What Does Daniel 11:4 Mean in the King James?
And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The “four winds” are ruach, wind and breath in one Hebrew word, so the kingdom’s collapse appears as power carried beyond the ruler’s grasp.
THE MEANING
A kingdom can break into four directions and pass beyond its ruler’s heirs. What looks like one person’s possession moves into other hands; his former reach does not decide who receives what comes next.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that authority remains whole because one ruler holds it, or must pass intact to his descendants.
THE ROOT
רוּחוֹת
rûḥôt
GROWS FROM
ר־ו־ח
To breathe or blow; moving air.
English says “winds,” but the Hebrew is rûḥôt, the plural of rûaḥ, a word that also means breath. The same consonant pattern echoes רָוַח, to gain room or relief, placing the kingdom’s division toward all four winds beside an image of space opening beyond one center.
ALSO GROWS
rûaḥ: Breath; wind.
רוּחַ
The verse’s plural comes from this word, holding its breath and wind meanings together.
rāwaḥ: To gain room, relief, or spaciousness.
רָוַח
Its shared consonants echo the opening of space as the kingdom divides toward all four winds.
וְתֵחָץ
wəṯēḥāṣ
GROWS FROM
ח־צ־ה
To divide or split into portions.
“divided” in this verse is wəṯēḥāṣ. The word carries the sense of cutting something into portions. The verse moves from one kingdom to division in four directions, then says that the result does not pass to the ruler’s posterity.
ALSO GROWS
ḥēṣî: Half; a portion.
חֵצִי
This related form makes division concrete as a whole cut into shares.
məḥiṣṣāh: A partition or dividing barrier.
מְחִצָּה
It shows division becoming separate sides, sharpening the image of one dominion broken into distinct parts.
THE PATTERN
When a power is divided or torn from its bearer, it loses its former shape and passes beyond its old center.
Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judæa and Samaria, except the apostles.THE THREAD
Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.Ezekiel uses rûaḥ for both the “wind” called from four directions and the “breath” summoned over the slain. The shared word lets Daniel’s fourfold scattering sit beside a life-giving movement: wind and breath are not separate in the Hebrew.
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