Critics argue that in the Hebrew portions of Daniel and Jeremiah, Nebuchadnezzar's name is ended '-nezzar', as opposed to the correct '-rezzar', which is the correct spelling that would have been used by a member of Nebuchadnezzar's court. Both spellings are found in the Hebrew throughout the OT - 31 times one way, 27 times the other; and the 'incorrect' spelling appears broadly, in 2 Kings, Jeremiah, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. This oddity is easily explained on philological grounds: It was common and acceptable in the ancient Hebrew language to change an 'r' to an 'n' when spelling.

An even more interesting explanation for this spelling 'problem,' however, has been proposed by van Selms. The 'correct' -rezzar spelling is a Hebrew adaptation from the original Akkadian version, nabu-kudurru-usur, which means, 'Nabu protect(s) the eldest son' (Nabu being a Babylonian god). The -nezzar spelling used in the OT may be an adaptation from a malicious reference made by Jewish opposition groups, nabu-kudanu-usur - which translates, 'Nabu protect(s) the mule'! The 'misspelling' could very well have been an intentional polemical device.