The tree grew, and was strong, and its height reached to the sky, and its sight to the end of all the earth.
Parallel Translations
-
The tree grew, and was strong, and its height reached to the sky, and its sight to the end of all the earth.
-
The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth:
-
(4-8) The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth.
Cross-references (4)
Passages linked to Daniel 4:11 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Deuteronomy 9:1 Hear, Israel! You are to pass over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to the sky,
- Daniel 4:21-22 whose leaves were beautiful, and its fruit plentiful, and in it was food for all; under which the animals of the field lived, and on whose branches the birds of the sky had their habitation: it is you, O king, that have grown and become strong; for your greatness has grown, and reaches to the sky, and your dominion to the end of the earth.
- Matthew 11:23 You, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, you will go down to Hades. For if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in you, it would have remained until today.
- Genesis 11:4 They said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (8 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Dan 4:11 The tree grew, and was strong, and…
Dan 4:11 The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth:
Ver. 11. The tree grew, and was strong.] See Eze 17:12; Eze 17:24. Plato compareth a man to a tree inverted, with the root above and the branches below. He also calleth him φυτον ουρανιον, a heavenly plant. Homer calleth great men γεγενημενα εχ Dιος ερνη.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain The tree grew, and was strong,.... Grew higher and…
The tree grew, and was strong,.... Grew higher and broader, taller and thicker, increased in boughs and branches, and became strong and stable, that no winds nor storms could move it: this shows the increasing power of Nebuchadnezzar, the enlargement of his dominions, and the stability of his empire:
and the height thereof reached unto heaven; higher than any on earth; expressive of his dominion over all nations and people of the earth; or of his ambition of deity itself; and so Saadiah illustrates it by Isa 14:14. "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds &c.":
Read full note →
and the sight thereof to the end of the earth: being so high, it was seen afar off; the fame of this great monarch reached to the ends of the earth; the eyes of all were turned to him; some looking upon him with wonder, others with envy.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The tree grew - Or the tree was “great”…
The tree grew - Or the tree was “great” - רבה rebâh. It does not mean that the tree grew while he was looking at it so as to reach to the heaven, but that it stood before him in all its glory, its top reaching to the sky, and its branches extending afar.
And was strong - It was well-proportioned, with a trunk adapted to its height, and to the mass of boughs and foliage which it bore. The strength here refers to its trunk, and to the fact that it seemed fixed firmly in the earth.
Read full note →
And the height thereof reached unto heaven - To the sky; to the region of the clouds. The comparison of trees reaching to heaven is common in Greek and Latin authors. - Grotius. Compare Virgil’s description of Fame.
“Mox sese attollit in auras,
Ingrediturque solo, et caput inter nubila condit.” -
“AEn. iv. 176
And the sight thereof to the end of all the earth - It could be seen, or was visible in all parts of the earth. The Greek here for “sight” is κῦτος kutos, “breadth, capaciousness.” Herodotus (“Polymnia”) describes a vision remarkably similar to this, as indicative of a wide and universal monarchy, respecting Xerxes:
“After these things there was a third vision in his sleep, which the magicians (μάγοι magoi) hearing of, said that it pertained to all the earth, and denoted that all men would be subject to him. The vision was this: Xerxes seemed to be crowned with a branch of laurel, and the branches of laurel seemed to extend through all the earth.” The vision which Nebuchadnezzar had here, of a tree so conspicuous as to be seen from any part of the world, was one that would be naturally applied to a sovereign having a universal sway.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Branches, to shew that all (Haydock) the king’s subjects…
Branches, to shew that all (Haydock) the king’s subjects should abandon him.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 11. grew] was grown.
11. grew] was grown.
11, 12. The thoughts expressed by the symbolism of the dream are the central and commanding position taken in the world by Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom, its power, splendour, and prosperity, and the protection and support afforded by it, not only to those who strictly belonged to it, but also to all others who sought to enjoy the advantages supplied by it.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (11) The tree grew.—It appeared in the vision to…
(11) The tree grew.—It appeared in the vision to grow gradually larger and larger. According to the LXX., “The sun and moon dwelled in it and gave light to the whole earth.”
The sight thereof—i.e., the tree could be seen from the most distant parts of the known world.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The tree grew, and was strong, and the height…
The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth. This verse is transposed in the Septuagint with the following verse, and is rendered, "And its appearance (orasiv) was great, and its top approached to the heavens, and its breadth (kutov, equivalent to "branches") filled (plhroun) to the clouds all things beneath the heaven and the sun and the moon were, and dwelt in it, and enlightened all the earth." The addition in the last clause is a singular and picturesque one to one standing beneath a spreading tree; sun and moon might pierce with their rays through some thin points in the foliage, but they would seem never to get beyond the widespread branches of the tree, and therefore it would be but a poetical mode of statement to say, "the sun and moon dwelt amid the branches." At the same time, it is not impossible that there was some astronomical legend of the sun and moon and the tree of life. If this proclamation was originally written in cuneiform, there might easily be some difficulty at times in deciphering and fixing in which of a dozen possible senses a given word must be taken. The variation is beyond the region of mere ordinary blundering in Aramaic. On the other hand, it seems too picturesque for the work of a commonplace interpolator. Theodotion in the main agrees with the Massoretic, but instead of "sight thereof," he has "breadth (kotov) thereof," reading some such word as path-ootheh instead of hazotheh. The Peshitta is in close agreement with the received text. To those who, like the Babylonian, believed the earth to he a vast plain, it was not inconceivable that a tree should be so high as to be seen over the whole earth. It is a very suitable symbol of a great world-empire. At the same time, we must remember that the great variation in this verse in the Septuagint makes its authenticity somewhat doubtful.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 4:11 The tree . . . reaching high into…
4:11 The tree . . . reaching high into the heavens possibly alludes to the Tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-9).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.