Page 123 - Daniel

Nebuchadnezzar’s compliment of Daniel’s genius. The king also referred
to Daniel’s thorough knowledge of the whole field of Babylonian
astrology and religion. Leupold suggests that magicians should be
translated “scholars” to give the true meaning and avoid the implication
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of mere magic. Of interest is the statement concerning the prince of
Tyre, “You are indeed wiser than Daniel; no secret is hidden from you”
(Ezek. 28:3). This statement, which the critics work hard to explain as it
confirms a sixth-century Daniel, also supports the idea that Daniel’s fame
had spread far and wide.

4:10–12 “The visions of my head as I lay in bed were these: I saw, and
behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. The
tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it

was visible to the end of the whole earth. Its leaves were beautiful and
its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. The beasts of the field
found shade under it, and the birds of the heavens lived in its
branches, and all flesh was fed from it.”

Knowing he finally had the right person before him, Nebuchadnezzar
began telling his dream to Daniel. The king saw a tree apparently
standing somewhat by itself and dominating the view because of its
great height. Porteous notes that Bentzen “refers to a building inscription

of Nebuchadnezzar in which Babylon is compared to a spreading tree.” 16
The use of trees in the Bible for symbolic purposes as well as in
extrascriptural narratives is found frequently (cf. 2 Kings 14:9; Pss. 1:3;
37:35; 52:8; 92:12; Ezek. 17).

A parallel to Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is recorded in Ezekiel 31, where
the Assyrian as well as the Egyptian Pharaoh are compared to a cedar of
Lebanon. In extrabiblical literature, there is the account of Astyages the
Mede who had a dream in which a vine grew out of the womb of
Mandane his daughter and subsequently covered all Asia. Herodotus

interpreted this as referring to Cyrus. Another famous illustration is
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that of Xerxes, who in a dream was crowned with a branch of an olive
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tree that extended over the world. There are similar allusions in Arabic
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and Turkish sources. Nebuchadnezzar probably anticipated that the
tree represented himself, and this added to his concern.