Daniel 4:20

The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth;

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
tree	אִֽילָנָא֙ 'i.la.Na'	H363	a tree · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
sawest	חֲזַ֔יְתָ cha.Zay.ta	H2370	to gaze upon · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
grew	רְבָ֖ה re.Vah	H7236	to increase (in whatever respect) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
strong	וּתְקִ֑ף u.te.Kif	H8631	to become (causatively · conjunction + verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
height	וְרוּמֵהּ֙ ve.ru.Meh	H7314	(literally) altitude · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
reached	יִמְטֵ֣א yim.Te'	H4291	to arrive · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
heaven	לִשְׁמַיָּ֔א lish.mai.Ya'	H8065	the sky (as aloft · preposition + noun, common masculine plural determined + particle of affirmation
sight	וַחֲזוֹתֵ֖הּ va.cha.zo.Teh	H2379	a view · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
all	לְכָל le.khol	H3606	properly · preposition + 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

Ezekiel 31:3 Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among t…
Daniel 4:10-12 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.
Ezekiel 31:16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 4:19-27

We have here the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream; and when once it is applied to himself, and it is declared that he is the tree in the dream (Mutato nomine de te fabula narratur - Change but the name, the fable speaks of thee), when once it is said, Thou art the man, there needs little more to be said for the explication of the dream. Out of his own mouth he is judged; so shall his doom be, he himself has decided it. The thing was so plain that Daniel, upon hearing the dream, was astonished for one hour, Dan 4:19. He was struck with amazement and terror at so great a judgment coming upon so great a prince. His flesh trembled for fear of God. He was likewise struck with confusion wh…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 4:20

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.

Adam Clarke on Daniel 4:20

The tree that thou sawest - The dream is so fully interpreted in the following verses that it needs no comment.

John Gill on Daniel 4:20

The tree which thou sawest, In these two verses is related part of the dream, which respects the flourishing estate of Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom; See Gill on Daniel 4:10, Daniel 4:11, Daniel 4:12.

John Calvin on Daniel 4:20-22

Daniel 4:20-22 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; 20. Arborquam vidisti, quae magna erat et robusta, et cujus magnitudo pertingebat ad coels, et aspectus ejus ad totam terram. 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: 21. Et folium ejus pulchrum erat, [217] et fructus ejus copiosus: et in qua, [218] cibus cunctis: sub qua habitabant bestiae agri, et in cujus ramis quiescebant aves coeli. 22. It is thou, O king, that art grown and beco…

The Church Fathers

Verse 20. "'The lofty and vigorous tree which thou sawest, the height of which reached the heavens...'" He explains the truth without insulting the king, so as to avoid appearing to charge the king with sinful pride, but rather with overweening greatness.
— Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER FOUR

Daniel's wisdom is worth admiring: he did not say simply, the big tree, but grown to great size and strength—in other words, instead of being great from the beginning, you became great gradually, and instead of having strength from the outset, you gradually acquired it. Hence he goes further, "Because you have grown great and strong, your greatness has increased, you reach to heaven and your lordship to the ends of the earth." It was very fitting and appropriate for him to relate these things to heaven and earth: he said his lordship had reached the ends of the earth, that is, his authority, whereas it was not yet his lordship that had reached to heaven but his imaginings.
— Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 4:20-22

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.…
Babylon · .Prophecies concerning — .Prophecies concerning
Converts · Nebuchadnezzar — Nebuchadnezzar
Testimony · RELIGIOUS, EXEMPLIFIED — RELIGIOUS, EXEMPLIFIED

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 4:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 4:19-27

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 4:20

Adam Clarke on Daniel 4:20

John Gill on Daniel 4:20

John Calvin on Daniel 4:20-22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Daniel 4:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 4:19-27

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 4:20

Adam Clarke on Daniel 4:20

John Gill on Daniel 4:20

John Calvin on Daniel 4:20-22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Daniel 4:19-27

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Daniel 4:17

Rashi on Daniel 4:16