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Daniel 4:5-15

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5 "I saw a 1dream and it made me fearful; and these fantasies as I lay on my bed and the 2visions in my mind kept alarming me.
6 "So I gave orders to 3bring into my presence all the wise men of Babylon, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.
7 "Then the 4magicians, the conjurers, the Chaldeans and the diviners came in and I related the dream to them, but they could not make its 5interpretation known to me.
8 "But finally Daniel came in before me, whose name is 6Belteshazzar according to the name of my god, and in whom is 7a spirit of the holy gods; and I related the dream to him, saying,
9 'O Belteshazzar, 8chief of the magicians, since I know that 9a spirit of the holy gods is in you and 10no * mystery baffles you, 11tell me the visions of my dream which I have seen, along with its interpretation.
10 'Now these were the 12visions in my mind as I lay on my bed: I was looking, and behold, there was a 13tree in the midst of the earth and its height was great.
11 'The tree grew large and became strong And its height 14reached to the sky, And it was visible to the end of the whole earth.
12 'Its foliage was 15beautiful and its fruit abundant, And in it was food for all. The 16beasts of the field found 17shade under it, And the 18birds of the sky dwelt in its branches, And all living creatures fed themselves from it.
13 'I was looking in the 19visions in my mind as I lay on my bed, and behold, 20an angelic watcher, a 21holy one, descended from heaven.
14 'He shouted out and spoke as follows: "22Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, Strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit; Let the 23beasts flee from under it And the birds from its branches.
15 "Yet 24leave 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.
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Daniel 4:5-15 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 24

  • 1. Daniel 2:3
  • 2. Daniel 2:1, 28; Daniel 4:10, 13
  • 3. Genesis 41:8; Daniel 2:2
  • 4. Genesis 41:8; Daniel 2:10, 27; Daniel 5:7
  • 5. Isaiah 44:25; Jeremiah 27:9, 10; Daniel 2:7
  • 6. Daniel 1:7; Daniel 2:26; Daniel 5:12
  • 7. Daniel 4:9, 18; Daniel 5:11, 14
  • 8. Daniel 1:20; Daniel 2:48; Daniel 5:11
  • 9. Genesis 41:38; Daniel 4:8
  • 10. Ezekiel 28:3; Daniel 2:47
  • 11. Genesis 41:15; Daniel 2:4, 5
  • 12. Daniel 4:5
  • 13. Ezekiel 31:3, 6
  • 14. Deuteronomy 9:1; Daniel 4:21, 22
  • 15. Ezekiel 31:7
  • 16. Jeremiah 27:6; Ezekiel 31:6
  • 17. Lamentations 4:20
  • 18. Ezekiel 17:23; Matthew 13:32; Luke 13:19
  • 19. Daniel 7:1
  • 20. Daniel 4:17, 23
  • 21. Deuteronomy 33:2; Psalms 89:7; Daniel 8:13
  • 22. Ezekiel 31:10-14; Daniel 4:23; Matthew 3:10; Matthew 7:19; Luke 13:7-9
  • 23. Ezekiel 31:12, 13; Daniel 4:12
  • 24. Job 14:7-9

Footnotes 12

  • [a]. Lit "of my head"
  • [b]. Or "soothsayer priests," and so throughout the ch
  • [c]. Or "master astrologers"
  • [d]. Lit "before"
  • [e]. Or possibly "the Spirit of the holy God," and so throughout the ch
  • [f]. Lit "before"
  • [g]. Lit "of my head"
  • [h]. Or "land," and so throughout the ch
  • [i]. Lit "flesh"
  • [j]. Lit "of my head"
  • [k]. Lit "of"
  • [l]. Lit "his portion be with"
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