Daniel 4:1-18

Nebuchadnezzar Praises God

1 ^[a] King Nebuchadnezzar to all ¹peoples, nations, and languages, ²that dwell in all the earth: ³Peace be multiplied to you!

2 It has seemed good to me to show the ⁴signs and wonders that the ⁵Most High God has done for me.

3 How great are ⁶his signs, how mighty his ⁷wonders! ⁸His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, ⁹and his dominion endures from generation to generation.

Nebuchadnezzar's Second Dream

4 ^[b] I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and prospering in my palace.

5 I saw a dream that made me afraid. As I lay in bed the fancies and ¹⁰the visions of my head alarmed me.

6 So ¹¹I made a decree that ¹²all the wise men of Babylon should be brought before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.

7 Then ¹³the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers came in, and I told them the dream, but ¹⁴they could not make known to me its interpretation.

8 At last Daniel came in before me--he who was named ¹⁵Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is ¹⁶the spirit of the holy gods^[c]--and I told him the dream, saying,

9 "O Belteshazzar, ¹⁷chief of the magicians, because I know that ¹⁸the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no ¹⁹mystery is too difficult for you, tell me ²⁰the visions of my dream that I saw and their interpretation.

10 ²¹The visions of my head as I lay in bed were these: I saw, and ²²behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great.

11 ²³The tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth.

12 ²⁴Its leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. ²⁵The beasts of the field found shade under it, and ²⁶the birds of the heavens lived in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it.

13 "I saw in ²⁷the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and behold, ²⁸a watcher, ²⁹a holy one, came down from heaven.

14 He ³⁰proclaimed aloud and said thus: ³¹'Chop down the tree and ³²lop off its branches, ³³strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. ³⁴Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches.

15 But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the field. Let him be wet with the dew of heaven. Let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth.

16 Let his mind be changed from a man's, and let a beast's mind be given to him; ³⁵and let seven periods of time ³⁶pass over him.

17 The sentence is by the decree of ³⁷the watchers, the decision by the word of ³⁸the holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High ³⁹rules the kingdom of men ⁴⁰and gives it to whom he will and ⁴¹sets over it the lowliest of men.'

18 This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. And you, O ⁴²Belteshazzar, tell me the interpretation, because ⁴³all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation, but you are able, for ⁴⁴the spirit of the holy gods is in you."

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Daniel 4:1-18 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DANIEL 4

This chapter was written by Nebuchadnezzar himself; and was either taken out of his archives, or given by him to Daniel, who under divine inspiration inserted it into this work of his; and a very useful instruction it contains, showing the sovereignty of God over the greatest kings and potentates of the earth, and this acknowledged by one of the proudest monarchs that ever lived upon it. It begins with a preface, saluting all nations, and declaring the greatness and power of God, Da 4:1-3 then follows the narrative of a dream the king dreamed, which troubled him; upon which he called for his wise men to interpret it, but in vain; at length he told it to Daniel, Da 4:4-9: the dream itself; which being told, astonished Daniel, the king being so much interested in it, Da 4:10-19, the interpretation of it, with Daniel's advice upon it, is in Da 4:20-27 the fulfilment of it, time and occasion thereof, Da 4:28-33. Nebuchadnezzar's restoration to his reason and kingdom, for which he praises God, Da 4:34-37.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 44

1. See Daniel 3:4
2. Daniel 6:25
3. 1 Peter 1:2; 2 Peter 1:2
4. Daniel 6:27; [John 4:48]
5. Daniel 3:26
6. [See ver. 2 above]
7. [See ver. 2 above]
8. See Daniel 2:44
9. See Daniel 2:44
10. Daniel 2:28; Daniel 7:15
11. See Daniel 3:10
12. Daniel 2:12
13. See Daniel 2:2
14. [ver. 18; Daniel 2:27; Daniel 5:8, 15]
15. See Daniel 1:7
16. ver. 18; Daniel 2:11; Daniel 5:11; Genesis 41:38; [Isaiah 63:14]
17. Daniel 5:11; [Daniel 2:48]
18. [See ver. 8 above]
19. Daniel 2:18
20. [See ver. 5 above]
21. [See ver. 5 above]
22. [Ezekiel 31:3]
23. [Psalms 37:35]
24. Ezekiel 31:7
25. Ezekiel 31:6
26. Ezekiel 31:6
27. [See ver. 5 above]
28. ver. 23
29. [Deuteronomy 33:2; Zechariah 14:5; Jude 14]
30. See Daniel 3:4
31. ver. 23; [Matthew 3:10; Luke 3:9]
32. [Ezekiel 31:12]
33. [Ezekiel 31:12]
34. [Ezekiel 31:12]
35. [ver. 23, 25]
36. [1 Chronicles 29:30]
37. [See ver. 13 above]
38. [See ver. 13 above]
39. ver. 25, 32; Daniel 5:21
40. Jeremiah 27:5
41. See 1 Samuel 2:8
42. See Daniel 1:7
43. [ver. 7; Daniel 5:8, 15; Genesis 41:8]
44. See ver. 8

Footnotes 3

[a]. Ch 3:31 in Aramaic
[b]. Ch 4:1 in Aramaic
[c]. Or Spirit of the holy God; also verses 9, 18

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.