Daniel 4:13
in Daniel 4As I lay on my bed, I also saw in the visions of my mind a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and a holy one came down from heaven.
KJV
I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven;
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This verse in Daniel 4
Commentary
9 notes on this verseVerses 13, 14. "'And behold, a watchman and a holy one descended from heaven, and he cried out with a loud voice and spoke as follows: 'Cut down the tree and chop off its branches...'" Instead of "watchman" Theodotion uses the Chaldee word itself, hir, which is written with the three letters 'ayin, yodh, and resh. But it signifies the angels, because they ever keep watch and are prepared to carry out God's command. And so we too follow the example of the angels in their duties when we engage in frequent night-long vigils.
This site's exposition
a watcher and an holy one
on Daniel 4:13-15
A watcher and an holy one comes down from heaven with a sentence rather than a warning, hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, and the bench reads watcher as this book's own term for the angelic order that later Jewish literature expands well beyond what Daniel states. The stump of his roots left in the earth, banded with iron and brass, is mercy inside the judgment, Keil notes, a guarantee written into the sentence itself that the kingdom will return once the lesson is learned.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
The Word, having heard the council of the Father, descended from heaven to proclaim the will of the Father through angels, as Scripture says, "A holy one descended from heaven." [Daniel 4:13] The angels consulted the Word, "What does the master command us?" For this is the request of the saints. The word to them was that God the Most High says this, "Cut down the tree and strip its branches and shake its leaves." [Daniel 4:14] Those who heard this routed the powers of the king, so that they took away his kingdom. For all the nations were handed over to the angels, as John says in the Apocalypse, "And I heard one saying, 'Release the four angels who reside on the great river Euphrates'" [Revelation 9:13-14] who are Persians, Medes, Assyrians, and Babylonians.
By eir he refers to the watcher, the meaning in Greek. By watcher he means an angel, thus bringing out its bodiless form: what is clad in a body is subject to sleeping, whereas what is rid of a body is superior to the need …
The Medieval Church1 voice
One who passes the night with thought of him makes of God a housemate; and one who earnestly desires the will of God will find the watchers on high to be his teachers.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed,.... The king goes on to relate what other things presented themselves to his imagination in his dream, concerning this tree which signified himself: and, behold, a watcher: which Saadiah interprets of Bath Kol; but Aben Ezra, Jarchi, Jacchiades, and Ben Melech of an angel; so called because incorporeal, ever watches, and never sleeps, and is always attentive to, and observant of, the commands of God so the angels in the fragment of Enoch are called "egregori", watchers; and the same word is here used in the Alexandrian copy.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Heb 1:14); and watch over the evil to record their sins, and at God's bidding at last punish them (Jer 4:16, 17), "watchers" applied to human instruments of God's vengeance.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A watcher and a holy one - These are both angels; but, according to the Chaldean oracles, of different orders. They appear, according to their opinions, to be a kind of judges of human actions who had the power of determining the lot of men; see Dan 4:17.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed - In the visions that passed before me as I lay upon my bed, Dan 4:
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
But leave its main roots in the ground but its main roots leave over.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
the edict a decree, but since they take counsel from the Holy One, blessed be He, before they issue the decree, he calls it a question.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| חָזֵ֥ה | chazeh | seeing | H2370 → | 31 times |
| הֲוֵ֛ית | haveit | I was | H1934 → | 71 times |
| בְּחֶזְוֵ֥י | bechezvei | in [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 |
| וַאֲלוּ֙ | vaalu | and lo! | H431 → | 5 times |
| עִ֣יר | ʾir | a watcher | H5894 → | 3 times |
| וְקַדִּ֔ישׁ | vekadish | and a holy [one] | H6922 → | 13 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4481 → | 109 times |
| שְׁמַיָּ֖א | shemaiya' | heavens the | H8065 → | 38 times |
| נָחִֽת׃ | nachit | [was] coming down | H5182 → | 6 times |
חָזֵ֥הseeing
chazehH2370 →31 times
הֲוֵ֛יתI was
haveitH1934 →71 times
בְּחֶזְוֵ֥יin [the] visions of
bechezveiH2376 →12 times
רֵאשִׁ֖יhead my
reshiH7217 →14 times
עַֽל־on
ʾal-H5922 →104 times
מִשְׁכְּבִ֑יbed my
mishkeviH4903 →6 times
וַאֲלוּ֙and lo!
vaaluH431 →5 times
עִ֣ירa watcher
ʾirH5894 →3 times
וְקַדִּ֔ישׁand a holy [one]
vekadishH6922 →13 times
מִן־from
min-H4481 →109 times
שְׁמַיָּ֖אheavens the
shemaiya'H8065 →38 times
נָחִֽת׃[was] coming down
nachitH5182 →6 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
Deuteronomy 33:2He said: “The LORD came from Sinai and dawned upon us from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran and came with myriads of holy ones, with flaming fire at His right hand.
it leads to
- Habakkuk 3:3
God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His glory covered the heavens, and His praise filled the earth.
- Revelation 5:11
Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels and living creatures and elders encircling the throne, and their number was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands.
- Jude 1:14
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, also prophesied about them: “Behold, the Lord is coming with myriads of His holy ones
- Psalms 68:17
The chariots of God are tens of thousands— thousands of thousands are they; the Lord is in His sanctuary as He was at Sinai.
- Judges 5:4–5
O LORD, when You went out from Seir, when You marched from the land of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens poured out rain, and the clouds poured down water.
- Habakkuk 3:3
Through
Psalms 89:7In the council of the holy ones, God is greatly feared, and awesome above all who surround Him.
it leads to
- Psalms 47:2
How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!
- Psalms 76:7–11
You alone are to be feared. When You are angry, who can stand before You?
- Hebrews 12:28–29
Therefore, since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us be filled with gratitude, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.
- Psalms 47:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
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About Daniel
This page draws on 10 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; Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel 3.9.6-10; Isaac of Nineveh, ON ASCETICAL LIFE 5:14; 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 4:13.