Bible Strands
Daniel 4:14
He 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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — A watcher, a holy one, speaks while descending from heaven during Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The figure addresses the king directly through the vision’s narrative.
The words — The Hebrew verb גֹּדּוּ (Go.du) commands the tree to be cut down, while קַצִּ֣צוּ (ka.Tzi.tzu) orders the branches to be severed. Both terms function as imperative decrees within the vision’s proclamation.
The thread — The imagery of felling a great tree appears in Ezekiel 31:12 and is echoed in Matthew 3:10 regarding trees that fail to bear fruit. Daniel 4:23 later reiterates the command to destroy the tree but omits the specific details about branches and leaves.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of divine authority over earthly power structures. It requires the reader to acknowledge that human sovereignty remains subject to heavenly judgment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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:
Cross-references
- Matthew 3:10 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.
- Ezekiel 31:12 Foreigners, the most ruthless of the nations, cut it down and left it. Its branches have fallen on the mountains and in every valley; its boughs lay broken in all the earth’s ravines. And all the peoples of the earth left its shade and abandoned it.
- Daniel 4:23 And you, O king, saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying: ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump with its roots in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and graze with the beasts of the field till seven times pass him by.’
- Daniel 3:4 Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “O people of every nation and language, this is what you are commanded:
- Daniel 4:12 Its 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 from it every creature was fed.
- Matthew 7:19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
- 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.”
- Luke 13:7 So he said to the keeper of the vineyard, ‘Look, for the past three years I have come to search for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Therefore cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
- Jeremiah 51:6 Flee from Babylon! Escape with your lives! Do not be destroyed in her punishment. For this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance; He will pay her what she deserves.
- Jeremiah 51:9 “We tried to heal Babylon, but she could not be healed. Abandon her! Let each of us go to his own land, for her judgment extends to the sky and reaches to the clouds.”