Daniel 4:13-17

‘I saw in the visions of my head on my bed, and behold a watcher and a holy one came down from heaven. He cried aloud and said thus, “Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake of his leaves and scatter his fruit. Let the beasts escape from under it and the birds from its branches. Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field. And let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth. Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given to him. And let seven times pass over him. The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones, to the intent that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whoever he will, and sets up over it the lowest of men.”

The implication is indeed quite plain, and it is no wonder that the wise men were wise enough to shrink from declaring it. The detail is slightly more difficult. None would have dreamed what it really meant, but suggestions might have been made. But not to this great king whose word could mean life or death.

The watcher and the holy one (or ‘the holy watcher') would represent heavenly being(s), involved in watching the behaviour of mankind (see Daniel 7:9 where the court of God watching over this scene is described). As far as non-Israelites were concerned this would not necessarily mean moral behaviour. To them the gods were not so much concerned about that, as about how earthly behaviour might affect things for the gods. Daniel, on the other hand, would see them as concerned with the maintenance of God's laws.

There are two strands in the dream in Daniel's presentation. One which is explaining why the king suffered as he did, so that others might recognise that he had been battling with the gods, and was therefore not to be demeaned. The other would be seen by Israelites as indicating that there was an awareness of his sins and guilt before God. We should note that the watcher does not act on his own behalf but on behalf of the Most High.

The cry to ‘cut down' might be seen as being made to divine helpers of the watcher, or to God, or simply as a general cry to indicate that it will happen.

The total destruction of the tree apart from the stump is made quite clear in full detail. It is to lose all its ability to give benefit. The bands around the tree were often put round a stump to prevent it splitting. Here it is probably to be seen as God's guarantee that the stump will be preserved and survive. The dew, and his being with the beasts, picture degradation and loss. The loss of a man's heart and its being replaced by a beast indicates loss of rationalism, and beastly behaviour, but would have puzzled all. The ‘seven times' indicates that what is happening is the result of divine action, a full and divinely perfect treatment from the gods. (In such contexts seven always means something like this. Its use in ancient religious myths to signify divine perfection (along with ‘three' representing completeness) was prominent in such writings, in many cases almost exclusively so).

‘The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones, to the intent that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whoever he will, and sets up over it the lowest of men.' Here it is made evident that the holy watcher acts on behalf of ‘the watchers', indeed by their decree, and on behalf of the Most High. (We are told who these watchers are in Daniel 7:9). To Nebuchadnezzar and the general readers of the decree the Most High was probably the king of the gods, to Daniel and the Israelites He was the one Most High God. The Most High is sovereign over all things and destroys men or raises them up as He will. This was an important point for Nebuchadnezzar. It removed any shame from what had happened.

This will all be dealt with in more detail when Daniel gives the inspired explanation.