Daniel 4 Introduction

Structure and Formatting

This chapter consists of a letter that King Nebuchadnezzar wrote to all the subjects in his empire. In this letter, he relates an experience he had that taught him that God, whom he calls “the Most High” and “the king of the heavens,” determines what people will reign over earthly kingdoms and for how long. 1. The greeting at the start of the letter (1–3) 2. Nebuchadnezzar has a dream and asks Daniel to interpret it (4–18) 3. Daniel explains the meaning of the dream (19–27) 4. What the dream depicted happens to Nebuchadnezzar (28–36) 5. The closing of the letter (37)Some translations set each line of poetry farther to the right than the rest of the text to make it easier to read. The ULT does this with the poetry in [4:3](../04/03.md) and [4:34–35](../04/34.md).

The tree as the king

The great tree of the dream represents Nebuchadnezzar himself (verse 22); keep the imagery while letting the interpretation identify him.