דניאל, פרק ד׳, פסוק כ״ג

A harsh prophecy dooms the king to lose his mind and live as a wild beast, yet it hides a promise of hope and restoration. His sentence is not final. Instead, it carries a deep spiritual condition: regaining his throne depends entirely on a shift in his awareness, where he must admit his own weakness and recognize God's supreme control over the world.

The primary approach among commentators is that the dream's instruction to leave the roots of the tree in the ground means the king will not be completely wiped out. His kingdom will remain intact, waiting for him to return. [אלשיך] notes that Daniel strategically explained this detail about the roots only after describing the king's banishment to the wild. This order clarifies that the chopped tree does not represent the king's physical body or life being cut down, but rather his royal status and power. Furthermore, the dream specifically focuses on the main root to emphasize that the throne is saved for the king himself, not merely passed on to his children. While a king's descendants are like roots that spread outward, the main root represents the king in person, ensuring that he is the one who will eventually reclaim the throne [מלבי״ם, אלשיך].

However, unlike a physical tree stump that simply waits in the dirt, the king's return to power is not automatic. The primary approach among commentators is that he will only reclaim his throne after a long period, specifically from the moment he clearly realizes that God rules the earth. He must understand that God alone has the power to grant, remove, and restore kingdoms at His will.

[מלבי״ם] explains the deeper reason behind this specific punishment and condition, linking it to the king's past actions. God's anger was sparked when the king built a golden statue. This act was a deliberate attempt to force his own will and cancel the heavenly decree regarding the four future kingdoms, which he had seen in an earlier dream. As a result, he is stripped of his power to learn a vital lesson: no human effort or creation can alter God's plans. His kingdom will only be restored once he accepts that God is the absolute ruler and that, ultimately, a future kingdom belonging to the most humble of people will inevitably rise. Daniel deliberately chose not to explain this final point about the people of Israel openly, carefully avoiding anything that might provoke the king's anger against them.