Atlas Biblica

    Daniel · 37 verses

    Daniel 4

    Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.

    The chapter

    What happens here

    Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.

    Nebuchadnezzar is halfway through praising the magnificence of Babylon when heaven cuts across him, removes his kingdom, and sends him out to graze like an ox. It is an unusually abrupt edit to a royal speech, though the chapter has been preparing it with a tree, a band of iron and bronze, and a rather alarming set of fingernails.

    The tree and the watchervv. 1–18

    Nebuchadnezzar addresses every nation and language, announcing the signs and wonders performed for him by the Most High. He had been comfortable in his palace, until a dream frightened him so thoroughly that all Babylon's wise men were summoned and found themselves unable to interpret it. Daniel, called Belteshazzar, arrives at last.

    The dream is a splendid tree, feeding and sheltering the world, followed by a watcher from heaven who orders it cut down. Yet the stump is to remain, roots and all, fastened with iron and bronze in the grass. The tree is to become a man with the mind of a beast for seven times, so that the living may learn who rules the kingdom of mankind.

    Daniel explains the alarming shrubberyvv. 19–27

    Daniel is perplexed and alarmed before he explains the dream, which is a wonderfully human pause in the middle of an imperial consultation. He wishes the dream upon the king's enemies, then identifies the tree without ceremony: it is Nebuchadnezzar himself, whose greatness reaches the sky and whose dominion reaches the earth.

    The cutting down means exile among the beasts, grass for food, dew for clothing, and seven times away from mankind. The remaining stump means that the kingdom can return when the king acknowledges that Heaven rules. Daniel adds counsel about righteousness and mercy, though the chapter does not say what the king makes of it.

    The palace roof and the pasturevv. 28–37

    Twelve months pass. On the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar admires the city as his own handiwork and is still speaking when a voice from heaven declares that the kingdom has departed from him. The sentence is carried out at once: he is driven away, eats grass like an ox, and acquires hair like eagle feathers and nails like a bird's claws. The chapter is admirably particular about the consequences of royal self-admiration.

    At the end of the seven times, Nebuchadnezzar looks to heaven and his sanity returns. His honour, splendour, advisers, nobles, throne, and greatness return with it. He ends by praising the King of heaven, whose power, he now says, can humble those who walk in pride.

    The text

    Read it

    Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

    1. Dan 4:1King Nebuchadnezzar, To the people of every nation and language who dwell in all the earth: May your prosperity be multiplied.

    2. Dan 4:2I am pleased to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me.

    3. Dan 4:3How great are His signs, how mighty His wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; His dominion endures from generation to generation.

    4. Dan 4:4I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and flourishing in my palace.

    5. Dan 4:5I had a dream, and it frightened me; while I was in my bed, the images and visions in my mind alarmed me.

    6. Dan 4:6So I issued a decree that all the wise men of Babylon be brought before me to interpret the dream for me.

    7. Dan 4:7When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners came in, I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me.

    8. Dan 4:8But at last, into my presence came Daniel (whose name is Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods). And I told him the dream:

    9. Dan 4:9“O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery baffles you. So explain to me the visions I saw in my dream, and their interpretation.

    10. Dan 4:10In these visions of my mind as I was lying in bed, I saw this come to pass: There was a tree in the midst of the land, and its height was great.

    11. Dan 4:11The tree grew large and strong; its top reached the sky, and it was visible to the ends of the earth.

    12. Dan 4:12Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit was abundant, and upon it was food for all. Under it the beasts of the field found shelter, in its branches the birds of the air nested, and from it every creature was fed.

    13. Dan 4:13As I lay on my bed, I also saw in the visions of my mind a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven.

    14. Dan 4:14He called out in a loud voice: ‘Cut down the tree and chop off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it, and the birds from its branches.

    15. Dan 4:15But leave the stump with its roots in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven and graze with the beasts on the grass of the earth.

    16. Dan 4:16Let his mind be changed from that of a man, and let him be given the mind of a beast till seven times pass him by.

    17. Dan 4:17This decision is the decree of the watchers, the verdict declared by the holy ones, so that the living will know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes, setting over it the lowliest of men.’

    18. Dan 4:18This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now, Belteshazzar, tell me the interpretation, because none of the wise men of my kingdom can interpret it for me. But you are able, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.”

    19. Dan 4:19For a time, Daniel, who was also known as Belteshazzar, was perplexed, and his thoughts alarmed him. So the king said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.” “My lord,” replied Belteshazzar, “may the dream apply to those who hate you, and its interpretation to your enemies!

    20. Dan 4:20The tree you saw that grew large and strong, whose top reached the sky and was visible to all the earth,

    21. Dan 4:21whose foliage was beautiful and whose fruit was abundant, providing food for all, under which the beasts of the field lived, and in whose branches the birds of the air nested—

    22. Dan 4:22you, O king, are that tree! For you have become great and strong; your greatness has grown to reach the sky, and your dominion extends to the ends of the earth.

    23. Dan 4:23And you, O king, saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying: ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump with its roots in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and graze with the beasts of the field till seven times pass him by.’

    24. Dan 4:24This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree that the Most High has issued against my lord the king:

    25. Dan 4:25You will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field. You will feed on grass like an ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.

    26. Dan 4:26As for the command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots, your kingdom will be restored to you as soon as you acknowledge that Heaven rules.

    27. Dan 4:27Therefore, may my advice be pleasing to you, O king. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed. Perhaps there will be an extension of your prosperity.”

    28. Dan 4:28All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar.

    29. Dan 4:29Twelve months later, as he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon,

    30. Dan 4:30the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?”

    31. Dan 4:31While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “It is decreed to you, King Nebuchadnezzar, that the kingdom has departed from you.

    32. Dan 4:32You will be driven away from mankind to live with the beasts of the field, and you will feed on grass like an ox. And seven times will pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.”

    33. Dan 4:33At that moment the sentence against Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from mankind. He ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.

    34. Dan 4:34But at the end of those days I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity was restored to me. Then I praised the Most High, and I honored and glorified Him who lives forever: “For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation.

    35. Dan 4:35All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”

    36. Dan 4:36At the same time my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne, and surpassing greatness was added to me.

    37. Dan 4:37Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all His works are true and all His ways are just. And He is able to humble those who walk in pride.

    01 — Also here

    Who else the chapter reaches

    Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.

    Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.

    Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.

    02 — Read alongside

    Where this is echoed

    Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 481 passages were voted onto 36 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

    • 35Job 42:2“I know that You can do all things and that no plan of Yours can be thwarted.
    • 35Psalms 135:6The LORD does all that pleases Him in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and in all their depths.
    • 35Psalms 115:3Our God is in heaven; He does as He pleases.
    • 17Daniel 4:25You will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field. You will feed on grass like an ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.
    • 17Daniel 2:21He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.
    • 35Romans 11:33–36O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
    • 37James 4:6–7But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
    • 35Isaiah 40:15–17Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered a speck of dust on the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
    • 35Ephesians 1:11In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,
    • 35Isaiah 43:13Even from eternity I am He, and none can deliver out of My hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”
    • 35Matthew 11:25–26At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
    • 17Psalms 75:6–7For exaltation comes neither from east nor west, nor out of the desert,
    • 171 Samuel 2:8He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among princes and bestows on them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s, and upon them He has set the world.
    • 35Acts 4:28They carried out what Your hand and will had decided beforehand would happen.
    • 25Daniel 4:17This decision is the decree of the watchers, the verdict declared by the holy ones, so that the living will know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes, setting over it the lowliest of men.’
    • 35Romans 9:19–20One of you will say to me, “Then why does God still find fault? For who can resist His will?”

    Onward

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