Daniel 4:8-14

4:8 Later Daniel entered (whose name is Belteshazzar after the name of my god, ¹  and in whom there is a spirit of the holy gods). I recounted the dream for him as well, 4:9 saying, “Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, in whom I know there to be a spirit of the holy gods and whom no mystery baffles, consider ²  my dream that I saw and set forth its interpretation! 4:10 Here are the visions of my mind ³  while I was on my bed.

While I was watching,

there was a tree in the middle of the land. ⁴ 

It was enormously tall. ⁵ 

4:11 The tree grew large and strong.

Its top reached far into the sky;

it could be seen ⁶  from the borders of all the land. ⁷ 

4:12 Its foliage was attractive and its fruit plentiful;

on it there was food enough for all.

Under it the wild animals ⁸  used to seek shade,

and in its branches the birds of the sky used to nest.

All creatures ⁹  used to feed themselves from it.

4:13 While I was watching in my mind’s visions ¹⁰  on my bed,

a holy sentinel ¹¹  came down from heaven.

4:14 He called out loudly ¹²  as follows: ¹³ 

‘Chop down the tree and lop off its branches!

Strip off its foliage

and scatter its fruit!

Let the animals flee from under it

and the birds from its branches!

Daniel 4:20-22

4:20 The tree that you saw that grew large and strong, whose top reached to the sky, and which could be seen ¹⁴  in all the land, 4:21 whose foliage was attractive and its fruit plentiful, and from which there was food available for all, under whose branches wild animals ¹⁵  used to live, and in whose branches birds of the sky used to nest – 4:22 it is you, ¹⁶  O king! For you have become great and strong. Your greatness is such that it reaches to heaven, and your authority to the ends of the earth.

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¹ sn This explanation of the meaning of the name Belteshazzar may be more of a paronomasia than a strict etymology.

² tc The present translation assumes the reading חֲזִי (khazi, “consider”) rather than the MT חֶזְוֵי (khezvey, “visions”). The MT implies that the king required Daniel to disclose both the dream and its interpretation, as in chapter 2. But in the following verses Nebuchadnezzar recounts his dream, while Daniel presents only its interpretation.

³ tc The LXX lacks the first two words (Aram “the visions of my head”) of the Aramaic text.

⁴ tn Instead of “in the middle of the land,” some English versions render this phrase “a tree at the center of the earth” (NRSV); NAB, CEV “of the world”; NLT “in the middle of the earth.” The Hebrew phrase can have either meaning.

⁵ tn Aram “its height was great.”

⁶ tn Aram “its sight.” So also v. 17.

⁷ tn Or “to the end of all the earth” (so KJV, ASV); NCV, CEV “from anywhere on earth.”

⁸ tn Aram “the beasts of the field.”

⁹ tn Aram “all flesh.”

¹⁰ tn Aram “the visions of my head.”

¹¹ tn Aram “a watcher and a holy one.” The expression is a hendiadys; so also in v. 23. This “watcher” is apparently an angel. The Greek OT (LXX) in fact has ἄγγελος (angelo", “angel”) here. Theodotion simply transliterates the Aramaic word (’ir). The term is sometimes rendered “sentinel” (NAB) or “messenger” (NIV, NLT).

¹² tn Aram “in strength.”

¹³ tn Aram “and thus he was saying.”

¹⁴ tn Aram “its sight.”

¹⁵ tn Aram “the beasts of the field” (also in vv. 23, 25, 32).

¹⁶ sn Much of modern scholarship views this chapter as a distortion of traditions that were originally associated with Nabonidus rather than with Nebuchadnezzar. A Qumran text, the Prayer of Nabonidus, is often cited for parallels to these events.