Daniel 4:11

_THE TREE GREW, AND WAS STRONG, AND THE HEIGHT THEREOF REACHED UNTO HEAVEN, AND THE SIGHT THEREOF TO THE END OF ALL THE EARTH:_ No JFB commentary on this verse....

1-18 The beginning and end of this chapter lead us to hope, that Nebuchadnezzar was a monument of the power of Divine grace, and of the riches of Divine mercy. After he was recovered from his madness, he told to distant places, and wrote down for future ages, how God had justly humbled and graciously restored him. When a sinner comes to himself, he will promote the welfare of others, by making known the wondrous mercy of God. Nebuchadnezzar, before he related the Divine judgments upon him for his pride, told the warnings he had in a dream or vision. The meaning was explained to him. The person signified, was to be put down from honour, and to be deprived of the use of his reason seven years. This is surely the sorest of all temporal judgments. Whatever outward affliction God is pleased to lay upon us, we have cause to bear it patiently, and to be thankful that he continues the use of ou...

THE TREE GREW - Or the tree was “great” - רבה _r__e__bâh_. It does not mean that the tree grew while he was looking at it so as to reach to the heaven, but that it stood before him in all its glory, its top reaching to the sky, and its branches extending afar. AND WAS STRONG - It was well-proportioned, with a trunk adapted to its height, and to the mass of boughs and foliage which it bore. The strength here refers to its trunk, and to the fact that it seemed fixed firmly in the earth. AND THE HEIGHT THEREOF REACHED UNTO HEAVEN - To the sky; to the region of the clouds. The comparison of trees reaching to heaven is common in Greek and Latin authors. - Grotius. Compare Virgil’s description of Fame. “_Mox sese attollit in auras_,...

EXPOSITION DANIEL 4:1 THE MADNESS OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR. We follow here the division of chapters which we find in our English Version, and as, indeed, in all modern versions. The Aramaic concludes the third chapter with the three verses which are placed in our version at the beginning of the fourth chapter. The arrangement of the Aramaic is followed by the Septuagint, by Theodotion, and by Jerome. The Peshitta and Paulus Tellensis follow the more logical division. Luther divides the chapters logically enough, but carries on the numbering of the verses from the preceding chapter. It is difficult to see anything that can even seem to be a reason for this division. It may indicate a suspicion of these verses at the time the chapters were divided....

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 reached to the ends of the earth; the eyes of all were turned to him; some looking upon him with wonder, others with envy....

CHAPTER 4 THE TREE VISION OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR _ 1. The king's proclamation (Daniel 4:1)_ 2. The king relates the tree vision (Daniel 4:4) 3. Daniel interprets the vision (Daniel 4:19) 4. The tree vision fulfilled, the king's abasement and his restoration, (Daniel 4:28) Daniel 4:1. 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. This chapter takes us again into the realm of Apocalyptic. Nebuchadnezzar dreams a fresh dream. This time he sees a gigantic tree, the top of which reached to heaven, full of leaves and fruit. Suddenly a holy one appears from heaven, and cries the command, Hew down the tree, strip off the branches, but leave the stump in the ground. That the dream refers to some individual is clear, for the holy one continues, Let his portion be with the beasts. Let his heart be changed from a man's, and _let_ a beast's heart be given unto him. Daniel, who is summoned to interpret the vision, informs the king that the dream refers to himself. He is the tree which is soon to be cut down. For his pride madness will overtake him, and his portion will be with the beasts of the field for seven years. There are two difficulties about this chapter, the one connected with the form, the other connected...

Nebuchadnezzar describes his dream, which, as the wise men of Babylon were unable to interpret it, he laid before Daniel....

b. RULER'S REVERIE RELATED, PART I TEXT: Daniel 4:7-12 7 Then came in the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers; and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof. 8 But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzer, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and I told the dream before him, saying, 9 O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof. 10 Thus were the visions of my head upon my bed: I saw, and, behold, a tree in the midst of the earth; and the height thereof was great. 11 The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached

NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S DREAM AND ITS FULFILMENT In the form of a proclamation Nebuchadnezzar records his experience of the power of the Most high God (Daniel 4:1). He had a dream which none of his wise men could interpret (Daniel 4:4). 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). Daniel explained that the tree was Nebuchadnezzar in his greatness, that he would lose his reason and live a beast's life for seven years, after which he would be restored to his throne (Daniel 4:19