The Bible

 

Daniel 4:12

Study

       

12 The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it.

Commentary

 

Daniel

  
Daniel in the den of lions, in the Museum des Beaux Arts, Caen.

The book of Daniel follows after Ezekiel in the Old Testament. Daniel was a prophet during the early part of the captivity of the Jews in Babylon. (His Babylonian name, given to him by King Nebuchadnezzar, was Belteshazzar.) The first half of the Book of Daniel tells the story of Daniel and three friends, and then Daniel’s rise to prominence under Kings Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, and Darius. The second half is prophecy. In the internal sense of the Word, Daniel represents the Lord at His advent. Daniel's captivity, and the actions of the Babylonian kings that he interacts with, show the state of the Israelitish church at that time.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 3652)