2 Raja-raja 14:9

14:9 King Jehoash of Israel sent this message back to King Amaziah of Judah, “A thornbush in Lebanon sent this message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ Then a wild animal ¹  of Lebanon came by and trampled down the thorn. ² 

Yehezkiel 17:3-10

17:3 Say to them: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: ³ 

“‘A great eagle ⁴  with broad wings, long feathers, ⁵ 

with full plumage which was multi-hued, ⁶ 

came to Lebanon ⁷  and took the top of the cedar.

17:4 He plucked off its topmost shoot;

he brought it to a land of merchants

and planted it in a city of traders.

17:5 He took one of the seedlings ⁸  of the land,

placed it in a cultivated plot; ⁹ 

a shoot by abundant water,

like a willow he planted it.

17:6 It sprouted and became a vine,

spreading low to the ground; ¹⁰ 

its branches turning toward him, ¹¹  its roots were under itself. ¹² 

So it became a vine; it produced shoots and sent out branches.

17:7 “‘There was another great eagle ¹³ 

with broad wings and thick plumage.

Now this vine twisted its roots toward him

and sent its branches toward him

to be watered from the soil where it was planted.

17:8 In a good field, by abundant waters, it was planted

to grow branches, bear fruit, and become a beautiful vine.

17:9 “‘Say to them: This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“‘Will it prosper?

Will he not rip out its roots

and cause its fruit to rot ¹⁴  and wither?

All its foliage ¹⁵  will wither.

No strong arm or large army

will be needed to pull it out by its roots. ¹⁶ 

17:10 Consider! It is planted, but will it prosper?

Will it not wither completely when the east wind blows on it?

Will it not wither in the soil where it sprouted?’”

Daniel 4:10-18

4:10 Here are the visions of my mind ¹⁷  while I was on my bed.

While I was watching,

there was a tree in the middle of the land. ¹⁸ 

It was enormously tall. ¹⁹ 

4:11 The tree grew large and strong.

Its top reached far into the sky;

it could be seen ²⁰  from the borders of all the land. ²¹ 

4:12 Its foliage was attractive and its fruit plentiful;

on it there was food enough for all.

Under it the wild animals ²²  used to seek shade,

and in its branches the birds of the sky used to nest.

All creatures ²³  used to feed themselves from it.

4:13 While I was watching in my mind’s visions ²⁴  on my bed,

a holy sentinel ²⁵  came down from heaven.

4:14 He called out loudly ²⁶  as follows: ²⁷ 

‘Chop down the tree and lop off its branches!

Strip off its foliage

and scatter its fruit!

Let the animals flee from under it

and the birds from its branches!

4:15 But leave its taproot ²⁸  in the ground,

with a band of iron and bronze around it ²⁹ 

surrounded by the grass of the field.

Let it become damp with the dew of the sky,

and let it live with ³⁰  the animals in the grass of the land.

4:16 Let his mind ³¹  be altered from that of a human being,

and let an animal’s mind be given to him,

and let seven periods of time ³²  go by for ³³  him.

4:17 This announcement is by the decree of the sentinels;

this decision is by the pronouncement of the holy ones,

so that ³⁴  those who are alive may understand

that the Most High has authority over human kingdoms, ³⁵ 

and he bestows them on whomever he wishes.

He establishes over them even the lowliest of human beings.’

4:18 “This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare its ³⁶  interpretation, for none of the wise men in ³⁷  my kingdom are able to make known to me the interpretation. But you can do so, for a spirit of the holy gods is in you.”

[14:9]  ¹ tn Heb “the animal of the field.”

[14:9]  ² sn Judah is the thorn in the allegory. Amaziah’s success has deceived him into thinking he is on the same level as the major powers in the area (symbolized by the cedar). In reality he is not capable of withstanding an attack by a real military power such as Israel (symbolized by the wild animal).

[17:3]  ³ tn The parable assumes the defection of Zedekiah to Egypt and his rejection of Babylonian lordship.

[17:3]  ⁴ sn The great eagle symbolizes Nebuchadnezzar (17:12).

[17:3]  ⁵ tn Hebrew has two words for wings; it is unknown whether they are fully synonymous or whether one term distinguishes a particular part of the wing such as the wing coverts (nearest the shoulder), secondaries (mid-feathers of the wing) or primaries (last and longest section of the wing).

[17:3]  ⁶ tn This term was used in 16:10, 13, and 18 of embroidered cloth.

[17:3]  ⁷ sn In the parable Lebanon apparently refers to Jerusalem (17:12).

[17:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “took of the seed of the land.” For the vine imagery, “seedling” is a better translation, though in its subsequent interpretation the “seed” refers to Zedekiah through its common application to offspring.

[17:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “a field for seed.”

[17:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “short of stature.”

[17:6]  ¹¹ tn That is, the eagle.

[17:6]  ¹² tn Or “him,” i.e., the eagle.

[17:7]  ¹³ sn The phrase another great eagle refers to Pharaoh Hophra.

[17:9]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew root occurs only here in the OT and appears to have the meaning of “strip off.” In application to fruit the meaning may be “cause to rot.”

[17:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “all the טַרְפֵּי (tarpey) of branches.” The word טַרְפֵּי occurs only here in the Bible; its precise meaning is uncertain.

[17:9]  ¹⁶ tn Or “there will be no strong arm or large army when it is pulled up by the roots.”

[4:10]  ¹⁷ tc The LXX lacks the first two words (Aram “the visions of my head”) of the Aramaic text.

[4:10]  ¹⁸ 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.

[4:10]  ¹⁹ tn Aram “its height was great.”

[4:11]  ²⁰ tn Aram “its sight.” So also v. 17.

[4:11]  ²¹ tn Or “to the end of all the earth” (so KJV, ASV); NCV, CEV “from anywhere on earth.”

[4:12]  ²² tn Aram “the beasts of the field.”

[4:12]  ²³ tn Aram “all flesh.”

[4:13]  ²⁴ tn Aram “the visions of my head.”

[4:13]  ²⁵ tn Aram “a watcher and a holy one.” The expression is a hendiadys; so also in v. 23. This “watcher” is apparently an angel. The Greek OT (LXX) in fact has ἄγγελος (angelo", “angel”) here. Theodotion simply transliterates the Aramaic word (’ir). The term is sometimes rendered “sentinel” (NAB) or “messenger” (NIV, NLT).

[4:14]  ²⁶ tn Aram “in strength.”

[4:14]  ²⁷ tn Aram “and thus he was saying.”

[4:15]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ tn Aram “its lot be.”

[4:16]  ³¹ tn Aram “its heart.” The metaphor of the tree begins to fade here and the reality behind the symbol (the king) begins to emerge.

[4:16]  ³² sn The seven periods of time probably refer to seven years.

[4:16]  ³³ tn Aram “over” (also in vv. 23, 25, 32).

[4:17]  ³⁴ tc The present translation follows an underlying reading of עַל־דִּבְרַת (’al-divrat, “so that”) rather than MT עַד־דִּבְרַת (’ad-divrat, “until”).

[4:17]  ³⁵ tn Aram “the kingdom of man”; NASB “the realm of mankind”; NCV “every kingdom on earth.”

[4:18]  ³⁶ tc The present translation reads פִּשְׁרֵהּ (pishreh, “its interpretation”) with the Qere and many medieval Hebrew MSS; the Kethib is פִּשְׁרָא (pishra’, “the interpretation”); so also v. 16.

[4:18]  ³⁷ tn Aram “of.”