Daniel told the king the tree represented Nebuchadnezzar and his greatness. He said the king would be driven from men, live like an animal, and learn that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will. Daniel 4:20–25
In Daniel 4:19–27, Daniel is shaken by the dream’s meaning but speaks honestly. He identifies the magnificent tree as the king’s expanding power and reach, then explains the cutting down as a coming judgment: the king will be driven from human society and live like an animal for a set period. This scene sits in the middle of the chapter’s larger narrative about a royal dream and its outcome. Earlier, the king recounts the dream of a thriving tree that is suddenly cut down, with only a bound stump left.
Daniel presents the dream as a direct message about the king himself: the great tree represents Nebuchadnezzar’s expanded power and reach (verses 20–22). The tree’s cutting signals a severe humbling—loss of normal human life and status—described in concrete terms (living with animals, eating grass, exposed to dew) for a defined period (verses 23–25).
A common mistake is to turn the wording into a slogan. The better reading keeps the phrase tied to the passage, the speaker, and the problem the book is addressing.
Start with Daniel 4:20-25, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
20The tree that you saw, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached to the sky, and the sight of it to all the earth;
21whose leaves were beautiful, and the fruit of it much, and in it was food for all; under which the animals of the field lived, and on whose branches the birds of the sky had their habitation:
22it is you, O king, that are grown and become strong; for your greatness is grown, and reaches to the sky, and your dominion to the end of the earth.
23Whereas the king saw a watcher and a holy one coming down from the sky, and saying, Hew down the tree, and destroy it; nevertheless leave the stump of the roots of it in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field, and let it be wet with the dew of the sky: and let his portion be with the animals of the field, until seven times pass over him;
24this is the interpretation, O king, and it is the decree of the Most High, which is come on my lord the king:
25that you shall be driven from men, and your dwelling shall be with the animals of the field, and you shall be made to eat grass as oxen, and shall be wet with the dew of the sky, and seven times shall pass over you; until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whoever he will.