presented. Dekimasuよ! 05:19, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

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Nebuchadnezzar II → Nebuchadrezzar IINebuchadrezzar II – The correct spelling is Nebuchadrezzar; the second n is an error which crept into the Bible (which uses both spellings). There is a source for this in the article. (This has been discussed before here, and see the section immediately above.) Richard75 (talk) 11:45, 21 December 2019 (UTC)

• Support per nom. There are far more reliable resources using the "R".--Less Unless (talk) 13:40, 21 December 2019 (UTC)

• Oppose. This ngram does not show the "correct" spelling increasing in usage, which is odd if it is correct, because it has been known forever (it is just as biblical). Likewise, I get orders of magnitude more results for the -n- form over the -r- form in Google Scholars searches limited to after the year 2000: 2,670 to 227, and the latter may be an overcount. It is not obvious that this is because of a preponderance of biblical scholarship, since at a glance I see non-biblical scholar like Olof Pedersen and Daniel Potts using the -n- form. The fact is that both forms are attested in antiquity and from the same source. Neither is an attempt to represent his Akkadian name accurately to English speakers. Moreover, Akkadian wasn't the language of the empire. Aramaic was. Donald Wiseman in Nebuchadrezzar and Babylon (1983) writes that "the writing of the name with n is possibly attested in an Aramaic tablet dated to Nebuchadrezzar's thirty-fourth year" and "the shift r>n occurs in other transcriptsion of names in Babylonian". I do not know if this is correct, but I know that Nebuchadnezzar is a correct/reasonable transcription and the claim that it is an error depends on the original biblical text being in error. Given that Nebuchadrezzar is also a KJV term, this claim (that the -n- form is simply an error or corruption) needs more solid backing. Finally, this should have been a multi-move. My arguments here apply at the other pages as well. Srnec (talk) 19:16, 22 December 2019 (UTC)
• Strong oppose Per the very valid argument presented by Srnec._{ZXCVBNM (TALK)} 07:09, 28 December 2019 (UTC)

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The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Neutrality

I have changed the final sentence of the opening to reflect a neutral stance. It is as follows:

"He is an important character in the Book of Daniel, a collection of writings and visions that were perhaps written in the 2nd century BC."

Saxophilist (talk) 16:51, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

Your WP:TE has to stop. See #Fundamentalist POV for details. You're not making the article more neutral, you're making it more akin to true believers' stance. You have no WP:CONSENSUS, gain first consensus for your edits.

Template:Talk quote

Quoted by Tgeorgescu (talk) 17:23, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

It's not a fundamentalist point of view. You think it's a fundamentalist point of view. Your opinion is not fact. Rejecting scholars you disagree with is not neutral. Saxophilist (talk) 17:30, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

Template:Re Wikipedians reject WP:FRINGE/PS "scholars" all the time. In WP:MAINSTREAM WP:SCHOLARSHIP "the Book of Daniel was written in the 2nd century BCE" is the only game in town. That's academic consensus which holds true for more than a century. Tgeorgescu (talk) 17:38, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

You claim scholars that you disagree with are fringe and not real scholars. I know your game. It's a great way to shut down any real debate. The Book of Daniel may very well have been written in the 2nd century BC. I'm taking issue with it being called "legendary tales". Saxophilist (talk) 17:44, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

Template:Re The consensus is that it's not history. It's tales of court conquest + Vaticinium ex eventu.

Template:Talk quote

Quoted by Tgeorgescu (talk) 17:48, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

That quote shows a lack of understanding of the book. None of the prophecies are wrong. Some prophecies are about the end of time. That time obviously hasn't occurred yet. Do you honestly think you (or the quoted person) know more about the meaning of the book than 2000 years worth of theologians? Saxophilist (talk) 18:33, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

You do not make the call, I do not make the call, mainstream Bible scholars (WP:CHOPSY) make the call. Tgeorgescu (talk) 21:31, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

You only consider scholars you agree with to be "mainstream". Saxophilist (talk) 23:22, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

Nope, Wikipedia has clear WP:RULES for determining who's mainstream.

Template:Talk quote

Quoted by Tgeorgescu (talk) 12:39, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

Issue over editing

Who crowned Tgeorgescu as king of this page? If anyone disagrees with his opinions or his preferred scholars, then they are fringe fundamentalists. Really? Saxophilist (talk) 18:50, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

As I told you, read #Fundamentalist POV. You will see that the regulars agree with me. Oh, yeah, I received thanks for reverting you. Tgeorgescu (talk) 21:30, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

You disagree with it, therefore it's fundamentalist? Daniel being a real person has been the belief of Christians (and Jews) for 2000 years. How is a standard belief of a religion considered a fundamentalist view? I realize some Christians might not consider Daniel to be a historical figure, but they are a minority. Saxophilist (talk) 23:26, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

And congrats on being thanked for your revert. Do you want a prize? Saxophilist (talk) 23:28, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

The basic editorial rule on WIkipedia is that we use sources for our statements - every statement beyond the most basic should be sourced, and the source should be reliable and accessible. In this case, there are multiple reliable sources saying the Book of Daniel is not a history book (which should be obvious to any reader), and that Daniel is a legendary figure. This has always been the position of Jewish scholars,or at least since the failure of the Bar Kochba revolt, but Christians see it in prophetic messianic terms, and so it becomes problematic for them. Anyway, the converse of the rule about using reliable sources is that we don't delete sourced statements when we disagree with them. Achar Sva (talk) 03:52, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

• Most Christians did not read the Bible.
• We have to distinguish between a subjective religious opinion and an objective historical fact.

Template:Ping I advise you that you should refrain from maiming the academic consensus at this article. Just like I avoid the articles Abortion and Health effects of salt. The difference between you and me is that I know where my edits are unwelcome. To be specific, we don't use WP:ATTRIBUTEPOV for WP:RS/AC sort of claims. Or if we do, we say something like "The consensus of mainstream scholars is...". It's not just Collins' POV: the consensus existed before he was born and will continue to exist after his death. There isn't any alternative to it, precisely as for evolution the only credible alternative is or was lamarckism not intelligent design. Once the Enlightenment purged history of all miracles/supernatural, there was no other option left for historians. Tgeorgescu (talk) 13:24, 24 May 2020 (UTC)

Akkadian

A Unicode rendition of the Akkadian script for the name Nebuchadnezzar "𒀭𒀝𒆪𒁺𒌨𒊑𒋀" has recently been added to the article. That rendition appears to be frequently used online (though it seems to transliterate as ANAKKUDUURRIŠEŠ). In any case, it does not take an expert in cuneiform to see that File:Nebuchadnezzar in Akkadian.png and 𒀭𒀝𒆪𒁺𒌨𒊑𒋀 are not the same word. Can somebody verify the form from the image from the original source (Bertin, G. (1891). "Babylonian Chronology and History". Transactions of the Royal Historical Society. 5: p. 50; [@User:Ichthyovenator]?) and either replace with the correct form or add a note to the article explaining why the two forms are different? Ideally, if someone can also confirm the accuracy of the Unicode form too.--Jeffro77 (talk) 00:54, 3 October 2020 (UTC)

Jeffro77: I uploaded the image version and I can confirm that it is correct in so far that this is the form given by Bertin in the cited source. The reason I replaced the original unicode version with the image is that cuneiform changed over time (signs and grammar are for instance noticeably different in Sumerian and Neo-Assyrian writings); the unicode version (the accuracy of which I can't verify since it is uncited) seems to use older signs while Bertin presents the actual Neo-Babylonian rendition. Another advantage of Bertin is that he presents the name of a vast amount of kings, making it convenient to use him as a source for these articles. Ichthyovenator (talk) 08:13, 3 October 2020 (UTC)

Do we know that the 1891 source is accurate? Do we know that the Unicode form is accurate? If the Unicode text shows only an earlier Sumerian or Assyrian form of the letters, it is probably misleading to use it if it were not the form used in the Neo-Babylonian period? That said, the glyphs in the Unicode form provided do appear in cuneiform from the Neo-Babylonian period. Perhaps an excerpt showing the context of the images in the Bertin source would help. In any case, the presentation of two obviously different forms without explanation as in the article presently is unhelpful. It probably also is not useful in the context of the article to note that the text form is "Unicode", and if, for example, it is an Assyrian rather than Neo-Babylonian form of the name, it would be more helpful to note that.--Jeffro77 (talk) 01:44, 4 October 2020 (UTC)

Personally I automatically trust the 1891 source more since it's actually cited (unlike the unicode version). In the source itself, the names of various Mesopotamian rulers are presented in cuneiform and transliteration. Of course, a more modern "dictionary" of names in cuneiform would be preferrable, but I haven't found any. I agree that both the 1891 version and the unicode version should not be in the article, at least not in the way they are now. For a similar situation, see Ashurbanipal, whose lede presents his name as written by the Neo-Assyrians, with a unicode version in older script added as a note. Ichthyovenator (talk) 11:49, 4 October 2020 (UTC)

More to the point, how many of us can read Akkadian?Achar Sva (talk) 11:50, 4 October 2020 (UTC)

A fair point, I would be more than happy to completely do away with Akkadian script in the ledes since it's difficult to find sources for the names for some kings (notably I haven't found anything for Sin-shumu-lishir and Labashi-Marduk). I'm not sure if there are guidelines in regards to this, but other ancient rulers appear to use ancient scripts as well, such as Cyrus the Great (has his name in Old Persian script) and Bahram V (has his name in Middle Persian script). Ichthyovenator (talk) 12:43, 4 October 2020 (UTC)

Apart from an extremely small number of readers, inclusion of a cuneiform form of the name is really just a novelty, but if it is included, it should be accurate.--Jeffro77 (talk) 02:52, 5 October 2020 (UTC)

I agree on both points. What I was showing with the Ashurbanipal example is that both could very well be accurate renditions of Nebuchadnezzar's name, in different scripts/contexts; I trust the 1891 source more since it is a scholarly source. The unicode rendition completely lacks a source as it stands and if one is not added, must be considered original research. Ichthyovenator (talk) 11:00, 5 October 2020 (UTC)

Merge reception section from Nebuchadnezzar (The Matrix) here

Nebuchadnezzar (The Matrix) is better than I expected (it has a well-referenced reception section), but it suffers from one critical issue - the coverage of this fictional entity (ship) is in passing, which makes it fail WP:GNG/WP:NFICTION. Several sources do discuss a single aspect of it - its name - but do so in passing. As far as I can tell, none have more than a sentence or two about this aspect, and there is nothing about anything else. (Of course, there are also few sentences in some sources that are mentions in passing in the context of plot summaries, but that's pretty much irrelevant). As such, I think we should merge the receptions section somewhere, but I am not sure what article would be a good choice to discuss the meaning of the name of the ship. Perhaps 'in popular culture' section could be added to Nebuchadnezzar II and the entry redirected there? Another option would be to rename and rewrite the article into the Meaning of the name Nebuchadnezzar in The Matrix but that's a mouthful. There is also the option of merging it to some Matrix article (or forking it to both articles), but I couldn't find any Matrix-themed article that is relevant, as none discuss this ship outside a plot summary. --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here} 01:31, 8 November 2020 (UTC)

The section seems best located where it already is or otherwise merged into another article related to the film franchise. It only really has superficial relevance to the historical character, so it definitely shouldn't be merged to this article. Article content about the fictional ship should be kept within articles specific to the Matrix franchise. There doesn't seem to be sufficient notability to have a standalone article for "Meaning of the name Nebuchadnezzar in The Matrix".--Jeffro77 (talk) 02:51, 8 November 2020 (UTC)

I agree; it should not be merged to this article. Ichthyovenator (talk) 11:03, 8 November 2020 (UTC)

Agreed with Jeffro77. If there is a consensus for a merge, it should not be merged with the actual historical character, as there is only a superficial similarity/reference between the two topics. In any event, Oppose merge. Haleth (talk) 06:27, 13 November 2020 (UTC)

Agreed with Jeffro77. Just because some science fiction franchise borrows a historical name, there is no reason to add this non-historical content to a page that is eminently about history. warshy ^(¥¥) 16:15, 13 November 2020 (UTC)

I agree with Jeffro77. Science fiction and historical figures should not be conflated. Let the other article remain a standalone, where it will be most useful for those particular readers. Oppose merge. Niekinloy (talk) 1:18, 12 December 2020 (UTC)

• Oppose That article is standalone notable, IMO (since I created it). It doesn't fail GNG and you have gotten a bit carried away nominating obviously notable pages for merge or deletion. WP:BATHWATER._{ZXCVBNM (TALK)} 04:38, 13 November 2020 (UTC)

Oppose merge! I completely disagree with your logic. Pixiechick66 (talk) 03:21, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

"𒀭𒀝𒆪𒁺𒌨𒊑𒋀" listed at Redirects for discussion

File:Information.svg An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect 𒀭𒀝𒆪𒁺𒌨𒊑𒋀 and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2022 February 20#𒀭𒀝𒆪𒁺𒌨𒊑𒋀 until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. ~~~~
User:1234qwer1234qwer4 (talk) 21:17, 20 February 2022 (UTC)

Faith issue

About Template:Tq—that's exactly the problem: historians work with shared assumptions (like methodological naturalism), and faith in the supernatural does not belong to the shared assumptions of historical scholarship. Historiography which assumes there are supernatural causes is pseudohistory, plain and simple, no doubt about that.

The requirements of the historical method do not allow stating as historical fact that the Book of Daniel is genuine prophecy. This is generally agreed, regardless of which faith the historian does belong to.

So, at the basic level of methodological requirements, modern historical research gives the lie to the fundamentalist reading of Daniel, and it cannot do otherwise.

The whole enterprise of modern historical WP:SCHOLARSHIP is designed to give the lie to fundamentalism. Modern historiography is based upon assumptions which are alien and inimical to fundamentalism.

People who complain that those darn liberal scholars bash the Bible don't understand that honest historians cannot do otherwise. It is their only choice, besides completely refraining from studying the Bible. tgeorgescu (talk) 14:49, 29 October 2022 (UTC)

The current article on Wikipedia calls it "very strange" that Nebuchadnezzar in the end of his reign writes that he had been appointed by the gods prior to his birth. It also mentions some theory to explain his writing.

However, his account is supported by Daniel chapter 4, and it can be easily understood from the biblical perspective.

That is, two historical sources support each other, one is discarded because of unbelief, and the second is then regarded as very strange. Mdiehl216 (talk) 02:50, 22 March 2025 (UTC)

Other biblical references

If someone thought that my inclusion of mentions in Jeremiah and Ezekiel was "fringe" (under the POV that those works are fiction), perhaps instead of reverting, a better approach would have been to change the word "predicted." The passages exist and are pertinent to the topic. I did not re-enter because I didn't want the risk of an edit war.伟思礼 (talk) 17:14, 29 January 2023 (UTC)

In this instance, the problem would be that you sourced the information solely to primary sources, without any secondary sources validating the statements that you made about theories based on the text in those primary sources. Iskandar323 (talk) 18:00, 29 January 2023 (UTC)

Rabbanic Literature

Nebuchadnezzar, the "wicked one" ("ha-rasha'"; Meg. 11a; Ḥag. 13b; Pes. 118a), was a son—or descendant?—of the Queen of Sheba by her marriage with Solomon ("Alphabet Ben Sira," ed. Venice, 21b; comp. Brüll's "Jahrb." ix. 9), and a son-in-law of Sennacherib (Targ. to Isa. x. 32; Lam. R., Introduction, 23, says "a grandson"), with whom he took part in the expedition of the Assyrians against Hezekiah, being one of the few who were not destroyed by the angels before Jerusalem (Sanh. 95b). He came to the throne in the fourth year of King Jehoiakim of Judah, whom he subjugated and, seven years later, killed after that king had rebelled. Nebuchadnezzar did not on this occasion go to Jerusalem, but received the Great Sanhedrin of Jerusalem at Daphne, a suburb of Antioch, informing that body that it was not his intention to destroy the Temple, but that the rebellious Jehoiakim must be delivered to him, which in fact was done (Seder 'Olam R. xxv.; Midr. 'Eser Galuyyot, ed. Grünhut, "Sefer ha-Liḳḳuṭim," iii.; Lev. R. xix.; comp. Jehoiakim in Rabbinical Literature). Holds No Oath Sacred. According to Josephus ("Ant." x. 6, § 3), the King of Judah voluntarily received Nebuchadnezzar and his army in the city; but Nebuchadnezzar treacherously broke the compact between them, and massacred the king together with the strongest and most beautiful inhabitants of Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar then carried away into captivity 5,000 Judeans and 7,000 of the other tribes, including all the nobles and scholars of the city (Josephus, l.c.; Seder 'Olam R. l.c.; Midr. 'Eser Galuyyot, l.c.). When he celebrated his triumph in Babylon and told his subjects how he had made Jehoiachin king in the place of his rebellious father Jehoiakim, they reminded him of the proverb: "A poor dog has no good progeny." Nebuchadnezzar then returned to Daphne, where he received the Great Sanhedrin and told it that he desired to take King Jehoiachin to Babylon. When it delivered the king to him, Jehoiachin was cast into prison for life (Lev. R. xix. 6; comp. Seder 'Olam R. l.c.; Yer. Sheḳ. vi. 49a; and Jehoiachin in Rabbinical Literature). The King of Babylon again showed how little sacred an oath was to him; for, although he had pledged his word that he would not harm the city, he carried captive to Babylon a large number of the inhabitants (Josephus, l.c. x. 7, § 1) together with the Ark of the Covenant (Seder 'Olam R. l.c.). Although a voice from heaven uttered for eighteen years these words in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, "O wicked servant; go and destroy the house of your master, since his children no longer obey him," yet the king was afraid to obey the command, remembering the defeat which Sennacherib had suffered in a similar attempt. Nebuchadnezzar asked the advice of different oracles, all of which warned him not to undertake the expedition against Jerusalem (Lam. R. l.c.). Furthermore the Ammonitesand the Moabites, Israel's "wicked neighbors," gave inducements to Nebuchadnezzar to come by saying that the Prophets announced Judah's downfall. They allayed the king's fear lest God might send the same fate upon him that He had upon Sennacherib, by saying that God had now abandoned Israel, and that there were left among the people no pious ones able to turn away God's anger (Sanh. 96b). Nebuchadnezzar decided on his expedition against Jerusalem only after God showed him how He had bound the hands of Michael, Israel's guardian angel (Midr. Ekah Zuṭa, p. 70); and even then Nebuchadnezzar did not lead the expedition himself, but gave it into the hands of Nebuzar-adan (Pesiḳ. R. 26 [ed. Friedmann, p. 130b]; Sanh. 96b, above; comp. Eccl. R. on Eccl. x. 7, to the effect that Nebuchadnezzar, seated on a horse which was led by Michael, entered the Holy of Holies. At Daphne, from which place Nebuchadnezzar followed the operations before the walls of Jerusalem, he received the Sanhedrin of Jerusalem with great honors, asking the members to read and explain to him the Torah. Sitting on seats of honor, they began their explanations. When, however, they came to the section on the dispensation from vows (Num. xxx. 2 et seq.), the king cried out in anger: "I believe it was you who released King Zedekiah from his oath to me." He then commanded that the scholars leave their seats and sit on the ground (Lam. R. ii. 10; Ned. 65a; comp. Zedekiah in Rabbinical Literature; "Chronicles of Jerahmeel," x. 10: "the great Sanhedrin . . . who were slain by Nebuchadnezzar"). Zedekiah, the captive king, was also brought to Daphne, where Nebuchadnezzar took him to task, saying that, according to divine and human law, Zedekiah had merited death, since he had sworn falsely by the name of God, and had rebelled against his suzerain (Pesiḳ. R. l.c. [ed. Friedmann, p. 131a]). Nebuchadnezzar's Cruelty. Nebuchadnezzar was most merciless toward the conquered people. By his command the exiles on their way to Babylon were not allowed to stop even for a moment, as the king feared that they would pray during the respite granted them and that God would be willing to help them as soon as they repented (Lam. R. to v. 6; Pesiḳ. R. 28 [ed. Friedmann, p. 135a]). Nebuchadnezzar did not feel safe until the exiles reached the Euphrates, the boundary-line of Babylon. Then he made a great feast on board his ship, while the princes of Judah lay chained and naked by the river. In order to increase their misery he had rolls of the Torah torn and made into sacks, which, filled with sand, he gave to the captive princes to carry (Pesiḳ. R. l.c. [ed. Friedmann, p. 135a]; Midr. Teh. cxxxvii.; comp. Buber's remark ad loc. and Lam. R. v. 13). On this occasion Nebuchadnezzar ordered the singers of the Temple to add their music to his feast; but they preferred to bite off their fingers, or even to be killed, rather than to play their sacred music in honor of the Babylonian idols (Pesiḳ. R. 31 [ed. Friedmann, p. 144a], 28 [136a]; comp. Moses, Children of). He heartlessly drove the captives before him, entirely without clothing, until the inhabitants of Bari induced him to clothe them (Pesiḳ. R. l.c. [ed. Friedmann, p. 135b]). But even after the heavily burdened Jews finally reached Babylonia they had no rest from the tyrant, who massacred thousands of youths whose beauty had inflamed the passion of the Babylonian women—a passion which did not subside until the corpses were stamped upon and mutilated (Sanh. 92b; comp. Ezekiel in Rabbinical Literature). Nebuchadnezzar carried to Babylon, together with the Jews, cedar-trees which he had taken from Lebanon (Lam. R. i. 4), and millstones which he made the captive youths bear (l.c. v. 13). Even the Jews who had sought refuge from the Babylonians in Ammon and Moab or in Egypt did not escape Nebuchadnezzar, who, on conquering Egypt, carried all the Jews in that country, including Baruch and Jeremiah, to Babylonia (Midr. 'Eser Galuyyot, ed. Grünhut, l.c. iii. 14; Seder 'Olam R. xxvi.). Nebuchadnezzar was equally victorious in his expedition against Tyre, whose king, Hiram, his stepfather, he dethroned and put to a painful death (Lev. R. xviii. 2; Yalḳ., Ezek. 367). Nebuchadnezzar, moreover, not only was a cosmocrat, ruling all the earth (Meg. 11a et passim), but he subdued the world of animals also, his charger being a lion, on whose neck a snake hung quietly (Shab. 150a, above). His godlessness was commensurate with his power; he was given, among other vices, to pederasty, which he, as with the other kings, also tried to commit with the pious Zedekiah, but was prevented by a miracle from doing so (Shab. 149b; see also Jerome on Hab. ii. 16). He was so greatly feared that as long as he was alive no one dared laugh; and when he went down to hell the inmates trembled, asking themselves whether he would rule them also (Shab. l.c.). In his arrogance he considered himself to be a god, and spoke of making a cloud in order to enthrone himself like God on high (Mek., Beshallaḥ, Shirah, 6 [ed. Weiss, p. 47a, b]); but a heavenly voice cried to him: "O thou miscreant, son of a miscreant, and grandson of the miscreant Nimrod! Man lives seventy years, or at most eighty (Ps. xc. 10). The distance from the earth to heaven measures 500 years; the thickness of heaven measures as much; and not less the distance from one heaven to the other" (Pes. 94a, below; Ḥag. 13a et passim). Behavior Toward Israelites. The lot of the Jews was naturally a very sad one during Nebuchadnezzar's reign; and even Daniel, as well as his three friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who were pages at court, were often in peril of their lives. This was especially the case when the king tried to force the three pages to worship the idol at Durah, and they, upon their refusal to do so, were thrown into the fiery furnace. However, the miracle performed in their behalf (comp. Azariah in Rabbinical Literature; Ezekiel in Rabbinical Literature) induced Nebuchadnezzar to join in praising God; and he was so carried away by his songs that had he continued he would have surpassed David, but an angel forced him to desist (Sanh. 92b). Yet this did not prevent him from massacring all the 600,000 Jews who had obeyed his command and worshipedthe idol, and whom he reproached for not having followed the example of the three pious men and trusted in God (Pirḳe R. El. xxxiii.). He finally received his well-merited punishment; for God changed him into an animal, as far as his appearance, intellect, and language were concerned. He appeared to the people with his upper half as an ox and the lower half as a lion, and as such he killed many villains. Through Daniel's prayers the seven years of punishment decreed for Nebuchadnezzar were changed to seven months; and after the king had lamented his sins for forty days, had lived in the caves for another period of forty days, and had herded for the same length of time with the beasts of the forest, God took mercy upon him and allowed him to return to his throne. He repented and did penance for the next seven years, subsisting, on the advice of Daniel, on vegetable food. The affairs of the government he gave into the hands of seven judges, who held office for one year each. At the expiration of this period he wished to make Daniel one of his heirs; but the latter refused with the words: "Far be it from me to exchange the heritage of my fathers for that of one uncircumcised" ("The Chronicles of Jerahmeel," ed. Gaster, lxvi. 1-2; see also the passage quoted in the introduction, p. 106). Among the Animals. According to another version, Nebuchadnezzar really spent seven years among the animals, during which time his son Evil-merodach ruled as king (see, however, Josephus, l.c. x. 10, § 6); but when he returned he cast this son into prison for life. Therefore after Nebuchadnezzar had died and the nobles of the realm came to the son to swear fealty to him as their king, he did not dare listen to them until they brought the corpse of his father, so that he could convince himself that the latter really was dead (Lev. R. xviii. 12). Others say that Evilmerodach himself exhumed the body of his father, because the people believed that Nebuchadnezzar was not really dead—that he had simply disappeared as he had once before, and that they would be severely punished by him if at his return he found that they had invested another king. The body of the dead monarch was therefore dragged through the city so that the people might see it (Targ. Sheni, beginning; Jerome on Isa. xiv. 19; see also "The Chronicles of Jerahmeel," lxvi. 6; a shorter version is given in Seder 'Olam R. xxviii.). This was the shameful end of Nebuchadnezzar, after a reign of forty years (Seder 'Olam R. l.c. 45; Pesiḳ. R., ed. Buber, xxvii. [ed. Friedmann, p. 168b, 40]; Josephus, l.c. x. 11, §§ 1, 43). That Nebuchadnezzar, in spite of all his wickedness, was chosen by God to rule over Israel and all the earth, was due, according to some, to the fact that he was a descendant of Merodach-baladan, to whom God granted, as a reward for a pious deed, that three of his descendants, namely, Nebuchadnezzar, his son Evil-merodach, and Belshazzar, should become world-rulers (Pesiḳ. R., ed. Buber, ii. 14a; comp. Merodach-Baladan. According to another rabbinical legend, Nebuchadnezzar was the secretary of Baladan. The latter wrote a letter to Hezekiah (II Kings xx. 12) in Nebuchadnezzar's absence, who, on his return, was informed of its contents, which began as follows: "Greetings to the king Hezekiah, to the city of Jerusalem, and to the great God." "What!" exclaimed Nebuchadnezzar, "you call Him the great God, and yet you mention His name at the end, whereas it should be at the beginning!" Nebuchadnezzar then ran after the messenger, to take the letter and rewrite it. God, therefore, rewarded him with the rulership of the world; and if the angel Gabriel had not kept Nebuchadnezzar from overtaking the messenger, his power would have become still greater, and the Jews would in consequence have suffered still more at his hands.