In this chapter, we find ourselves in the midst of Nebuchadnezzar's dream - the dream of the great tree. In the section before us, we arrive at the second vision within the dream: an angel descending from heaven and decreeing that the tree be cut down, followed by Daniel's interpretation. We will follow the order of the verses, primarily according to the commentary of the Malbim, and see how the entire dream is "a dream interpreted within a dream" - where the interpretation itself is spoken within the dream.
חָזֵה הֲוֵית בְּחֶזְוֵי רֵאשִׁי עַל־מִשְׁכְּבִי וַאֲלוּ עִיר וְקַדִּישׁ מִן־שְׁמַיָּא נָחִת׃ - I saw in the visions of my head on my bed, and behold, a watcher and a holy one descended from heaven.
I was seeing in the visions of my head upon my bed, and behold, an "ir ve-kadish" (a watcher and a holy one) was descending from heaven. Several explanations are given for the term "ir ve-kadish." Rashi explains that it refers to an angel, with "ir ve-kadish" serving as his description: "ir" (watcher/awake) - because an angel is always awake, and there is never a situation where an angel goes to sleep or becomes fatigued; "kadish" (holy) - because he is perpetually holy, as there is never a situation where an angel lacks sanctity, and holy means elevated and sublime. The Metzudos explains differently: "ir" is an expression of destruction, as in "Aru, aru (raze it, raze it) to its foundation," meaning: I saw a holy one descending from heaven with the purpose of destroying.
The Malbim offers a third explanation: "ir" and "kadish" are two categories of angels. "Irin" (watchers) are the angels appointed to execute the decree in practice, while "kadishin" (holy ones) are the elevated angels stationed above them, from whom the irin receive the decree and carry it out. An analogy for this is a judge and a police officer: the judge decrees, and the officer carries it out. The kadishin are in the category of judges - the higher ones who emanate the decree - while the irin are in the category of officers - the lower ones who execute it.
קָרֵא בְחַיִל וְכֵן אָמַר גֹּדּוּ אִילָנָא וְקַצִּצוּ עַנְפוֹהִי אַתַּרוּ עָפְיֵהּ וּבַדַּרוּ אִנְבֵּהּ תְּנֻד חֵיוְתָא מִן־תַּחְתּוֹהִי וְצִפְּרַיָּא מִן־עַנְפוֹהִי׃ - He cried aloud and spoke thus: "Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit; let the beasts flee from beneath it, and the birds from its branches."
The one proclaiming is the angel in the role of the "ir", that is, the executing officer. "Godu ilana" - cut down the tree; "ve-katzitzu anafohi" - the large boughs; "atiru afyeh" - strip away the small branches emerging from the large boughs; "u-vadaru inbeh" - scatter its fruit. And as a result, "tenud heivasa min tachtohi ve-tzipraya min anafohi" - let the beasts flee from beneath it and the birds from its branches, for once the tree is cut down along with its boughs, leaves, and fruit, animals can no longer take shelter in its shade.
בְּרַם עִקַּר שָׁרְשׁוֹהִי בְּאַרְעָא שְׁבֻקוּ וּבֶאֱסוּר דִּי־פַרְזֶל וּנְחָשׁ בְּדִתְאָא דִּי בָרָא וּבְטַל שְׁמַיָּא יִצְטַבַּע וְעִם־חֵיוְתָא חֲלָקֵהּ בַּעֲשַׂב אַרְעָא׃ - Nevertheless, leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and copper, in the tender grass of the field; and let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth.
Yet leave its roots in the earth, and in chains of iron and copper, in the grass of the field, and let him be bathed in the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth. Here lies an astounding anomaly: the verse begins by speaking of a tree, yet immediately continues with descriptions that do not fit a tree at all. A tree is not bound in iron and copper; nor can it be said of a tree that it is subjected to the dew of heaven and that its lot is with the beasts. Clearly, this is no longer describing a tree - there is a phase shift here, and we must understand what is taking place.
The Malbim explains that Nevuchadnezzar's dream was "a dream interpreted within a dream," which is one of the signs of a true dream. A person dreams a dream, and within the dream itself, the nimshal (the underlying meaning) and its interpretation are explained to him, and from Heaven he is already informed: Know that this is its meaning. The dividing line comes in the middle of the verse: "Yet leave the stump of its roots in the earth" still speaks of the tree; whereas from "and with a band of iron and bronze" onward, it transitions to the nimshal.
And the nimshal is: You, Nevuchadnezzar, will become like a beast, like a wild man - a person living like a beast of the wild - and you will be bound and tied in iron chains. "In the grass of the field, and let him be wet with the dew of heaven" - you will be among the grass and vegetation of the fields, the dew of heaven will wash over your body, and your portion will be with the beasts of the field feeding on the grass of the earth. We should note at the outset that Nevuchadnezzar did indeed become like a beast - meaning not that he developed the face of a lion, but that he became a feral, wild man.
Here the entire progression is explained to him in order: When this madness seized him within the palace and he began to run wild, they had to restrain and stop him, and to restrain him they needed fetters of iron and bronze - which is what was mentioned first. Afterwards, they saw that he reviled all ordinary food; steaks and delicacies meant nothing to him, and what did he want? Grass. Therefore, they fed him grass at home, which is "in the grass of the field" - they brought grass from outside into the palace for him to eat. Then they saw that he yearned to be outdoors in the rain and the dew of heaven, to be washed by them, so they brought him dew and rainwater from outside to bathe in like a beast of the field. Yet none of this pacified him until he fled, and they allowed him to escape to the wilderness to graze alongside the animals. This is the end of the verse: "and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth" - that his lot was literally with the wild beasts, eating the grass of the earth.
לִבְבֵהּ מִן־אֲנָשָׁא יְשַׁנּוֹן וּלְבַב חֵיוָה יִתְיְהִב לֵהּ וְשִׁבְעָה עִדָּנִין יַחְלְפוּן עֲלוֹהִי׃ - Let his heart be changed from that of a man, and let the heart of a beast be given to him, and let seven times pass over him.
His heart would change from a human heart, and he would be given the heart of a beast - so much so that he was truly like the beasts, neither fearing nor dreading them, but living alongside them. And what is the meaning of "let seven times pass over him"? The word idan means a period of time, and can be understood in two ways. Rashi explains that a time means a year, so seven times are seven years. But the Malbim explains that idanin refers to changes over time: this madness would undergo seven phases of change, shifting into a different reality in each stage. It would not be an ordinary, static madness, but a dynamic, evolving one - he would pass through seven states, until the final change in which he would be healed and restored to his former state.
בִּגְזֵרַת עִירִין פִּתְגָמָא וּמֵאמַר קַדִּישִׁין שְׁאֵלְתָא עַד־דִּבְרַת דִּי יִנְדְּעוּן חַיַּיָּא דִּי־שַׁלִּיט עִלָּאָה בְּמַלְכוּת אֲנָשָׁא וּלְמַן־דִּי יִצְבֵּא יִתְּנִנַּהּ וּשְׁפַל אֲנָשִׁים יְקִים עֲלַהּ׃ - The matter 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 over the realm of men, and gives it to whomever He wills, and sets up over it the lowliest of men.
"The matter is by the decree of the watchers" - the decree is executed by the irin (the watchful angels); "and the demand by the word of the holy ones" - and they received this through the word of the kadishin (the holy ones), as we explained that the kadishin are the higher angels who influence the lower irin. And what is "the demand" (she'elta)? That they themselves requested this from the greater Power above them, namely from Hashem, Blessed is He, Himself. Thus, Hashem influences the kadishin, the kadishin issue the decree to the irin, and the irin carry it into execution.
And what is the reason for the decree? "To the intent that the living may know" - so that living men will know "that the Most High rules over the realm of men," that there is a Supreme Being Who reigns over human sovereignty, the Creator of the universe, and He gives kingship to whomever He wishes. "And sets up over it the lowliest of men" - so that ultimately, whoever is considered the lowliest of men, the one despised and ignored today, will arise and establish the kingdom. And to what does this allude? To what we saw in the earlier chapters with the small stone that shatters the feet of the statue, causing the entire image to collapse and scatter in the wind, while the stone grows larger and larger until it fills the whole earth. This is an allusion to Am Yisrael, who are at first like a small stone and ultimately become a great mountain. This is "and sets up over it the lowliest of men": the Jewish people, who will ultimately arise and be elevated, and the reign of Melech HaMashiach, when sovereignty and kingship in the Holy Land will belong to Am Yisrael at the End of Days.
דְּנָה חֶלְמָא חֲזֵית אֲנָה מַלְכָּא נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר וְאַנְתְּ בֵּלְטְשַׁאצַּר פִּשְׁרֵא אֱמַר כׇּל־קֳבֵל דִּי כׇּל־חַכִּימֵי מַלְכוּתִי לָא־יָכְלִין פִּשְׁרָא לְהוֹדָעוּתַנִי וְאַנְתְּ כָּהֵל דִּי רוּחַ־אֱלָהִין קַדִּישִׁין בָּךְ׃ - This dream I, King Nevuchadnezzar, have seen; and you, Belteshazzar, declare its interpretation, inasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are unable to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, for the spirit of the holy gods is in you.
Why does Nevuchadnezzar emphasize, "I, King Nevuchadnezzar, have seen"? He could have simply said, "This is the dream I saw." Rather, he is telling Daniel: This is no ordinary dream; it is a dream that concerns the kingdom, for I, the king, saw it - and a king's dream, in the words of the Gemara, is a dream for the entire world. Therefore, I need an interpretation that only you can know and provide. Had it been a simple dream, the magicians would have already interpreted it for me; indeed, I initially brought in the magicians, the Chaldeans, and all the experts, yet none of them could find an interpretation for it.
The magicians, as we mentioned, receive messages from the lower deities according to Nevuchadnezzar's worldview. And if they do not know, there is no choice but to turn to someone who has access to the supreme God, the Creator of the world, and the only one who has access to Him is Daniel - as we saw in earlier chapters, where he alone was able to recount the dream of the statue, even revealing to him what he had dreamed when Nevuchadnezzar did not disclose the dream. Therefore he says: Since I saw that the sages of my realm could not interpret it, I can only understand that this dream originates from the Most High God, and only you - "and you are able, for the spirit of the holy gods is in you" - can inform me, for the spirit of the holy God, meaning the Supreme God, rests only in you.
אֱדַיִן דָּנִיֵּאל דִּי־שְׁמֵהּ בֵּלְטְשַׁאצַּר אֶשְׁתּוֹמַם כְּשָׁעָה חֲדָה וְרַעְיֹנֹהִי יְבַהֲלֻנֵּהּ עָנֵה מַלְכָּא וְאָמַר בֵּלְטְשַׁאצַּר חֶלְמָא וּפִשְׁרֵא אַל־יְבַהֲלָךְ עָנֵה בֵלְטְשַׁאצַּר וְאָמַר מָרִאי חֶלְמָא לְשָׂנְאָךְ וּפִשְׁרֵהּ לְעָרָךְ׃ - Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished for about an hour, and his thoughts alarmed him. The king spoke and said, "Belteshazzar, let not the dream or its interpretation alarm you." Belteshazzar answered and said, "My lord, may the dream be for those who hate you, and its interpretation for your enemies."
"Was astonished for about an hour" - he stood in stunned silence. The word mishtomem (astonished) is related to shemamah (desolation) - a barren place where nothing grows or blossoms, completely dry and empty. In the same way, Daniel stood completely paralyzed for an hour, without explanation and unable to open his mouth. "And his thoughts alarmed him" - his reflections terrified him. And what terrified him? That the interpretation was dire, and he was afraid to convey it to Nevuchadnezzar, lest Nevuchadnezzar execute him upon hearing such an ominous interpretation. Yet what could he do, when this was indeed its meaning?
Nevuchadnezzar, as we have noted, was an exceptionally wise king; no one could suggest he was a fool, as our sources also indicate. He perceived that this was Daniel's fear, and therefore "the king spoke and said, 'Belteshazzar, let not the dream or its interpretation alarm you'" - do not be afraid of having to tell me the interpretation knowing it bodes ill for me; nothing will happen to you, and I will do you no harm if you tell me the truth. Moreover, Nevuchadnezzar himself already sensed that the dream portended evil, for the great tree feeding all living creatures represented his kingdom and his status as king over all mankind, as Daniel would soon explicitly interpret for him - yet at the end of the dream, he saw that the tree was being chopped down. Therefore he reasoned: even if Daniel interprets it unfavorably, I know it does not stem from malice, for I myself understand from the dream that it does not bode well for me.
"Belteshazzar answered and said, 'My lord'" - mar'i, my master - "'may the dream be for those who hate you, and its interpretation for your enemies'": May Hashem show such a dream to your haters, and may its interpretation be fulfilled upon your enemies. The difference between a "hater" (soneh) and an "enemy" (oyev) is that a hater harbors hatred in his heart, whereas an enemy translates his hatred into action, not resting with feelings in the heart but actively pursuing harm. Thus Daniel said: To the hater I wish such dreams, and to your active enemies I wish that the dream's interpretation be realized upon them.
The question arises: Who were Nevuchadnezzar's haters and enemies? The Jewish people! Would Daniel truly say such a thing to Nevuchadnezzar - that Hashem should direct this dream against his enemies? Rather, Chazal explain that "my lord" (mar'i) spoken here refers to the Master of all, the Sovereign of the universe, the Holy One, blessed be He. Daniel was praying: Master of the Universe, show this dream to Your haters, and its interpretation to Your enemies - and to whom was he referring? To Nevuchadnezzar himself.
And such is indeed the way of tzaddikim. It is written of Jacob's ladder that its base was set on the ground while its top reached heaven: the tzaddik seemingly walks here among us, but in truth he walks with God in the lands of the living and is constantly bound to the Creator of the world, appearing among us only externally. Nevuchadnezzar thought Daniel was addressing him, unaware that Daniel's mind was entirely with the Creator, and it was toward the Almighty that he pleaded: Direct this dream to Your enemies and haters, that it be fulfilled against Nevuchadnezzar.
And who else acted in this manner? Esther. When Ahasuerus asked, "Who is he and where is he whose heart has dared him to do so?", what did she do? She replied, "An adversary and an enemy" - and pointed at Ahasuerus, until an angel came and deflected her hand toward Haman, whereupon she said, "This wicked Haman." This is perplexing: Did she wish to endanger her life? On the contrary, she needed to forge an alliance with Ahasuerus to bring down Haman, not quarrel with him! Rather, Esther was not truly in the room with Ahasuerus; when she spoke, she was speaking to the Creator of the world. Hearing "Who is he?", she said: Master of the Universe, it is this man here! An angel then deflected her hand, as if to remind her: Do not forget that you are still here on earth, and down here it is dangerous to point at Ahasuerus, an erratic ruler, for that could bring ruin upon you. But when she spoke, she was not addressing flesh and blood; she knew that decrees are determined in Heaven, and everything seen here below is merely the unfolding of what has been decreed above. This is why the righteous nullify decrees in the upper realms - as we will see later with Daniel, when he describes the celestial battles he beheld, how one heavenly prince is deposed and the prince of Persia arises; the real battle takes place there, and the tzaddikim dwell there, knowing that what is seen in this world is only the consequence.
אִילָנָא דִּי חֲזַיְתָ דִּי רְבָה וּתְקִף וְרוּמֵהּ יִמְטֵא לִשְׁמַיָּא וַחֲזוֹתֵהּ לְכׇל־אַרְעָא׃ - The tree that you saw, which grew great and strong, whose height reached to heaven and was visible to the whole earth;
Here Daniel begins to explain: The tree that you saw, which is exceedingly great, mighty, and strong. Notice that he skipped something. In the dream itself, Nevuchadnezzar opened with, "A tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great" - I saw a tree emerging from the earth and growing to immense size; yet Daniel starts from the very fact that the tree is already existing and great. Why does he not begin from the beginning? Because beginning from the start would be humiliating for the king: it would mean telling him, "You were a nobody, you were nothing, and then you began to sprout and became a giant." He did not wish to demean the king, so he immediately addressed the stage where you are already great, avoiding the stage where you were nothing. Therefore he opened: The tree you saw that is great and strong, "whose height reached to heaven" - whose height reaches up to the heavens, "and was visible to the whole earth" - its appearance visible to all the earth.
וְעׇפְיֵהּ שַׁפִּיר וְאִנְבֵּהּ שַׂגִּיא וּמָזוֹן לְכֹלָּא־בֵהּ תְּחֹתוֹהִי תְּדוּר חֵיוַת בָּרָא וּבְעַנְפוֹהִי יִשְׁכְּנָן צִפְּרֵי שְׁמַיָּא׃ - Whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all, beneath which the beasts of the field dwelt, and in whose branches the birds of heaven nested;
Its branches are beautiful and its fruit is abundant, providing food for all the inhabitants of the earth; beneath it dwell the beasts of the field, and in its branches dwell the birds of the heavens. The Malbim notes a precision in the change of wording: in the dream it said, "beneath it the beasts of the field found shade [tetallel]," whereas Daniel says, "dwelt [tedur]." The difference is that initially, Nevuchadnezzar served as a mere shade for them, but once they came under his dominion, they were already in the status of literally dwelling beneath him. At first they only enjoyed his shade, but once he ruled over them, they actually resided beneath him, completely subjugated to him.
And what are the birds dwelling in its branches? The Malbim explains that the birds are a metaphor for merchants, as merchants "fly" and travel from place to place. That was the way of trade in their times: one boards a ship, travels to bring merchandise from afar, fabrics and the like, and brings them back to sell here. Therefore, they are compared to the birds of heaven. In the dream it said that the birds "dwelt [yeduran]" in its branches, whereas Daniel says, "nested / resided [yishkenan]" - for *shechinah* denotes dwelling naturally in their normal habitat, whereas *dirah* denotes dwelling in an atypical manner. Daniel phrases it this way out of respect for the king: they truly reside here, as though under your shadow and beneath your care, as if this were their permanent home.
אַנְתְּ־הוּא מַלְכָּא דִּי רְבַת וּתְקֵפְתְּ וּרְבוּתָךְ רְבָת וּמְטָת לִשְׁמַיָּא וְשׇׁלְטָנָךְ לְסוֹף אַרְעָא׃ - It is you, O king, who have grown great and become mighty; your greatness has grown and reached to the heavens, and your dominion to the end of the earth.
Daniel tells him: It is impossible to interpret this dream about anyone else; rather, you are the king. You are the one you saw in the dream, whose star of success has ascended and who rises ever higher. Who is the one beneath whom all the inhabitants of the earth dwell, by whom they are fed, and by whom they are ruled? It is you. "It is you, O king, who have grown great and become mighty" - you have grown and become powerful; "your greatness has grown and reached to the heavens" - your stature has reached heaven; "and your dominion to the end of the earth."
Here he also comes to hint to him about his sin. His sin was that he said, "I will ascend to heaven" (Yeshayahu 14:13), concerning which the prophet said, "Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol" (ibid. 14:15). This is what Daniel is telling him: "Your greatness has grown and reached to the heavens" - you felt within yourself that you could already reach heaven; that I am so mighty and strong, ruling over upper and lower realms alike. As we have seen, he would ride upon a lion with a snake wound around his head as a crown, feeling he possessed absolute dominion, and that all that remained for him was heaven itself, which he was poised to attain. With this, Daniel alludes to his haughtiness of heart. "And your dominion to the end of the earth" - for he was indeed a monarch who ruled the entire world, as we have explained.
וְדִי חֲזָה מַלְכָּא עִיר וְקַדִּישׁ נָחִת מִן־שְׁמַיָּא וְאָמַר גֹּדּוּ אִילָנָא וְחַבְּלוּהִי בְּרַם עִקַּר שׇׁרְשׁוֹהִי בְּאַרְעָא שְׁבֻקוּ וּבֶאֱסוּר דִּי־פַרְזֶל וּנְחָשׁ בְּדִתְאָא דִּי בָרָא וּבְטַל שְׁמַיָּא יִצְטַבַּע וְעִם־חֵיוַת בָּרָא חֲלָקֵהּ עַד דִּי־שִׁבְעָה עִדָּנִין יַחְלְפוּן עֲלוֹהִי׃ - And in that the king saw a watcher and a holy one coming down from heaven, saying, 'Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze in the tender grass of the field; let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, until seven periods pass over him;'
And regarding what you saw, an angel descending from heaven and saying, "Cut down the tree and destroy it" - here Daniel spoke briefly. In the dream it was also stated that they would lop off its branches, scatter its fruit, and that the beasts and birds would flee from beneath it, which alludes to his ministers and all the nations departing from him. Daniel wished to state only what would happen to the king's own person, leaving the rest to be understood on his own: if you are among the beasts of the field, the nations will naturally no longer find shelter beneath you, and even the people of your own kingdom will no longer accept you as their head. This was self-evident, and therefore he saw no need to rub salt into the wounds and detail every consequence.
But he did say to him, "Nevertheless leave the stump of its roots in the earth." And what is signified by the main roots of the tree remaining in the ground? That the core of the kingship will not be taken from him permanently. For when something is uprooted from the root - it is finished, totally nullified; but if the root remains, there is hope, and the entity is destined to return. Daniel therefore tells him: You are destined to return; you still have a root and a foundation, and as we will see later, he was indeed destined to return.
דְּנָה פִשְׁרָא מַלְכָּא וּגְזֵרַת עִלָּאָה הִיא דִּי מְטָת עַל־מָרִאי מַלְכָּא׃ - This is the interpretation, O king, and it is a decree of the Most High that has come upon my lord the king.
This is the interpretation of the dream: Everything you saw - that they will bind you and you will be with the beasts of the earth - does not apply to trees at all, as we explained, but applies only to a wild man: a person who is severed from human society and cast out to live among the beasts. And this is what the dream itself comes to tell you, being a dream interpreted within a dream: "Hew down the tree" means that you will lose your sanity and become like a beast, and you will be removed from the throne - that is "hew down," cutting off your reign and casting you out into the open field. Furthermore, as we noted, this is an aspect of a repeated dream: he envisions the matter twice - once through the tree and once through the wild man, as an individual turned wild and cast among the animals. "This is the interpretation" - this is the meaning of the dream; "and it is a decree of the Most High" - know that this dream is a decree from on High, and an event soon to arrive.
And one further point: From the first part of the dream, concerning the tree, one might have understood that the tree was chopped down and new growth would sprout from its roots - meaning that you, Nevuchadnezzar, would lose your kingship completely, and a shoot would flourish from its roots: your sons and grandsons would be the ones to restore the royal splendor to the house of Nevuchadnezzar, but not you. That is what the tree would seem to imply. But from the second part of the dream, where he was likened to an animal and told that he would be cast among the beasts of the field, and where it was also stated that this would only last for a set period - "seven periods of time shall pass over him" - from here you understand that you yourself are destined to return to the kingship. It is not merely that a shoot will flourish from your roots, but that you yourself will return, and the sovereignty will be restored to you.
In this section we examined the second vision within the dream: the watcher and the holy one - two categories of angels, those who decree and those who execute - and by their decree the tree is chopped down, leaving only the stump of its roots in the ground as a sign that the kingdom will return. The dream is a "dream interpreted within a dream": from the middle of the verse onward, the nimshal itself is already described - Nevuchadnezzar turning into a wild man, bound in chains of iron and bronze, eating grass and drenched with dew, until he flees to the wilderness and his lot is with the beasts, a beast's heart is given to him, and seven transformations will pass over him until he is healed. And all of this serves a single purpose: "To the intent that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men" - that all living beings should know that there is a Supreme Ruler who governs human kingship, granting it to whomever He pleases, and ultimately, "sets up over it the lowliest of men." We also observed the approach of the righteous, Daniel and Esther, whose speech is genuinely directed toward Heaven, for that is where decrees are determined, while here below we witness only their unfolding into reality.