1883. dethe

Lexical Summary

dethe: Slope, descent

Original Word: דֶּתֶא
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: dethe'
Pronunciation: deh'-theh
Phonetic Spelling: (deh'-thay)
NASB: new grass
Word Origin: [(Aramaic) corresponding to H1877 (דֶּשֶׁא - grass)]

1. tender grass

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

tender grass

(Aramaic) corresponding to deshe' -- tender grass.

see HEBREW deshe'

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
(Aramaic) corresponding to deshe
Definition
grass
NASB Translation
new grass (2).

Brown-Driver-Briggs

[דֶּ֫תֶא] noun [masculine] grass (so ᵑ7 Syriac; Biblical Hebrew דֶּשֶׁא); — emphatic דִּתְאָא Daniel 4:12; Daniel 4:20.

Topical Lexicon

Overview

Strong’s Hebrew 1883 (Aramaic) designates the “stump” or remaining stock of a felled tree. Though it occurs only twice, both in Daniel, the image reverberates across Scripture as a figure of divine judgment tempered by preserving mercy.

Scriptural Context in Daniel

In Daniel 4 Nebuchadnezzar dreams of an immense tree that shelters the earth. At heaven’s decree it is cut down, “but leave the stump with its roots in the ground, and a band of iron and bronze around it” (Daniel 4:15; cf. 4:23). Daniel interprets the preserved stump as the king’s life and throne safeguarded until he learns that “the Most High rules the kingdom of men” (Daniel 4:17). The stump, therefore, is the hinge between humiliation and restoration. After seven “times,” Nebuchadnezzar’s reason returns, and the kingdom is re-established—fulfilling the promise implied by the guarded stump (Daniel 4:34-36).

Historical and Cultural Background

Ancient Near Eastern arboriculture recognized that a tree often regenerates from its stump if the root system is left intact. Kings used the metaphor of cutting down trees to describe conquest; preserving a stump would signal intent to spare or later rehabilitate. Daniel’s Babylonian audience would understand the picture instantly: the sovereign God cuts down imperial pride yet ties the stump with iron and bronze bands—symbols of restraint and preservation—to protect the remnant until the appointed time.

Symbolism of the Stump in Biblical Theology

1. Judgment that spares a remnant
• Isaiah 6:13 speaks of Israel as “the stump” left after purging fire.
• Job 14:7-9 notes the stump’s surprising vitality, “at the scent of water it will bud.”
• The Daniel narrative extends the motif to individual kingship; the humbling of Nebuchadnezzar parallels the pruning of a people.

2. Hope of new growth
• Isaiah 11:1 foretells a Messianic “shoot…from the stump of Jesse,” a promise of royal renewal after apparent ruin.
• Daniel 4 foreshadows that renewed dominion flows from repentance; the green sprout after chastening anticipates the greater Davidic restoration in Jesus Christ.

3. Divine sovereignty and mercy
• The cutting down is decisive; yet the retained stump shows God is “slow to anger” and “abounding in loving devotion” (Psalm 103:8).
• The iron-bronze band underlines that even the preservation is governed by God; nothing is left to chance.

Theological Themes: Judgment and Restoration

• Human pride invites divine opposition (Proverbs 16:18; James 4:6). Nebuchadnezzar’s account is a concrete warning to rulers and nations.
• Discipline aims at repentance, not annihilation (Hebrews 12:10-11). The stump’s survival declares that God’s purposes for His image-bearers include restoration.
• Kingdoms are contingent on acknowledging God’s rule. The narrative counters any notion that secular power stands outside divine prerogative.

Ministry Applications

1. Personal Humility: Believers confronting pride can remember the cut tree; God may reduce status but He preserves potential.
2. Pastoral Hope: When ministering to those under chastening, point to the stump—there is a time to “look up to heaven” (Daniel 4:34) and be re-established.
3. Intercession for Authorities: Pray that leaders heed the lesson before the axe falls; but also that God preserves the “stump” of national welfare for future blessing.

Connections with Other Biblical Imagery

• Vine and branch metaphors (John 15:1-8) continue the horticultural language, highlighting ongoing dependence on God for fruitfulness after pruning.
• Romans 11:17-24 describes Gentiles grafted into Israel’s olive tree; the stock is indispensable even to new branches—another echo of stump theology.

Conclusion

Strong’s 1883 עתה דֶּתֶא encapsulates a paradox: severe cutting down paired with protective preservation. Its two appearances anchor a chapter that magnifies God’s sovereignty over kings, nations, and times, while offering hope that what He reduces He can raise again. In every age, the stump stands as a silent witness that the Most High both humbles and heals.

Forms and Transliterations

בְּדִתְאָ֖א בדתאא bə·ḏiṯ·’ā bəḏiṯ’ā beditA

Englishman's Concordance

Daniel 4:15
HEB: פַרְזֶ֣ל וּנְחָ֔שׁ בְּדִתְאָ֖א דִּ֣י בָרָ֑א
NAS: and bronze [around it] In the new grass of the field;
KJV: and brass, in the tender grass of the field;
INT: of iron and bronze the new forasmuch of the field

Daniel 4:23
HEB: פַרְזֶ֣ל וּנְחָ֔שׁ בְּדִתְאָ֖א דִּ֣י בָרָ֑א
NAS: and bronze [around it] in the new grass of the field,
KJV: and brass, in the tender grass of the field;
INT: of iron and bronze the new forasmuch of the field

2 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 1883
2 Occurrences

bə·ḏiṯ·’ā — 2 Occ.