Daniel 4.22b-Daniel Interprets The First Part Of The Vision
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday October 2, 2012
Daniel: Daniel 4:22b-Daniel Interprets The First Part Of The Vision
Lesson # 127
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 4:20.
This evening we will study Daniel 4:22b, which records Daniel interpreting for Nebuchadnezzar the first part of the vision.
Daniel 4:20 ‘The tree 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 you, O king; for you have become great and grown strong, and your majesty has become great and reached to the sky and your dominion to the end of the earth.’ (NASB95)
“For you have become great and grown strong” presents the reason why the tree which appeared in a vision to Nebuchadnezzar symbolized or represented him and his kingdom.
“You have become great” is composed of the second person masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active perfect form of the verb reḇā(h) (רְבָה) (reb-aw´), which means “to become great” in power and authority.
It is used to describe Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian kingdom, which was symbolized by the enormous tree which appeared to the king in a vision in a dream.
Therefore, Nebuchadnezzar “became great” in the sense that he achieved enormous power and authority as a result of becoming a ruler of a world-wide empire.
“And grown strong” presents the result of Nebuchadnezzar becoming enormous in power and authority.
“Grown strong” is the second person masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active perfect form of the verb teqip̄ (תְּקִף) (tek-afe´), which is describing Nebuchadnezzar as “being strong” in the sense of possessing enormous resources and great political and military power as a result of becoming a world-ruler.
“And your majesty has become great” is advancing upon and intensifying the previous statement Daniel made to Nebuchadnezzar.
“Your majesty has become great” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is followed by the feminine singular construct form of the noun reḇû (רְבוּ) (reb-oo´), “majesty” which is modified by the second person masculine singular pronominal suffix -ḵ (־ךְ), “your” and then we have the third person masculine singular peʿal (Hebrew: qal) active perfect form of the verb reḇā(h) (רְבָה) (reb-aw´), “has become great.”
The noun reḇû means “greatness” and is used to describe Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian kingdom.
The word means “greatness” in the sense that Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom had become distinguished and eminent throughout the earth so that it stood above all the other kingdoms of the earth.
Once again, the verb reḇā(h) means “to become enormous” but this time it is used with the noun reḇû as its subject.
Therefore, Daniel is describing the greatness of Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom as “becoming enormous” in the sense that he and his kingdom had become distinguished and eminent throughout the earth so as to stand above all the other kings and kingdoms of the earth.
“And reached to the sky” presents the result of the previous statement and denotes that the greatness of Nebuchadnezzar and his empire began insignificantly and then grew to the extent that it reached to the sky in the sense his power and authority extended over the entire earth.
“And your dominion to the end of the earth” explains explicitly what Daniel meant when he told the king that the greatness of Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom reached to the heavens.
“Your dominion to the end of the earth” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” which is followed by the masculine singular construct form of the noun šā∙leṭān (שָׁלְטָן) (shol-tawn´), “dominion” which is modified by the second person masculine singular pronominal suffix -ḵ (־ךְ), “your” and then we have the preposition lĕ (לְ) (leh), “to” and its object is the masculine singular construct form of the noun sôp̄ (סֹוף) (sofe), “the end of” which is modifying the feminine singular noun ʾǎrǎʿ (אֲרַע) (ar-ah´), “the earth.”
The noun šā∙leṭān means “governmental dominion” referring to Nebuchadnezzar’s supreme, sovereign authority or power to rule over every nation under heaven as well as every creature and all of creation.
The noun ʾǎrǎʿ means “earth” referring to that which composes planet earth, namely, the dry land, the various bodies of water on the earth and the atmosphere.
The noun sôp̄ means “end of, extremity” referring to the boundaries or extremity of the whole earth.
The noun ʾǎrǎʿ is the object of the preposition lĕ, which is used in a spatial terminative sense and means that the word is marking how far Nebuchadnezzar’s governmental dominion extended.
It extended to the ends or boundaries of the whole or entire earth.
This prepositional phrase teaches that Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom extended throughout the entire earth with no nation or creature not under his jurisdiction.
Daniel 4:20 ‘The tree, that you saw which became enormous so that it was strong, indeed, whose height reached to the heavens so that it was visible throughout the entire earth 21 and in addition whose foliage was beautiful as well as its fruit was abundant so that food was in it for the benefit of all, under it, the beasts of the field lived as well as in its branches, the birds of the sky nested- 22 it is you O king! For you have become enormous so that you are strong. Indeed, your greatness has become enormous so that it has reached to the heavens in the sense that, your governmental authority extends to the extremity of the earth.’ (My translation)
In Daniel 4:22, Daniel interprets the content of the Nebuchadnezzar’s vision, which appears in Daniel 4:10-17.
He first informs the king that the enormous tree in this vision represented or symbolized him and his kingdom.
Then, he presents the first reason why this is by interpreting the first part of the vision, which appeared in Daniel 4:10-12.
The second part of the vision appears in Daniel 4:13-17, which Daniel interprets for the king in Daniel 4:23-26 that presents the second reason why Daniel is interpreting the vision as being symbolic of Nebuchadnezzar.
In Daniel 4:10-12, Nebuchadnezzar tells Daniel the first part of the vision, which he repeats back to the king in Daniel 4:20-21.
Now, here in Daniel 4:22, he presents to the king the interpretation and the reason why the first part of the vision is symbolic of Nebuchadnezzar.
In Daniel 4:13-17, the king tells Daniel the second part of the vision, which he repeats back to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:23.
Then, in Daniel 4:25-26, Daniel presents the reason why the second part of the vision is symbolic of Nebuchadnezzar.
“You have become enormous” means that Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom achieved enormous power and authority as a result of becoming a ruler of a world-wide empire.
“So that you are strong” presents the result of Nebuchadnezzar achieving enormous power and authority, which was that Nebuchadnezzar possessed enormous resources and great political and military power as a result of becoming a world-ruler.
“Indeed, your greatness has become enormous” advances upon and intensifies the previous statement that Nebuchadnezzar had become enormous so that he was strong.
The greatness of Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom had become enormous in the sense he and his kingdom had become distinguished and eminent throughout the earth in that he and his kingdom stood above all the other kings and kingdoms of the earth.
“So that it has reached to the heavens” presents the result of Nebuchadnezzar’s greatness becoming enormous.
It means that the greatness of Nebuchadnezzar and his empire began insignificantly and then grew to the extent that it reached to the sky in the sense his power and authority extended over the entire earth.
“In the sense that, your governmental authority extends to the extremity of the earth” explains explicitly what Daniel meant when he told the king that the greatness of Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom reached to the heavens.
It means that Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom extended throughout the entire earth with no nation or creature not under his jurisdiction.