Daniel: Captive in Babylon (Chapter 4B)

Daniel 4:19–27 KJV 1900

19 Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies. 20 The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth; 21 Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation: 22 It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth. 23 And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him; 24 This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king: 25 That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. 26 And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule. 27 Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.

Daniel 4:19–37 KJV 1900

19 Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies. 20 The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth; 21 Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation: 22 It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth. 23 And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him; 24 This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king: 25 That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. 26 And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule. 27 Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity. 28 All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. 29 At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. 30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? 31 While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. 32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. 33 The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws. 34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: 35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? 36 At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellers and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. 37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.

Recap:

Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, & Azariah have been taken into captivity after Judah was given into the hands of Jehoiakim. () During this very short period, all 4 of these young men have received favor and promotion; but it hasn’t come without severe trials. We’re now in chapter 4 where Nebuchadnezzar has had a second dream. Daniel outperforms the witchcraft team of Nebuchadnezzar both times. Now, we see a major turn in Nebuchadnezzar’s life and kingship about to take a dramatic turn.

V.19

Here goes Daniel interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.

- Nebuchadnezzar switches to the third person for the sake of crafting his story. Daniel now takes the dominant role in the narrative.

Nebuchadnezzar switches to the third person for the sake of crafting his story. Daniel now takes the dominant role in the narrative.

(Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press._

-Scripture says that Daniel was astonished…not because of the difficulties of understanding it, but he knew that this dream could potentially disrupt the entire kingdom, including he and his friends.

-Probably not an actual hour, or 60 minutes. That word there in the Aramaic is sha`ah which means “a brief time, moment”. Similar to us saying in modern english, “I’ll be there in a couple minutes”. Everyone has some type of idea that that could mean 2 or 3 minutes or even longer.

-Nebuchadnezzar then looked at Daniel and said, “Let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee”. It’s almost as if, after seeing Daniel in distress that Nebuchadnezzar realized that this wasn’t a good thing so he immediately tries to console Daniel. But in all reality, it was him that needed the consoling. Another facet of this consoling, undoubtedly, Nebuchadnezzar wanted to hear what Daniel was seeing. So, he wanted Daniel to know that he could speak freely unto him.

-Finally, Daniel drops the bomb shell. The dream was representative of those that hated Nebuchadnezzar.

- Daniel, after much heart-searching, warns the king that the fate of the tree is a picture of his own future. Nebuchadnezzar’s pride stands between himself and God, and he will be humbled for ‘seven times’; which means 7 years. (Knowles, A. (2001). The Bible guide (1st Augsburg books ed., p. 346). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg.)

Daniel, after much heart-searching, warns the king that the fate of the tree is a picture of his own future. Nebuchadnezzar’s pride stands between himself and God, and he will be humbled for ‘seven times’

Knowles, A. (2001). The Bible guide (1st Augsburg books ed., p. 346). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg.

V.20-21

Verse 20 represents the 5th prophecy in the book of Daniel, so far. The prophecy is Daniel foretelling what the dream means.

-It’s height reference could be an accumulation of his pride.

The JFB says this about v.20 & 21...

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible Chapter 4

The tree is the king. The branches, the princes. The leaves, the soldiers. The fruits, the revenues. The shadow, the protection afforded to dependent states.

The FSB says this about 21:

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 4

Meets the needs of the subjects of his empire and beyond. This sufficiency contributed to his pride.

One thing is for certain, that we must take note of. Pride is a stench in the nostrils of God and He will go to great lengths to remedy that problem from our lives. If a king and all of his authority wasn’t exempt, who are we? Humble yourself or God will! (See also: ; ; ; )

V.22

Daniel speaks pretty pointed, yet with respect to the king by trying to soften the blow. He starts the interpretation out with the great things about the king. He takes the “good news first” approach.

-King, this dream is about you. You’re world renown.

Daniel lists 3 things specifically in v.22 about Nebuchadnezzar’s tree dream:

Thy greatness is grown

It reacheth to Heaven

Thy dominion is to the end of the earth

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible Chapter 4

(Je 27:6–8). To the Caspian, Euxine, and Atlantic seas.

V.23

Let’s break down what happened in this verse:

1.

The king saw a watcher, a holy one from Heaven [an angel]

The holy one said “hew (cut) the tree down and destroy it” [Heaven sent the message to cut down Nebuchadnezzar]

Leave the stump and the roots in the ground [leave a remnant of it in the ground]

Put a band of iron and brass around it [As discussed in the notes on Daniel 4a; theologians are split on this.]

Let it lay in the tender grass of the field [Let the tree lay in the field, presumably to rot]

Let it be wet with the dew of Heaven [It will be exposed to the elements]

Let his portion be with the beasts of the fields (the ESV says “let him live with the wild animals”)

Till 7 times pass over him [7 years of time]

V.24

Simply put from Daniel, this is the interpretation.

-This is the decree of the Most High.

-Inserting the deity of His God being higher than the earthly kingship of Nebuchadnezzar.

V.25-28

Nebuchadnezzar dreamed about a great tree in the earth.

-It had fair leaves, much fruit for everyone, beasts resting under it & birds nesting in it.

-But “watchers”-Heavenly agents/angels-hewed it down, leaving only a stump.

-Daniel interprets the dream. God’s judgement would fall upon Nebuchadnezzar.

-The goal? To convert him from his evil ways.

It’s always God’s will to convert us from evil. He’s not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. ()

V.29-30

To quickly reflect back on v.27. Daniel gave Nebuchadnezzar a 3 fold word of advice. (be open to my counsel, stop sinning, show mercy to the poor) Let’s see if Nebuchadnezzar took heed to Godly counsel.

So, a year has passed. V.29 says he walked into the palace. This was his domain, probably his ‘safe place’. His comfort zone.

-Then, he begins to elaborate and ‘puffs up’ himself. “that I have built”

-He says 4 things in v.30

Is not this great Babylon

That I have built for the house of the kingdom

by the might of my power

the honour of my majesty

Let’s examine what he was referring to in his kingdom:

The walls of the square city were 14 miles long on each side, making 56 miles around an area of 196 square miles. Around the city was a deep and broad moat (trench) full of water, and beyond that the wall about 108 1/2 feet thick and about 417 feet high. There were 100 brazen gates. The houses were 3 and 4 stories high. Roads criss-crossed the city as in modern times.

The city was built on both sides of the Euphrates, the sections being known as the East and West districts. They were joined by a bridge 3,240 feet long. At each end was a royal palace, the eastern one being defended by 3 walls, the outermost being 7 miles in circuit; the 2nd one 4 1/2 miles; and the 3rd 2 1/2 miles. There was also a tunnel under the river.

The hanging gardens were 400 square feet rising in terraces planted with trees of various kinds. The temple of Bel and other large buildings made Babylon the greatest city in the world.

(From Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible, Finis Jennings Dake)

V.31-33

In the midst of Nebuchadnezzar glorifying himself, the judgement befalls.

-Claiming all the glory to himself and not giving any glory to God was the downfall of Nebuchadnezzar. (v.30)

-It was God who had chosen him and given him his great kingdom. (, )

-It was God who had warned him 12 months before. (, )

-His insanity ensued in the same hour that he began exalting himself.

It has always been impossible, and always will be, for our knowledge or power to ever be exalted above God’s. Nebuchadnezzar is living proof.

-All men will eventually know from experience that God is the most High and sovereign in the earth and the Heavens. (; ; ; , )

-This truth is emphasized 5 times in Daniel…so far.

, , , , )

V.34-

Concerning v.33 when it explains what happened to him: “The mental disease of Nebuchadnezzar is rare. It is called Lycanthropy which comes from the Greek word lukos, a wolf, and anthropos, a man, because the person imagines himself to be a wolf, bear, or some other animal.” (Source: Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible)

V.34-37

These verses will be encapsulated in the following 20 things that Nebuchadnezzar learned in this experience:

That he should honor God

God was the King of Heaven

All God’s works are truth

God’s ways are just

God is able to abase the proud (v. 37)

God is Lord of kings ()

God is a revealer of secrets

God sends angels to protect those who put their trust in Him ()

God can change man’s word (3:28)

True servants of God will not worship any other God (3:16-18, 28)

There is no other god who can deliver people like the true God (3:29)

No other God can do miracles like the true God (3:25-29; 4:3)

God’s kingdom is everlasting (4:3, 34)

There will be eternal generations of men on earth

The Spirit of God can dwell in man (4:8, 9, 18)

God is supreme in earth (4:17, 34)

God gives rule to whomsoever He will (4:17, 32)

The wise men of earth are incapable of solving human problems (2:2-13; 4:4-8)

Sin does not render good rewards (4:27-33)

Pride is the cause of downfalls (4:28-37)