Daniel 4:12,Daniel 4:21,Daniel 4:22

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Daniel 4:12

12. beasts . . . shadow under it—implying that God's purpose in establishing empires in the world is that they may be as trees affording men "fruits" for "meat," and a "shadow" for "rest" (compare Lamentations 4:20). But the world powers abuse their trust for self; therefore Messiah comes to plant the tree of His gospel kingdom, which alone shall realize God's purpose (Ezekiel 17:23; Matthew 13:32). HERODOTUS [7.19] mentions a dream (probably suggested by the tradition of this dream of... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Daniel 4:10-12

The king described what he had seen in poetic language. His words therefore appear as a prophetic oracle. The ancients frequently used trees to describe rulers of nations (cf. Isaiah 2:12-13; Isaiah 10:34; Ezekiel 31:3-17). [Note: Young, pp. 101-2.] Thus Nebuchadnezzar may have anticipated that the tree in his dream represented himself. What happened to the tree in his dream then could account for his fear (Daniel 4:5). This tree was similar to Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom. [Note: See Paul... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Daniel 4:10-18

3. Nebuchadnezzar’s account of his dream 4:10-18 read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Daniel 4:1-37

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream and its fulfilmentIn the form of a proclamation Nebuchadnezzar records his experience of the power of the Most high God (Daniel 4:1-3). He had a dream which none of his wise men could interpret (Daniel 4:4-7). He then called Daniel, and told him the dream, in which he had seen a lofty and spreading tree, which at the bidding of an angel had been cut down, its stump being bound among the grass for seven ’times’ (Daniel 4:8-18). Daniel explained that the tree was... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Daniel 4:12

(12) The fruit thereof much.—By this is implied the great quantity of fruit as well as the largeness of it. read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Daniel 4:1-37

Daniel 4:4-5 'Remember,' Mr. F. W. H. Myers once wrote to a friend, 'that first of all a man must, from the torpor of a foul tranquillity, have his soul delivered unto war.' Reference. IV. 4, 5, 7. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, vol. ii. p. 183. Daniel 4:22-30 Can we believe that He whose words were so terrible against the pride of Egypt and Babylon, against that haughty insolence in men on which not Hebrew prophets only, but the heathen poets of Greece, looked with such... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Daniel 4:1-37

THE BABYLONIAN CEDAR, AND THE STRICKEN DESPOTTHRICE already, in these magnificent stories, had Nebuchadrezzar been taught to recognise the existence and to reverence the power of God. In this chapter he is represented as having been brought to a still more overwhelming conviction, and to an open acknowledgment of God’s supremacy, by the lightning-stroke of terrible calamity.The chapter is dramatically thrown into the form of a decree which, alter his recovery and shortly before his death, the... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Daniel 4:1-37

CHAPTER 4 The Tree Vision of Nebuchadnezzar 1. The king’s proclamation (Daniel 4:1-3 ) 2. The king relates the tree vision (Daniel 4:4-18 ) 3. Daniel interprets the vision (Daniel 4:19-27 ) 4. The tree vision fulfilled, the king’s abasement and his restoration, (Daniel 4:28-37 ) Daniel 4:1-3 . This chapter is in form, at least in part, of a proclamation. This proclamation must have been written after the king had passed through the experience recorded in this chapter. Daniel 4:4-18 .... read more

James Gray

James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - Daniel 4:1-37

FROM NEBUCHADNEZZAR TO CYRUS The effect of the interpretation of his dream on Nebuchadnezzar is the inflation of his pride. To be sure, he was grateful to Daniel (Daniel 2:46-49 ), to whom he offered worship, although the latter rejected it no doubt, as did Paul later (Acts 14:11-18 ). His apprehension of Daniel’s God, however, is yet only as one amongst the national or tribal gods, although greater than they. This is clear from what follows in Daniel 3:1-7 , which is an attempt “to unify... read more

Joseph Parker

The People's Bible by Joseph Parker - Daniel 4:1-18

Nebuchadnezzar's Dream Dan 4:1-18 It does us good to hear how a man like Nebuchadnezzar spoke. We do not know what we ourselves have said, as to its effect, until we have heard some other man repeat our own words. The speaker never exactly expresses himself. He is talking to his own consciousness, and is often approved by himself; he therefore supposes that other people can hear what he is speaking to his own spirit. He does not give utterance to all his thought, that is to say, an outside... read more