a tree · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
grew
רְבָ֥הre.Vah
H7236
to increase (in whatever respect) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
strong
וּתְקִ֑ףu.te.Kif
H8631
to become (causatively · conjunction + verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
height
וְרוּמֵהּ֙ve.ru.Meh
H7314
(literally) altitude · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
reached
יִמְטֵ֣אyim.Te'
H4291
to arrive · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
heaven
לִשְׁמַיָּ֔אlish.mai.Ya'
H8065
the sky (as aloft · preposition + noun, common masculine plural determined + particle of affirmation
sight
וַחֲזוֹתֵ֖הּva.cha.zo.Teh
H2379
a view · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
end
לְס֥וֹףle.Sof
H5491
a termination · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct
all
כָּלkol-
H3606
properly · noun, common both genders singular construct
earth
אַרְעָֽא'ar.'A'
H772
the earth · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Deuteronomy 9:1 Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fence…
Daniel 4:21-22 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 br…
Matthew 11:23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, ha…
Genesis 11:4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered a…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Daniel 4:4-18
Nebuchadnezzar, before he relates the judgments of God that had been wrought upon him for his pride, gives an account of the fair warning he had of them before they came, a due regard to which might have prevented them. But he was told of them, and of the issue of them, before they came to pass, that, when they did come to pass, by comparing them with the prediction of them, he might see, and say, that they were the Lord's doing, and might be brought to believe that there is a divine revelation in the world, as well as a divine Providence, and that the works of God agree with his word.
Now, in the account he here gives of his dream, by which he had notice of what was coming, we may observe,…
tree--So the Assyrian is compared to a "cedar" (Eze 31:3; compare Eze 17:24).
in the midst of the earth--denoting its conspicuous position as the center whence the imperial authority radiated in all directions.
Adam Clarke on Daniel 4:10
I saw - a tree - This vision Nebuchadnezzar says made him afraid. What a mercy it is that God has hidden futurity from us! Were he to show every man the lot that is before him, the misery of the human race would be complete.
Great men and princes are often represented, in the language of the prophets, under the similitude of trees; see Eze 17:5, Eze 17:6; Eze 31:3, etc.; Jer 22:15; Psa 1:3; Psa 37:35.
John Gill on Daniel 4:11
The tree grew, and was strong,.... Grew higher and broader, taller and thicker, increased in boughs and branches, and became strong and stable, that no winds nor storms could move it: this shows the increasing power of Nebuchadnezzar, the enlargement of his dominions, and the stability of his empire:
and the height thereof reached unto heaven; higher than any on earth; expressive of his dominion over all nations and people of the earth; or of his ambition of deity itself; and so Saadiah illustrates it by Isaiah 14:14. "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds &c.":
and the sight thereof to the end of the earth: being so high, it was seen afar off; the fame of this great monarch reache…
The Church Fathers
For the tree "grew great and strong, which reached unto the height of heaven and its trunk to the limits of all the earth," [Daniel 4:11] Scripture indicates it to be the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar, as also Daniel distinctly stated, because the king was exalted and became glorious and ruled over all the earth and mastered the farthest nations. Its branches were dignitaries and commanders and governors and all who were appointed by him were as branches which are put forward from a tree. The leaves of the tree represent the edicts through his words, which he sent to all the earth, bidding and appointing just as he planned. The tree which has great fruit is clearly the great revenue and tribute which was brought up to him from each of the nations. Its trunk which sits upon the earth signals it to be the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar on account of it being engaged in earthly matters, just as it is established over the earth. The great fruit of it and the food for all, which is in it, signal the salaries and honors and favors which are given to all by the king, which were like food from a tree which is given to men. The wild beasts which dwell under it are signaled to be the armies and the powers which always stand near and remain in service to the king, assisting to the utmost for what has been ordered, like wild beasts who are ready to battle and to destroy and to rend men in pieces as if they were beasts. The birds which dwell in its branches are the obedience of all the nations to him, who come distantly and from afar and submit to those who are appointed chiefs by him, just as branches originate from the tree.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Daniel — God is my judge, or judge of God. (1.) David’s second son, “born unto him in Hebron, of Abigail the Carmelitess” (1 Chr. 3:1). He is called also Chileab (2 Sam. 3:3). (2.) One of the four great…
Media — Heb. Madai, which is rendered in the Authorized Version (1) “Madai,” Gen. 10:2; (2) “Medes,” 2 Kings 17:6; 18:11; (3) “Media,” Esther 1:3; 10:2; Isa. 21:2; Dan. 8:20; (4) “Mede,” only in Dan. 11:1.…
Oak — There are six Hebrew words rendered “oak.” (1.) ‘El occurs only in the word El-paran (Gen. 14:6). The LXX. renders by “terebinth.” In the plural form this word occurs in Isa. 1:29; 57:5 (A.V. marg.…
Trees · Illustrative: Of kings, &c — Illustrative: Of kings, &c
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Daniel 4:10-12
10. Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed: I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great.
10. Visiones autem capitis mei super cubile meum, Videbam, et ecce arborem in medio terrae, et altitudo ejus magna.
11. The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth:
11. Crevit, multiplicata est, arbor, et invaluit, et altitudo ejus pertigit, hoc est, et altitudo ejus pertingeret, ad coelos, et conspectus ejus ad extremum totius, vel, universae, terrae.
12. The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the…
Nebuchadnezzar in these verses tells his dream. The first part of v. 10 is an absolute nominal sentence: the visions of my head lying upon my bed, then I saw, etc. - A tree stood in the midst of the earth. Although already very high, yet it became always the greater and the stronger, so that it reached eve unto heaven and was visible to the ends of the earth. V. 11. The perf. רבה and תּקיף express not its condition, but its increasing greatness and strength. In the second hemistich the imperf. ימטא, as the form of the striving movement, corresponds to them. Daniel B. Michaelis properly remarks, that Nebuchadnezzar saw the tree gradually grow and become always the stronger. חזות, the sight, v…
The tree . . . reaching high into the heavens possibly alludes to the Tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-9).
Rashi on Daniel 4:11
Crying out loudly crying with might.
Cut down the tree...shake off its branches shake off and cause its branches to fall.
shake off its branches shake off and cause its branches to fall.
and scatter its fruit [as translated,] and scatter its fruit.
the beasts shall wander away from beneath it [as translated,] the beasts shall wander away from beneath it.
