Daniel 4:19

Daniel Relates and Interprets the Dream

19 "Then Daniel, whose name [was] Belteshazzar, was distressed {for some time}, and his thoughts disturbed him. The king answered and he said, 'Belteshazzar, let the dream and its explanation not disturb you.' Belteshazzar answered and said, 'My lord, [may] the dream and its explanation [be] for [those who] hate you and for your enemies.

Daniel 4:19 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 4:19

Then Daniel (whose name was Belteshazzar) was astonied for
one hour
Not at the difficulty of interpreting the dream, which was plain and easy to him; but at the sad and shocking things he saw plainly by the dream were coming upon the king: and though he was a wicked prince, and justly deserved such treatment; and thus he continued for the space of an hour like one thunder struck, filled with amazement, quite stupid, dumb, and silent: and his thoughts troubled him;
both about what should befall the king, and how he should make it known to him: the king spake and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the
interpretation thereof, trouble thee:
he saw by his countenance the confusion he was in, and imagined there was something in the dream which portended evil, and made him backward to relate it; and therefore encouraged him to tell it, be it what it would: Belteshazzar answered and said, my lord, the dream be to them that hate
thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies;
which is as if he had said, I could have wished, had it been the will of God, that what is signified by the dream might have befallen not the king, but his enemies; this he said, not merely as a courtier, but as one that heartily wished and prayed for his peace and prosperity; and to show that he had no ill will to the king in the interpretation of the dream, but was his hearty faithful servant and minister; and yet suggests that something very dreadful and distressing was intended for him; and hereby he prepared him the better to receive it.

Daniel 4:19 In-Context

17 The sentence [is] by [the] decree of [the] watchers, and the decision [by] [the] command of [the] holy [ones], {in order that} the living will know that the Most High [is] sovereign over [the] kingdom of humankind, and {to whomever} he wills he gives it, and he [even] sets [the] humblest of men over it."

18 " 'This [is] the dream [that] I, Nebuchadnezzar the king, saw. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare its explanation, {for} all of [the] wise men of my kingdom were not able to make the explanation known to me, but you are able because [the] spirit of holy gods [is] in you.'

19 "Then Daniel, whose name [was] Belteshazzar, was distressed {for some time}, and his thoughts disturbed him. The king answered and he said, 'Belteshazzar, let the dream and its explanation not disturb you.' Belteshazzar answered and said, 'My lord, [may] the dream and its explanation [be] for [those who] hate you and for your enemies.

20 The tree that you saw, which grew and became strong and its height reached to heaven and {it was visible to the end of the whole earth},

21 and its foliage [was] beautiful and its fruit abundant, and [so there was] provision for all in it, [and] the animals of the field lived under it and in its branches nest [the] birds of heaven,

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "for one hour"