Daniel 4:10

Complete Jewish Bible

I looked in the visions of my head as I lay on my bed, and there appeared a holy watcher coming down from heaven.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
In the visions of my mind as I was lying in bed, I saw this:

Hebrew Names Version
Thus were the visions of my head on my bed: I saw, and, behold, a tree in the midst of the eretz; and the height of it was great.

King James Version
Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great.

English Standard Version
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.

New American Standard Bible
'Now these were the visions in my mind as I lay on my bed: I was looking, and behold, there was a tree in the middle of the earth and its height was great.

New Century Version
These are the visions I saw while I was lying in my bed: I looked, and there in front of me was a tree standing in the middle of the earth. And it was very tall.

Amplified Bible
'The visions that passed through my mind as I lay on my bed were these: I was looking, and behold, there was a tree in the middle of the earth, and its height was great.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed. And beholde, I sawe a tree in the middes of the earth and the height thereof was great:

New American Standard Bible (1995)
'Now these were the visions in my mind as I lay on my bed: I was looking, and behold, there was a tree in the midst of the earth and its height was great.

Berean Standard Bible
In these visions of my mind as I was lying in bed, I saw this come to pass: There was a tree in the middle of the land, and its height was great.

Contemporary English Version
In my sleep I saw a very tall tree in the center of the world.

Darby Translation
Thus were the visions of my head upon my bed: I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great.

Easy-to-Read Version
These are the visions I saw while I was lying in my bed: I looked, and there in front of me was a tree standing in the middle of the earth. The tree was very tall.

George Lamsa Translation
These were the visions which I saw in my bed: I saw, and behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great.

Good News Translation
"While I was asleep, I had a vision of a huge tree in the middle of the earth.

Lexham English Bible
Now these were the visions of my head as I was lying on my bed: I was gazing and, look, a tree was in the midst of the earth, and its height was exalted.

Literal Translation
As to the visions of my head on my bed, I was looking, and, behold, a tree was in the middle of the earth. And its height was great.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
I sawe a vision in my heade vpon my bed: and beholde, there stode a tre vpon the grounde,

American Standard Version
Thus were the visions of my head upon my bed: I saw, and, behold, a tree in the midst of the earth; and the height thereof was great.

Bible in Basic English
On my bed I saw a vision: there was a tree in the middle of the earth, and it was very high.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and a holy one came down from heaven.

King James Version (1611)
Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed: I saw, and behold, a tree in the middest of the earth, and the height thereof was great.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Thus were the visions of my head vpon my bed: And behold, I saw a tree in the mids of the earth, and the heyght therof was great,

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
I beheld in the night vision upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven and cried aloud, and thus he said,

English Revised Version
Thus were the visions of my head upon my bed: I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great.

World English Bible
Thus were the visions of my head on my bed: I saw, and, behold, a tree in the midst of the earth; and the height of it was great.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
This is the visioun of myn heed in my bed. Y siy, and lo! a tree was in the myddis of erthe, and the hiynesse therof was ful greet.

Update Bible Version
Thus were the visions of my head on my bed: I looked, and saw a tree in the midst of the earth; and the height thereof was great.

Webster's Bible Translation
Thus [were] the visions of my head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and its hight [was] great.

New English Translation
Here are the visions of my mind while I was on my bed. While I was watching, there was a tree in the middle of the land. It was enormously tall.

New King James Version
"These were the visions of my head while on my bed: I was looking, and behold, A tree in the midst of the earth, And its height was great.

New Living Translation
"‘While I was lying in my bed, this is what I dreamed. I saw a large tree in the middle of the earth.

New Life Bible
This is what I saw in my mind as I lay on my bed: I saw a tree in the center of the land. It was very tall.

New Revised Standard
Upon my bed this is what I saw; there was a tree at the center of the earth, and its height was great.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
The visions then of my head upon my bed were these , - I was looking, when lo! a tree in the midst of the land, and, the height thereof, was great.

Douay-Rheims Bible
10 [7] [fn] This was the vision of my head in my bed: I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was exceeding great.

Revised Standard Version
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.

Young's Literal Translation
As to the visions of my head on my bed, I was looking, and lo, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height [is] great:

THE MESSAGE
"‘This is what I saw as I was stretched out on my bed. I saw a big towering tree at the center of the world. As I watched, the tree grew huge and strong. Its top reached the sky and it could be seen from the four corners of the earth. Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant—enough food for everyone! Wild animals found shelter under it, birds nested in its branches, everything living was fed and sheltered by it.

Contextual Overview

⁴ When the magicians, exorcists, astrologers and diviners came, I told them the dream; but they couldn't interpret it for me. ⁵ Finally, however, Dani'el (renamed Belt'shatzar, after the name of my god), in whom is the spirit of the holy gods, came before me; and I told him the dream: ⁶ ‘Belt'shatzar, chief of the magicians! Because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and no mystery is too difficult for you, tell me the meaning of the visions I saw in my dream. ⁷ Here are the visions I had in my head as I lay on my bed: I looked, and there before me was a tree at the center of the earth; it was very tall. ⁸ The tree grew and became strong until its crown reached the sky, and it could be seen from anywhere on earth. ⁹ Its foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant; it produced enough food for everyone. The wild animals enjoyed its shade, the birds in the air lived in its branches, and it gave food to every living creature. ¹⁰ I looked in the visions of my head as I lay on my bed, and there appeared a holy watcher coming down from heaven. ¹¹ He cried out: "‘"Cut down the tree, cut off its branches, strip off its leaves, scatter its fruit! Let the wild animals flee from its shelter! Let the birds abandon its branches! ¹² But leave the stump with its roots in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze, in the lush grass of the countryside; let him be drenched with dew from the sky and share the lot of animals in the pasture; ¹³ let his heart and mind cease to be human and become those of an animal; and let seven seasons pass over him.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

saw: Chal, was seeing

a tree: This represented his exceedingly prosperous condition, the height of his exaltation, the extent of his dominions and renown, the splendour of his kingdom, the multitude of his subjects who received protection from him, and the peace and plenty they enjoyed. Daniel 4:20-26, Psalms 37:35, Psalms 37:36, Isaiah 10:33, Isaiah 10:34, Jeremiah 12:2, Ezekiel 31:3-18

Reciprocal: Genesis 40:9 - a vine Judges 9:8 - The trees Ezekiel 17:23 - under Daniel 1:17 - Daniel had understanding Daniel 4:13 - in the Hosea 14:6 - branches Mark 4:32 - shooteth

Cross-References

Genesis 3:13
Adonai , God, said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman answered, "The serpent tricked me, so I ate."

Genesis 4:9
Adonai said to Kayin, "Where is Hevel your brother?" And he replied, "I don't know; am I my brother's guardian?"

Genesis 4:10
He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground!

Genesis 9:5
I will certainly demand an accounting for the blood of your lives: I will demand it from every animal and from every human being. I will demand from every human being an accounting for the life of his fellow human being.

Genesis 18:20
Adonai said, "The outcry against S'dom and ‘Amora is so great and their sin so serious

Exodus 3:7
Adonai said, "I have seen how my people are being oppressed in Egypt and heard their cry for release from their slavemasters, because I know their pain.

Numbers 35:33
In this way you will not defile the land in which you are living. For blood defiles the land, and in this land no atonement can be made for the blood shed in it except the blood of him who shed it.

Joshua 7:19
Y'hoshua said to ‘Akhan, "My son, swear to Adonai , the God of Isra'el, that you will tell the truth and confess to him. Tell me, now, what did you do? Don't hide anything from me."

2 Kings 9:26
‘ Adonai says: "Yesterday I saw the blood of Navot and the blood of his sons." Adonai also says: "I will pay you back in this field."' Therefore, pick him up; and throw him into the field, in keeping with what Adonai said."

Job 16:18
"Earth, don't cover my blood; don't let my cry rest [without being answered].

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed,.... So things appeared to my fancy thus; they ran in my head or brain in a dream in my bed, as if I saw them with my eyes, as follows; for so I thought,

I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth; an emblem of a powerful prince well settled, and strongly supported in his power and government; so the Assyrian monarch, Ezekiel 31:3 and here Nebuchadnezzar himself, as it is afterwards explained; who was well established in his monarchy, the metropolis of which was Babylon; and which stood pretty much in the midst of the then known world:

and the height thereof was great; taller than trees in common; denoting the superiority of the Babylonian monarch over all kings and kingdoms of the earth.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Thus were the visions of my head in my bed - These are the things which I saw upon my bed. When he says that they were the “visions of his head,” he states a doctrine which was then doubtless regarded as the truth, that the head is the seat of thought.

I saw - Margin, “was seeing.” Chaldee, “seeing I saw.” The phrase would imply attentive and calm contemplation. It was not a flitting vision; it was an object which he contemplated deliberately so as to retain a distinct remembrance of its form and appearance.

And, behold, a tree in the midst of the earth - Occupying a central position on the earth. It seems to have been by itself - remote from any forest: to have stood alone. Its central position, no less than its size and proportions, attracted his attention. Such a tree, thus towering to the heavens, and sending out its branches afar, and affording a shade to the beasts of the field, and a home to the fowls of heaven Daniel 4:12, was a striking emblem of a great and mighty monarch, and it undoubtedly occurred to Nebuchadnezzar at once that the vision had some reference to himself. Thus in Ezekiel 31:3, the Assyrian king is compared with a magnificent cedar: “Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of a high stature, and his top was among the thick boughs.” Compare also Ezekiel 17:22-24, where “the high tree and the green tree” refer probably to Nebuchadnezzar. See the note at Isaiah 2:13. Compare Isaiah 10:18-19; Jeremiah 22:7, Jeremiah 22:23. Homer often compares his heroes to trees. Hector, felled by a stone, is compared with an oak overthrown by a thunderbolt. The fall of Simoisius is compared by him to that of a poplar, and that of Euphorbus to the fall of a beautiful olive. Nothing is more obvious than the comparison of a hero with a lofty tree of the forest, and hence, it was natural for Nebuchadnezzar to suppose that this vision had a reference to himself.

And the height thereof was great - In the next verse it is said to have reached to heaven.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Daniel 4:10. I saw - a tree — This vision Nebuchadnezzar says made him afraid. What a mercy it is that God has hidden futurity from us! Were he to show every man the lot that is before him, the misery of the human race would be complete.

Great men and princes are often represented, in the language of the prophets, under the similitude of trees; see Ezekiel 17:5-6; Dan 31:3, c. Jeremiah 22:15; Psalms 1:3; Psalms 37:35.