Daniel 4:15

4:15 But leave its taproot ¹  in the ground,

with a band of iron and bronze around it ² 

surrounded by the grass of the field.

Let it become damp with the dew of the sky,

and let it live with ³  the animals in the grass of the land.

Daniel 4:35

4:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. ⁴ 

He does as he wishes with the army of heaven

and with those who inhabit the earth.

No one slaps ⁵  his hand

and says to him, ‘What have you done?’

[4:15]  ¹ tn Aram “the stock of its root.” So also v. 23. The implication here is that although the tree is chopped down, it is not killed. Its life-giving root is spared. The application to Nebuchadnezzar is obvious.

[4:15]  ² sn The function of the band of iron and bronze is not entirely clear, but it may have had to do with preventing the splitting or further deterioration of the portion of the tree that was left after being chopped down. By application it would then refer to the preservation of Nebuchadnezzar’s life during the time of his insanity.

[4:15]  ³ tn Aram “its lot be.”

[4:35]  ⁴ tc The present translation reads כְּלָא (kÿla’), with many medieval Hebrew MSS, rather than כְּלָה (kÿlah) of BHS.

[4:35]  ⁵ tn Aram “strikes against.”