Daniel 4:14
in Daniel 4He 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off its branches, shake off its leaves, and scatter its fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from its branches.
KJV
He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches:
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This verse in Daniel 4
Commentary
7 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 Fathers1 voice
And so when the angel came down from heaven and said, "Cut down the tree and strip its branches and shake off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts be loosed from under it and the birds from its branches" [Daniel 4:14], this indicates the occurrence of a plot by the satraps against the king and by those who are in power under them.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He cried aloud,....
By the turns of providence, those who made a figure become captives, those who lived in plenty, and above what they had, are reduced to straits, and live far below what they had, and those perhaps are brought to be beholden to others who once had many depending upon them and making suit to them.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Hew down the tree - As the tree was to be cut down, the beasts are commanded to flee away from under his branches. His courtiers, officers, etc., all abandoned him as soon as his insanity appeared; but he soon fled from the society of men.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He cried aloud - Margin, as in the Chaldee, “with might.” That is, he cried with a strong voice. Hew down the tree - This command does not appear to have been addressed to any particular ones who were to execute the commission, but it is a strong and significant way of saying that it would certainly be done. Or possibly the command may be understood as addressed to his fellow-watchers Dan 4:17, or to orders of angels over whom this one presided. And cut off his branches ... - The idea here, and in the subsequent part of the verse, is, that the tree was to be utterly cut up, and all its glory and beauty destroyed. It was first to be felled, and then its limbs chopped off, and then these were to be stripped of their foliage, and then the fruit which it bore was to be scattered. All this was strikingly significant, as applied to the monarch, of some awful calamity that was to occur to him after he should have been brought down from his throne. A process of humiliation and desolation was to continue, as if the tree, when cut down, were not suffered to lie quietly in its grandeur upon the earth. “Let the beasts get away,” etc. That is, it shall cease to afford a shade to the beasts and a home to the fowls. The purposes which it had answered in the days of its glory will come to an end.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
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
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| קָרֵ֨א | kare' | [he was] proclaiming | H7123 → | 11 times |
| בְחַ֜יִל | vechayil | with power | H2429 → | 7 times |
| וְכֵ֣ן | vekhen | and as follows | H3652 → | 8 times |
| אָמַ֗ר | ʾamar | [he was] saying | H560 → | 71 times |
| גֹּ֤דּוּ | godu | cut down! | H1414 → | |
| אִֽילָנָא֙ | ʾilana' | tree the | H363 → | 6 times |
| וְקַצִּ֣צוּ | vekatzitzu | and cut off! | H7113 → | |
| עַנְפ֔וֹהִי | anfohi | branches its | H6056 → | 4 times |
| אַתַּ֥רוּ | ʾataru | strip off! | H5426 → | |
| עָפְיֵ֖הּ | ʾafeyeh | foliage its | H6074 → | 3 times |
| וּבַדַּ֣רוּ | uvadaru | and scatter! | H921 → | |
| אִנְבֵּ֑הּ | ʾinbeh | fruit its | H4 → | 3 times |
| תְּנֻ֤ד | tenud | let it flee | H5111 → | |
| חֵֽיוְתָא֙ | cheiveta' | animal[s] the | H2423 → | 20 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4481 → | 109 times |
| תַּחְתּ֔וֹהִי | tachtohi | under it | H8460 → | 5 times |
| וְצִפְּרַיָּ֖א | vetziperaiya' | and birds the | H6853 → | 4 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4481 → | 109 times |
| עַנְפֽוֹהִי׃ | anfohi | branches its | H6056 → | 4 times |
קָרֵ֨א[he was] proclaiming
kare'H7123 →11 times
בְחַ֜יִלwith power
vechayilH2429 →7 times
וְכֵ֣ןand as follows
vekhenH3652 →8 times
אָמַ֗ר[he was] saying
ʾamarH560 →71 times
גֹּ֤דּוּcut down!
goduH1414 →
אִֽילָנָא֙tree the
ʾilana'H363 →6 times
וְקַצִּ֣צוּand cut off!
vekatzitzuH7113 →
עַנְפ֔וֹהִיbranches its
anfohiH6056 →4 times
אַתַּ֥רוּstrip off!
ʾataruH5426 →
עָפְיֵ֖הּfoliage its
ʾafeyehH6074 →3 times
וּבַדַּ֣רוּand scatter!
uvadaruH921 →
אִנְבֵּ֑הּfruit its
ʾinbehH4 →3 times
תְּנֻ֤דlet it flee
tenudH5111 →
חֵֽיוְתָא֙animal[s] the
cheiveta'H2423 →20 times
מִן־from
min-H4481 →109 times
תַּחְתּ֔וֹהִיunder it
tachtohiH8460 →5 times
וְצִפְּרַיָּ֖אand birds the
vetziperaiya'H6853 →4 times
מִן־from
min-H4481 →109 times
עַנְפֽוֹהִי׃branches its
anfohiH6056 →4 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
Matthew 3:10The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
it leads to
- John 15:6
If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.
- Luke 3:9
The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
- Matthew 7:19
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
- John 15:2
He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful.
- Luke 13:6–9
Then Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree that was planted in his vineyard. He went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any.
- John 15:6
Through
Daniel 3:4Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “O people of every nation and language, this is what you are commanded:
it leads to
- Daniel 4:1
King Nebuchadnezzar, To the people of every nation and language who dwell in all the earth: May your prosperity be multiplied.
- Daniel 6:25
Then King Darius wrote to the people of every nation and language throughout the land: “May your prosperity abound.
- Daniel 4:1
Through
Daniel 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…
it leads to
- Luke 13:19
It is like a mustard seed that a man tossed into his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.”
- Luke 13:19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
On this chapter
About Daniel
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 3.9.1-10; Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER FOUR; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.