an interpretation · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
king
מַלְכָּ֑אmal.Ka'
H4430
a king · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
this
הִ֔יאHi'
H1932
he (she or it) · personal pronoun, 3rd person feminine singular
decree
וּגְזֵרַ֤תu.ge.ze.Rat
H1510
a decree · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct
High
עִלָּאָה֙i.la.ya'
H5943
supreme (i.e. God) · adjective, both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
come
מְטָ֖תme.Tat
H4291
to arrive · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
upon
עַל'al-
H5922
above · preposition
lord
מָרִ֥יmar.'i
H4756
a master · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix
king
מַלְכָּֽאmal.Ka'
H4430
a king · 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
Psalms 107:40 He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way.
Job 40:11-12 Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him.
Isaiah 46:10-11 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do…
Job 1:12-19 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from…
Job 20:29 This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.
Psalms 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
Psalms 148:6 He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.
Isaiah 14:24-27 The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:
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…
decree of the Most High--What was termed in Dan 4:17 by Nebuchadnezzar, "the decree of the watchers," is here more accurately termed by Daniel, "the decree of the Most High." They are but His ministers.
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 4:24
This is the interpretation, O king,.... Of this part of the dream, namely, what follows in the two next verses:
and this is the decree of the most High; called before the decree of the watchers, Daniel 4:17, and is no other than the decree of that sovereign and absolute Being, whose purposes are unfrustrable:
which is come upon my lord the king; the decree had passed concerning him, and would be most certainly fulfilled: and, because of the certainty of it, it is represented as if it was; for it would shortly and surely come upon him, exactly as it was determined, and by the dream signified.
John Calvin on Daniel 4:23-24
Daniel 4:23-24
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;
23. Et quod vidit rex, vigilem, et sanctum descendere e coelis, qui dixit: [220] Suceidite arborem, et dispergite eam: tantummodo imum radicum ejus in terra relinquite: et sit in vinculo ferri et aeris in herba agri, et rore coelorum proluatur, et eum bestiis agri portio ejus, donec septem tempora trans…
The Church Fathers
At this point it is possible to learn the value of the apostolic teaching, "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities"; blessed Daniel, note, calls the impious king "lord" and, influenced by the norm of authority, he adopts the appropriate titles, and he gives a glimpse of the truth of the dream, distressing though it is.
Verses 24, 25. "'This is the interpretation of the sentence of the Most High which has come upon my lord the king. They shall cast thee forth from among men and thy habitation shall be with cattle and wild beasts...'" Daniel moderates the severity of the sentence by complimentary language, so that (variant: and) after he has first set forth the harsher aspects, he may moderate the king's alarm by assurances of the kindlier treatment to follow. He draws the final inference:
Often, when means are abundant, and many things can be done for subordinates to admire, the mind exalts itself in thought, and fully provokes to itself the anger of the judge, though not breaking out in overt acts of iniquity. For he who judges is within; that which is judged is within. When, then, in heart we transgress, what we are doing within ourselves is hidden from men, but yet in the eyes of the judge we sin. For neither did the King of Babylon then first stand guilty of elation when he came to utter words of elation, inasmuch as even before, when he had given no utterance to his elation, he heard the sentence of reprobation from the prophet's mouth. For he had already wiped off the fault of the pride he had been guilty of, when he proclaimed to all the nations under him the omnipotent God whom he found himself to have offended. But after this, elevated by the success of his dominion, and rejoicing in having done great things, he first preferred himself to all in thought, and afterwards, still vain-glorious, said, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom, and in the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?" Which utterance of his, as we see, fell openly under the vengeance of the wrath which his hidden elation kindled. For the strict judge first sees invisibly what he afterwards reproves by publicly smiting it. Hence him He turned even into an irrational animal, separated him from human society, changed his mind and joined him to the beasts of the field, that in obviously strict and just judgment he who had esteemed himself great beyond men should lose even his being as a man.
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.…
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).
The interpretation of the dream.
As Daniel at once understood the interpretation of the dream, he was for a moment so astonished that he could not speak for terror at the thoughts which moved his soul. This amazement seized him because he wished well to the king, and yet he must now announce to him a weighty judgment from God.
Daniel 4:16 (Dan 4:19)
The punctuation אשׁתּומם for אשׁתּומם is Syriac, as in the Hebr. Dan 8:27; cf. Winer's Chald. Gram. 25, 2. חדא כּשׁעהmeans, not about an hour (Mich., Hitz., Kran., etc.), but as it were an instant, a moment. Regarding שׁעה, see under Dan 3:6. The king perceives the astonishment of Daniel, and remarks that he has found the interpretation. Therefor…
Cut down the tree: The tree must be cut down because of Nebuchadnezzar’s pride (4:27-30).
Rashi on Daniel 4:24
Indeed, O king Indeed, O king, hearken to my counsel.
my counsel Aram. מִלְכִּי, my counsel, like (Num. 24:14): “I shall advise you (אִיעָצְךָ),” which is translated: אֲמַלְּכִינָךְ.
please you May my counsel please you that you hearken to my words.
and with charity you will remove your sin With charity, break your sin off your neck.
and your iniquity by showing mercy to poor and remove your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor.
perhaps your tranquility will last Perhaps there will be time for your tranquility, that the evil should not come swiftly. Now what did Daniel see to give Nebuchadnezzar good advice? He saw the Jews poor and humbled by the exile, going from door to door beggi…
