Daniel 4:12-22

12 'Its foliage was ¹beautiful and its fruit abundant, And in it was food for all. The ²beasts of the field found ³shade under it, And the ⁴birds of the sky dwelt in its branches, And all living creatures fed themselves from it.

13 'I was looking in the ⁵visions in my mind as I lay on my bed, and behold, ⁶an angelic watcher, a ⁷holy one, descended from heaven.

14 'He shouted out and spoke as follows: "⁸Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, Strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit; Let the ⁹beasts flee from under it And the birds from its branches.

15 "Yet ¹⁰leave the stump with its roots in the ground, But with a band of iron and bronze around it In the new grass of the field; And let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, And let him share with the beasts in the grass of the earth.

16 "Let his mind be changed from that of a man And let a beast's mind be given to him, And let ¹¹seven periods of time pass over him.

17 "This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers And the decision is a command of the holy ones, In order * that the living may ¹²know That the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, And ¹³bestows it on whom * He wishes And sets over it the ¹⁴lowliest of men."

18 'This is the dream which I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, tell me its interpretation, inasmuch * * as none * of the ¹⁵wise men of my kingdom is able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, for a ¹⁶spirit of the holy gods is in you.'

Daniel Interprets the Vision

19 "Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while as his ¹⁷thoughts alarmed him. The king responded and said, 'Belteshazzar, do not ¹⁸let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.' Belteshazzar replied, '¹⁹My lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you and its interpretation to ²⁰your adversaries!

20 'The ²¹tree that you saw, which became large and grew strong, whose height reached to the sky and was visible to all the earth

21 and whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt and in whose branches the birds of the sky lodged -

22 it is ²²you, O king; for you have become great and grown strong, and your majesty has become great and reached to the sky and your ²³dominion to the end of the earth.

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Daniel 4:12-22 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 23

1. Ezekiel 31:7
2. Jeremiah 27:6; Ezekiel 31:6
3. Lamentations 4:20
4. Ezekiel 17:23; Matthew 13:32; Luke 13:19
5. Daniel 7:1
6. Daniel 4:17, 23
7. Deuteronomy 33:2; Psalms 89:7; Daniel 8:13
8. Ezekiel 31:10-14; Daniel 4:23; Matthew 3:10; Matthew 7:19; Luke 13:7-9
9. Ezekiel 31:12, 13; Daniel 4:12
10. Job 14:7-9
11. Dan 4:23, 25, 32
12. Psalms 9:16; Psalms 83:18; Daniel 2:21; Daniel 5:21
13. Jeremiah 27:5-7; Daniel 4:25; Daniel 5:18, 19
14. 1 Samuel 2:8; Daniel 11:21
15. Genesis 41:8, 15; Daniel 4:7; Daniel 5:8, 15
16. Daniel 4:8, 9
17. Jeremiah 4:19; Daniel 7:15, 28; Daniel 8:27; Daniel 10:16, 17
18. 1 Samuel 3:17; Daniel 4:4, 5
19. 2 Samuel 18:31; Daniel 4:24; Daniel 10:16
20. 2 Samuel 18:32
21. Daniel 4:10-12
22. 2 Samuel 12:7; Daniel 2:37, 38
23. Jeremiah 27:6, 7

Footnotes 8

[a]. Lit "flesh"
[b]. Lit "of my head"
[c]. Lit "of"
[d]. Lit "his portion be with"
[e]. Lit "heart"
[f]. Lit "heart"
[g]. I.e. years
[h]. Lit "greatness"