Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him.
Ver. 16. Let his heart be changed,] i.e., Obbrutescat, nihil humanum sapiat; a fearful judgment, and yet such as reprobates are usually delivered up to. Rom 1:24
And let a beast's heart be given him.] Let his fantasy and appetite be so changed, that, upon a strong imagination that he is a beast, he may have affections carrying him in all things to do accordingly. Little is said of this in human history. The Chaldee chronicles are lost. Alpheus (as he is cited by Eusebius) a briefly saith that Nebuchadnezzar, rapt with madness, presently vanished out of the company of men, after that he had first foretold the overthrow of the Chaldean monarchy. The Chaldeans in Abidenus' fragments record that he was blasted by some god, and spake of Babel's fall by the Persians. b
And let seven times to pass over him,] i.e., Seven years; like as Solomon's temple, that seven years' work of many thousands, was by him destroyed.
a Lib. ix. de Praepar. Ev.
b Brought., Conc. of Script.