Daniel 4:11

4:11 The tree grew large and strong.

Its top reached far into the sky;

it could be seen ¹  from the borders of all the land. ² 

Daniel 3:1

Daniel’s Friends Are Tested

3:1 ³ King Nebuchadnezzar had a golden ⁴  statue made. ⁵  It was ninety feet ⁶  tall and nine feet ⁷  wide. He erected it on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

Daniel 4:10

4:10 Here are the visions of my mind ⁸  while I was on my bed.

While I was watching,

there was a tree in the middle of the land. ⁹ 

It was enormously tall. ¹⁰ 

Daniel 4:20

4:20 The tree that you saw that grew large and strong, whose top reached to the sky, and which could be seen ¹¹  in all the land,

¹ tn Aram “its sight.” So also v. 17.

² tn Or “to the end of all the earth” (so KJV, ASV); NCV, CEV “from anywhere on earth.”

³ sn The LXX introduces this chapter with the following chronological note: “in the eighteenth year of.” Such a date would place these events at about the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. (cf. 2 Kgs 25:8). However, there seems to be no real basis for associating the events of Daniel 3 with this date.

⁴ sn There is no need to think of Nebuchadnezzar’s image as being solid gold. No doubt the sense is that it was overlaid with gold (cf. Isa 40:19; Jer 10:3-4), with the result that it presented a dazzling self-compliment to the greatness of Nebuchadnezzar’s achievements.

⁵ sn According to a number of patristic authors, the image represented a deification of Nebuchadnezzar himself. This is not clear from the biblical text, however.

⁶ tn Aram “sixty cubits.” Assuming a length of 18 inches for the standard cubit, the image would be 90 feet (27.4 m) high.

⁷ tn Aram “six cubits.” Assuming a length of 18 inches for the standard cubit, the image would be 9 feet (2.74 m) wide.

⁵ tc The LXX lacks the first two words (Aram “the visions of my head”) of the Aramaic text.

⁶ tn Instead of “in the middle of the land,” some English versions render this phrase “a tree at the center of the earth” (NRSV); NAB, CEV “of the world”; NLT “in the middle of the earth.” The Hebrew phrase can have either meaning.

⁷ tn Aram “its height was great.”

⁷ tn Aram “its sight.”