Page 124 - Daniel

Nebuchadnezzar described the tree as growing, becoming very strong
and very high until it was visible all over the earth, obviously exceeding
the possibilities of any ordinary tree. It had abundant foliage, and it bore
enough fruit that “all flesh was fed from it.” Symbolically, it included
mankind as under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar.

4:13–15a “I saw in the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and behold,

a watcher, a holy one, came down from heaven. He proclaimed aloud
and said thus: ‘Chop down the tree and lop off its branches, strip off
its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it and the
birds from its branches. But leave the stump of its roots in the earth,
bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the
field.’”

Then Nebuchadnezzar said someone appeared from heaven, calling

him “a watcher, a holy one.” This expression has generated a lot of
comment, especially by liberal critics who consider this a vestige of
polytheism. Even Keil says, “The conception … is not biblical, but
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Babylonian pagan.” In Babylonian religion, it was customary to
recognize “council deities” who were charged with the special task of
watching over the world. The question raised on this passage is whether
Nebuchadnezzar used this pagan concept.

In his detailed note on the subject of watchers, Montgomery refers to
the considerable role played by the “watchers” in the intertestamental

literature and to a possible occurrence in the Zadokite fragment. He
quotes Meinhold as drawing attention in this connection to “full of eyes
all around,” in Ezekiel 1:18, and “These seven are the eyes of the LORD,
which range through the whole earth,” in Zechariah 4:10, and goes on to
e
trace the still closer parallel with “the Watchers” (shōm rîm) and “You
who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest” (hammazkirîm ’eth-
Yahweh) of Isaiah 62:6. 21

In the light of the full revelation of Scripture, the most natural
conclusion is that this person was an angel sent from God, even though
the word angel is not used. That angels are watchers, or better, “vigilant,
making a sleepless watch,” is not foreign to the concept of angels in
Scripture. The expressions “watchers” and “the holy ones” are mentioned