Daniel 4:10
in Daniel 4In 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great.
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This verse in Daniel 4
Commentary
9 notes on this verseVerse 10. "'I saw, and behold there was a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was very great...'" It was not only of Nebuchadnezzar, King of the Chaldeans, but also of all impious men that the prophet says: "I beheld the impious man highly exalted and lifted up like the cedars of Lebanon" (Psalm 37:35). Such men are lifted up, not by the greatness of their virtues, but by their own pride; and for that reason they are cut down and fall into ruin.
This site's exposition
a tree in the midst of the earth
on Daniel 4:10-12
The tree in the midst of the earth grows until its height reaches unto heaven and its sight to the end of all the earth, an image the bench reads against the ancient world's own common figure of a king as a great tree sheltering his people, meat for all, shadow for the beasts, boughs for the birds. The picture is entirely benevolent before the watcher ever speaks, which is itself the point Henry marks, greatness is not the sin the vision comes to judge; what the tree becomes in the king's own heart is.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
By the tree blessed Daniel said [Nebuchadnezzar] personally was depicted, and he said its height reached to heaven to suggest not the real tree but his thoughts and imaginings.… His [conceited attitude] is the reason he sees the height of the tree reaching to heaven; …
The Medieval Church1 voice
"Its top," that is, of the tree, is his thoughts and the pride of his spirit. "Its foliage" is his army. "Its fruits" are his nobles. "The animals of the fields and the birds" are the nations and kingdoms that he has subdued. "From it …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), fitly representing him who reigned in Babylon, which was about the midst of the then known world. His dignity and eminency above all his neighbours were signified by the height of this tree, which was exceedingly great; it reached unto heaven.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
I saw - a tree - This vision Nebuchadnezzar says made him afraid. What a mercy it is that God has hidden futurity from us! Were he to show every man the lot that is before him, the misery of the human race would be complete. Great men and princes are often represented, in the language of the prophets, under the similitude of trees; see Eze 17:5, Eze 17:6; Eze 31:3, etc.; Jer 22:15; Psa 1:3; Psa 37:35.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
tree--So the Assyrian is compared to a "cedar" (Eze 31:3; compare Eze 17:24). in the midst of the earth--denoting its conspicuous position as the center whence the imperial authority radiated in all directions.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Thus were the visions of my head in my bed - These are the things which I saw upon my bed. When he says that they were the “visions of his head,” he states a doctrine which was then doubtless regarded as the truth, that the head is the seat of thought. I saw - Margin, “was seeing.” Chaldee, “seeing I saw.” The phrase would imply attentive and calm contemplation. It was not a flitting vision; it was an object which he contemplated deliberately so as to retain a distinct remembrance of its form and appearance. And, behold, a tree in the midst of the earth - Occupying a central position on the earth. It seems to have been by itself - remote from any forest: to have stood alone. Its central position, no less than its size and proportions, attracted his attention. Such a tree, thus towering to the heavens, and sending out its branches afar, and affording a shade to the beasts of the field, and a home to the fowls of heaven Dan 4:12, was a striking emblem of a great and mighty monarch, and it undoubtedly occurred to Nebuchadnezzar at once that the vision had some reference to himself. Thus in Eze 31:3, the Assyrian king is compared with a magnificent cedar: “Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of a high stature, and his top was among the thick boughs.” Compare also Eze 17:22-24, where “the high tree and the green tree” refer probably to Nebuchadnezzar. See the note at Isa 2:13. Compare Isa 10:18-19; Jer 22:7, Jer 22:23. Homer often compares his heroes to trees. Hector, felled by a stone, is compared with an oak overthrown by a thunderbolt. The fall of Simoisius is compared by him to that of a poplar, and that of Euphorbus to the fall of a beautiful olive. […]
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְחֶזְוֵ֥י | vechezvei | and [the] visions of | H2376 → | 12 times |
| רֵאשִׁ֖י | reshi | head my | H7217 → | 14 times |
| עַֽל־ | ʾal- | on | H5922 → | 104 times |
| מִשְׁכְּבִ֑י | mishkevi | bed my | H4903 → | 6 times |
| חָזֵ֣ה | chazeh | seeing | H2370 → | 31 times |
| הֲוֵ֔ית | haveit | I was | H1934 → | 71 times |
| וַאֲל֥וּ | vaalu | and lo! | H431 → | 5 times |
| אִילָ֛ן | ʾilan | a tree | H363 → | 6 times |
| בְּג֥וֹא | bego' | in [the] midst of | H1459 → | 13 times |
| אַרְעָ֖א | ʾara' | land the | H772 → | 21 times |
| וְרוּמֵ֥הּ | verumeh | and height its | H7314 → | 5 times |
| שַׂגִּֽיא׃ | sagi' | [was] great | H7690 → | 13 times |
וְחֶזְוֵ֥יand [the] visions of
vechezveiH2376 →12 times
רֵאשִׁ֖יhead my
reshiH7217 →14 times
עַֽל־on
ʾal-H5922 →104 times
מִשְׁכְּבִ֑יbed my
mishkeviH4903 →6 times
חָזֵ֣הseeing
chazehH2370 →31 times
הֲוֵ֔יתI was
haveitH1934 →71 times
וַאֲל֥וּand lo!
vaaluH431 →5 times
אִילָ֛ןa tree
ʾilanH363 →6 times
בְּג֥וֹאin [the] midst of
bego'H1459 →13 times
אַרְעָ֖אland the
ʾara'H772 →21 times
וְרוּמֵ֥הּand height its
verumehH7314 →5 times
שַׂגִּֽיא׃[was] great
sagi'H7690 →13 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 12:2You planted them, and they have taken root. They have grown and produced fruit. You are ever on their lips, but far from their hearts.
it leads to
- Isaiah 29:13
Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught…
- Titus 1:16
They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.
- Matthew 15:8
‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.
- Jeremiah 11:17
The LORD of Hosts, who planted you, has decreed disaster against you on account of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have brought upon themselves, provoking Me to…
- Ezekiel 33:31
So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest…
- Isaiah 29:13
Through
Daniel 4:5I had a dream, and it frightened me; while in my bed, the images and visions in my mind alarmed me.
it leads to
- Daniel 2:1
In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams that troubled his spirit, and sleep escaped him.
- Daniel 5:5–6
At that moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. As the king watched the hand that was writing,
- Genesis 41:1
After two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing beside the Nile,
- Daniel 2:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
On this chapter
About Daniel
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Daniel; Ishodad of Merv, COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 4:11-15; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER FOUR; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 4:10-11.