What Does Daniel 4:37 Mean?
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and lift high and honor the King of heaven, whose deeds are all truth, and whose paths are judgment; and those who walk with lifted heads he is able to bring low.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.THE KEY
The same verse that lifts the King of heaven above all admits that pride can be lowered from any height.
THE MEANING
The reader stands before a sovereignty that does not bend to status: the King’s works are truth, and his ways are just. Pride can be brought low however high it rises; the speaker’s praise gives voice to seeing that no human height is final.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that status or self-exaltation makes a person untouchable. This verse says even the proud can be brought low.
THE ROOT
לְהַשְׁפָּלָה
lehashpalah
GROWS FROM
שפל
Be low; bring low.
“bring low” in this verse is lehashpalah. The root שפל (shaphal) holds both being low and being brought low. Here it answers the verse’s language of praise and elevation: pride may rise, but it can still be lowered.
ALSO GROWS
shafel: Low; humble.
שָׁפֵל
This branch shows that “abase” describes a change in height or standing, not merely an insult.
shephelah: Lowland.
שְׁפֵלָה
The lowland carries the same root’s sense of what lies below; it gives the verse’s lowering a concrete dimension.
מְרוֹמֵם
meromem
GROWS FROM
רום
Rise; be high.
“lift high” in this verse is meromem. The root רום (rum) gives “extol” the sense of raising high. Set beside שפל, it reveals the verse’s movement between elevation and lowering, while praise belongs to the King of heaven.
ALSO GROWS
rum: To rise or be high.
רוּם
This basic verb names the upward movement carried by “extol.”
ram: High; exalted.
רָם
This related form shows how the root can describe a heightened state, echoing the verse’s contrast with being brought low.
THE PATTERN
Pride is brought low, while the King alone remains worthy of exaltation.
The lifted eyes of man shall be brought low, and the heights of men shall bow down, and the LORD alone shall be lifted high in that day.But he gives greater favor. Therefore it says, God sets himself against those who lift themselves high, and gives favor to those made low.So be made low under the strong hand of God, that he may lift you up in season.THE THREAD
The lifted eyes of man shall be brought low, and the heights of men shall bow down, and the LORD alone shall be lifted high in that day.Isaiah uses the Hebrew root שפל (shaphal), the same root behind Daniel’s “abase,” for bringing human height low. Both verses set that lowering beside the exaltation of the LORD alone.
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