‘For this reason the king was furious and very angry, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.'
The king's response was immediate. They had failed him and proved themselves fakes. So filled with anger and great fury he commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. This behaviour could hardly be called normal in view of the unreasonableness of his request, even in a despotic king, and we may here have an instance of the seeds of that manic-depressive disease which would later tear his life apart for a while (Daniel 4:33). It indicated an intensity that was not quite normal.