Daniel 4:12

12 ¹Its leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. ²The beasts of the field found shade under it, and ³the birds of the heavens lived in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it.

Daniel 4:12 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 4:12

The leaves thereof were fair
Or "branches" ^F9, as some; and design either the provinces belonging to his empire, which were very large and flourishing; or the governors of them under him, as Saadiah, who made no small and contemptible figure; his princes were altogether kings: and the fruit thereof much;
great revenues from all parts of the empire were brought to him: and in it was meat for all;
the produce of the several countries, and the trade carried on in them, brought in a sufficient livelihood to all the inhabitants: the beasts of the field had shadow under it;
the inhabitants of the several Heathenish nations under him, and even those that were most savage, were protected in their lives and properties by him; so princes should be a screen, a protection to their subjects: and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof;
which Saadiah interprets of the Israelites, in opposition to the foreign nations, comparable to the beasts of the field: and all flesh was fed of it;
all his subjects shared in the good things his victorious arms brought into his empire; all enriched, or however made comfortable, and had a sufficiency of food and raiment; so that there was no reason to complain of him as oppressive to his subjects.

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 (hype) "ramus ejus", Pagninus, Montanus, Munster, Vatablus; "ramos ejus", Junius & Tremellius; "rami ejus", Piscator.

Daniel 4:12 In-Context

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

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

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

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

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

Cross References

• 1. Ezekiel 31:7
• 2. Ezekiel 31:6
• 3. Ezekiel 31:6