What is the meaning of Daniel 4:22?

You, O king, are that tree!

Daniel identifies Nebuchadnezzar as the colossal tree from the dream (Daniel 4:20-21).

• The king is singled out personally, just as earlier when Daniel declared, “You are that head of gold” (Daniel 2:37-38).

• This underscores God’s intimate knowledge of earthly rulers (Proverbs 21:1) and His right to address them directly (Psalm 2:10-12).

• The image of a tree representing a ruler or kingdom appears elsewhere—Assyria in Ezekiel 31:3-9 and the messianic shoot in Isaiah 11:1—showing a consistent biblical pattern.

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For you have become great and strong;

Daniel 4:22 continues, “For you have become great and strong.”

• God granted Nebuchadnezzar unmatched military success (Jeremiah 27:5-7).

• Babylon’s fortifications, famed Hanging Gardens, and wealth testify to the strength God allowed (Habakkuk 1:6-11).

• Yet Scripture warns that human might, apart from humility before the Lord, leads to downfall (Proverbs 16:18).

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Your greatness has grown to reach the sky,

The phrase pictures Babel-like height (Genesis 11:4).

• Babylon’s ziggurats aimed heavenward, mirroring the king’s soaring pride (Isaiah 14:13-14 uses similar “reach the heavens” language of self-exalting rulers).

• Revelation 18:5 notes Babylon’s sins “piled up to heaven,” showing how unchecked greatness can provoke divine response.

• God alone possesses true “highest heavens” glory (Deuteronomy 10:14); any earthly glory must acknowledge Him (1 Chronicles 29:11-12).

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And your dominion extends to the ends of the earth.

Nebuchadnezzar’s empire spanned from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean, from Egypt to modern Iran (Daniel 4:1).

• Psalm 75:6-7 reminds us promotion comes from God, not from the east, west, or desert.

• The breadth of dominion anticipates God’s purpose to demonstrate that “the Most High is ruler over the kingdom of men” (Daniel 4:17).

• Earthly empires foreshadow the universal reign of Christ, whose kingdom truly “endures from generation to generation” (Daniel 4:34; Luke 1:33).

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summary

Daniel 4:22 asserts that Nebuchadnezzar’s vast power, prosperity, and influence were real and God-given, yet also provisional. The verse celebrates the king’s greatness while setting the stage for God’s humbling judgment, teaching that every authority must acknowledge the sovereignty of the Most High.